Page 56 of Run
“Hi there, folks. Can I get you some drinks?” We snap our heads up to the young waiter dressed in all black who just placed two cocktail napkins on our table and is now looking between the two of us. I gesture toward Ari, and he looks her way.
“I’ll just have a seltzer, please.”
“Sure thing,” the waiter replies, then looks back at me.
“You have Genny Light on tap?”
He nods. “I’ve got exactly that.”
“Great, thanks.” I shake my head to clear it as he walks away. “So, what the hell, Ari? How have you been?”
She blinks and licks her lips. “Good. Great, actually, I’ve been great.”
“Are you still working at that pub?”
“No. Not for a while now. I’m doing some work from home admin stuff. With my liberal arts degree, I’m able to pick up a lot of work as an independent contractor.” A quiet moment passes and her eyes dart around. “Ethan?”
“You got your college diploma.” It’s not a question. It’s an acknowledgement.
“I did.” She blushes, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. I ache to touch that hair, wondering if it’s as soft as it always was. If it smells the same. She jostles and pulls her phone from her purse, which is vibrating with a notification. “Oh, crap. I forgot someone was going to call me in case I need an extraction.”
“An extraction?”
“Yeah,” she replies while shooting off a text. “You know, like in case you were a serial killer.” Her fingers fly across the screen. “OK, I told her you are not a rapist.”Ari clears her throat and puts her phone back in her purse. “What about you? When did you get into town?”
“Let’s see, I bought the house about a year ago.”
Ari’s eyes widen and then she looks down. “Oh.”
“Seltzer and a Genny Light,” the server interrupts as he places our drinks on the table and we both nod in thanks.
“So, where is your house?” She lifts her glass and takes a sip, not looking at me.
I hesitate before I answer. “It’s west of the city.” I pick up my own glass and take a gulp. “It’s actually not all that far from the old stomping grounds.” I’m trying to make light of the fact that I bought a house only a town over from where we grew up. I’ve driven by our childhood homes many times, sometimes catching a glimpse of Axel. But it’s not like I wouldn’t have driven by on my way to see Fonz anyway. Well, at least until he moved in with me. “Oh! Fonz lives with me.”
Ari pulls her head back, eyes wide. “Wait,you’rethe friendhe moved in with last year?”
I laugh. “Yeah, that’s me. Damn, why would he be hanging out with both of us and not say anything to either you or me?”
“Well”—Ari wipes condensation off her glass—“I always knew he was still talking to you. I ask about you often.”
“You do?”
She grins. “Yeah, I knew when you left the Army. But he left out the little detail about you moving back here.”
I huff out a breath. “Well, seems like he had an agenda.”
She gives a sad smile and starts to tear little pieces out of her cocktail napkin. “So, why didn’t you reach out when you first got into town?”
I pick up my glass and take a slow drink to buy me some time.Because I could never protect you. Because you’re better off without me.I place my glass back down and still don’t answer her.
“It’s OK. I get it. We don’t have to do this.” Ari waves a finger between the two of us. “I mean, it’s been nice catching up with you. That’s why I asked. But I get it.” She shuffles around like she might get up, and I panic.
“No, Ari, it’s not that.” I reach out and grab her wrist, but she freezes so I immediately pull back my hand. “I’m just shocked. I’ve been wondering if I would run into you around the city. Hell, I’ve been hoping I would. But I guess I didn’t really think about what I would say to you.”
“Well,” she looks down at her hands and the napkin she’s still ripping apart. “You had over a year, right?”
“Wait, are you mad?”
