Page 82 of Faking Forever
Smith
I’ll be there at 10:07. Do you think there’s a chance we’ll run into each other?
She grinned at that ludicrous question.
The odds are negligible at best
Smith
That’s what I thought. But on the off chance that you’re still there when I arrive, maybe we should share a table again? My sister has twins to feed…wouldn’t want to rob her of any business.
Agreed. We’d have to share. For the twins.
Smith
Kenny was smiling from ear to ear as she put her phone aside. It was the lightest and happiest she’d felt in months.
Smith arrived at MJ’s at exactly 10:07 and joined Kenny without hesitation.
This time they each devoured every crumb of their croque monsieurs with great gusto.
They didn’t speak much and instead sat in comfortable silence, while conversations from other tables ebbed and flowed around them.
They’d had many silent breakfasts, but this wasn’t like that. Those meals had been sterile, their behavior toward each other cold and indifferent. But there was no iciness here. No indifference.
Smith and Kenny remained completely aware of each other throughout the meal. Present in a way they hadn’t been with each other in over a year. Exchanging frequent, almost shy glances and small smiles.
“You still sore after your night on the sofa?” he eventually asked, after finishing off the last bite of his sandwich. He took a sip of coffee.
“Yep. I’m getting rid of that damned thing. I’m buying a new onetoday.”
“You’re buying a brand-new sofa?” Smith asked, eyes wide in bemused consternation, as he stared at Kenny over the top of his coffee cup.
“Yes. I refuse to spend another night like that.”
“Uh…plan to spend many more nights sleeping on the couch, do you?” His face didn’t reveal a trace of the laughter she could see lurking in his eyes. “Because youdohave a bed. And I know for a fact that it’s relatively new. Harris bought it when he first came here. The landlord moved it into your house after Tina and Harris left.”
Oh.
He made a good point. Kenny had zerocomplaints about the bed and she now had an explanation for its surprising comfort.
“Well, aside from the couch being uncomfortable, it’s alsofilthy. I found some seriously gross things shoved down the back and sides. I refuse to sit on it again,” she maintained.
“So you’re basically buying it for an asshole landlord who can’t even be bothered to clean out his rental property between tenants?”
“No, I’m buying it for myself. What he does with it afterward is his business.”
“Normal people don’t do this kind of shit. You know that, right?” The words lacked judgment. In fact, they were laced with the laughter that she could see in his eyes, but was still conspicuously absent from his expression.
“Well, how wouldyouknow that? Neither of us can claim to be normal people from normal families. And while I don’t usually agree with waste, inthisinstance, I take solace in knowing that future tenants will enjoy the new sofa.”
“Spoiled brat.” There was real affection in his voice.
He took another quick sip of coffee and waved Suzie over for the bill.
Ignoring Kenny’s protests, he proceeded to pay for both of their meals and then got up.
He was leaving?
