“I’m just glad I had your number.I hate eating alone.”
“Until you called, I’d forgotten I’d given it to you the other day.”When I’d talked to Cassie about the customer service department, she couldn’t remember one of the items she wanted.I gave her my cell number in case she remembered.
“I’m happy you were able to join me.”
We looked up when the waitress arrived at our table.“Good afternoon, ladies.”She slid two coasters onto the table.“What can I get you to drink?”
“Iced tea, please,” I said.
“That sounds good; I’ll have one too.”
“Be right back with your drinks.”
“Have you been here before?”
“I haven’t.”I stared at the menu trying to figure out what I was hungry for.
“I want one of everything.”Cassie looked at me over the top of the menu.“Want to do a couple of appetizers and share?”
“That sounds great.”If I was by myself and ordered more than two appetizers, I’d have leftovers for days.“What were you thinking of getting?”
Cassie gave each of the items a mini review.She was a regular here and had tried them all.“So we agree?Pot stickers, mac & cheese bites, and cheesy fries?”
My mouth watered.“Sounds great.”
Cassie rubbed her hands together, then stacked the menus and placed them on the aisle side of the table.
The waitress walked up with our drinks and set them on the table.“Are you ready to order?”
Cassie smiled, her enthusiasm contagious.“Yes, we’re going to split some appetizers.The pot stickers, mac & cheese bites, and cheesy fries.”
“Great choices.”
“I’d also like a house salad with ranch, please.”Assuaging the guilt over the fried food.I could hear Mother’s whispered,are you sure you want to eat that,and I shut that down hard.
“I’ll have one, too, please.”The waitress nodded to Cassie and retrieved our menus.As soon as she was out of range, Cassie wasted no time on small talk.“I wanted to see how you were doing after last night.”
I liked direct.“Me?”I wasn’t sure what Cassie was worried about.“I’m fine.No worries.”
“I’m glad.I was, not worried exactly, just concerned about the way Asher acted.”
My breath caught in my throat.Stay cool.He’s Cassie’s friend.You just have to work with him.“He was a bit of an idiot, but I’m over it.”I was.Yes, I was angry last night, but I never stayed that way for long.I’d learned as a teenager that I could put my energy into being angry or use my energy for better things.
“I’m glad.I’ve known Asher for years, and I’ve never seen him act like that.”
“Oh?”While we’d been in the office together all week, I’d been struck by his tendency to be somewhat bossy, even controlling, but he hadn’t acted paternalistic or patronizing like he had last night.“I think I pushed a hot button.”That had to be the explanation, but I didn’t know what that button was.
“Maybe.You tried to defuse the situation, but he wasn’t having it.”
“He wasn’t.I might have been more hardcore than the situation called for, though.”I worried about that all night.After all, I still had to work with the man.
“You weren’t.He needed to be called out.”Cassie leaned forward, propped her folded arms on the table.“Enough about him.Tell me about you.”
“Me?”That surprised me.I wasn’t used to talking about myself.
“Yes.Have you always lived in the Seattle area?”
“No.I was raised in San Francisco.”I didn’t miss city life.Sprawling metropolitan cities got on my nerves, one of the reasons I lived outside of Seattle.Even now, there were times when driving into the city for work nearly obliterated my sense of calm.Too many people, cars, everything.
