Page 41 of Scrubbing In
I laugh at my corny response. I’ve been single for so long, it only makes sense she texted me by accident, intending that for someone else.
My phone buzzes immediately after I set it down.
Sylvie: [picture of Julian]
“What the fuck?” I’m looking at a picture of Julian sitting at the upstair’s bar in Nonna’s. He looks wrecked.
But wait, why is Sylvie sending me this picture of Julian?
Me: How do you know who this is? And what makes you think he’s ‘my man’?
Sylvie: It’s cute how you think I don’t know everything…
Sylvie: And that you seem to have forgotten I’m the one who reviews security footage
Me: OMG!
Sylvie: If I wasn’t completely committed to your sister, I might make a play for him because it was HOT!
Me: If you were into dudes and not completely gay you might make a play for him.
Sylvie: Yeah that too!
I zoom in on the picture of Julian. His large hand is wrapped around a lowball glass on the bar top, his shoulders slumped in a way that looks all wrong on his tall and confident frame. His profile is set in a hard mask, but I can just make out the downturn of his mouth. If I didn’t know better, I would think he just got off a seven-day shift of very little sleep. The exhaustion radiates off him.
I did that to him.
Sylvie: But there are lots of women, and guys, who would be interested in him.
Me: I’m coming!
Sylvie: Because you’re reliving how that hallway hook-up was or the picture I sent?
Me: Sylvie! I AM ON MY WAY!
Sylvie: Hahaha, oh!
Me: Do NOT let anyone flirt with him!
Sylvie: What am I supposed to do? Throw down for you? Over a MAN?!
Me: Why are you like this?
Sylvie: Because I’m pretty and you love me so I get to be annoying.
Me:
Paralyzed by indecision, I’m sitting in the parking lot of Nonna’s. Gripping the steering wheel, I lean forward to look up at the lights glowing from the lounge upstairs.
If I go in, I cannot run away again.
If I go in, there is a chance someone could see us and laying low won’t even be an option.
If I don’t go in, someone could sit down next to him and remind him there are other people who wouldn’t make him work so hard.
It’s the last thought that has me climbing out of my car. When I reach the front door, I hold the handle and take a large breath, feeling like I just sprinted across the parking lot.
Entering the restaurant has a calm settling over me. This familiar place has been a huge part of my life with some of my earliest memories here. Mina and Matteo may have renovated and made the restaurant their own, but the comfort I feel here has not changed.
