I pull into the parking lot and put the car in park once I’ve maneuvered my way into a spot. Before we exit the car, I want to make sure we’re clear on one thing so we don’t have any odd exchanges over the bill.
“Since I paid for the car rental, I’ll just get all of our meals so we can turn in one spreadsheet for the expense report. Sound good?”
“Yeah. That makes sense. Thank you for offering to take that on,” she responds, then exits the car.
Once we get to the front door, I open it, then step aside to let her go by.
“Thank you,” she shyly says, making me wonder where that feisty girl who used to fight me on anything and everything went.
The hostess leads us to a table and hands us each a menu. “Can I get you guys started with a drink?”
I wonder if I should have a drink since this is a work trip, but Zoe is quick to answer, “Yes, please. I’ll take a glass of red wine. Whatever you have open. I’m not picky.”
The hostess looks at me, so I figure,Why not?
“Do you guys have anything from Big Sky Brewing?”
“Sure do,” she replies with a smile.
“I’ll take their pilsner if you have it.”
“Sounds good. I’ll let your waitress know, and she’ll be right by.”
The hostess walks away, and Zoe asks me, “Have you been here before?”
I nod. “Yeah. I went to college in Missoula, so it wasn’t too far from here.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot you’d graduated from the University of Montana before you moved to New York,” she responds, instantly making questions pop into my mind.
“I didn’t know you knew that.”
She blows me off. “Christina told me,” she replies, keeping her eyes down on her menu.
“What else did she tell you about me?” I joke, but before she can answer, we’re interrupted.
“David? Is that you?” I hear a familiar female voice ask.
I turn and see Leslie, my ex-girlfriend from when I was in college, wearing the same apron our waitress had on.
“Leslie?” I reply, standing to greet her. “How are you?” We hug, then step back and look at each other. “Man, it’s been what, five, six years?”
“Since you left me and moved to New York? Yeah, that sounds about right,” she teases, but I really can’t blame her for throwing that in my face since it’s the truth.
“I’m sor?—”
“Don’t. I’m kidding.” She places her hand on my chest for a second too long for our current setting. “Life is good. I hope you’ve been good too. No bad feelings here.” She looks at Zoe, then back at me with her eyebrows lifted slightly in question.
“Oh, this is my coworker, Zoe Jones.” I hold out my hand toward her.
“Your coworker, huh?” She glances over my shoulder to where Zoe is still seated.
Zoe waves an awkward hello. “Yep, just his coworker. Here on business and nothing else.”
“Well, didn’t think anyone would ever come to Montana from New York for business, but here you are. So, how’s life?”
“Good. I work for a marketing agency. We have a client who’s doing beef tallow products.”
“Ha!” She laughs out loud. “That makes total sense then.”
