“So you proposed?” I ask as she downs the Advil and half the drink.
“What if I never meet a man that will compare to you?”
“You won’t.”
“Exactly.” She counters. “So by thirty-five, we just get married. You can be my platonic soul mate.”
“What do I get out of this deal?”
“Free food.”
“You’re right, your dad would keep us well fed.” He owns a Greek restaurant in Manayunk.
“I’d even get you a ring.” She says on a hiccup. “It would be green and a princess cut like your favorite Disney princess. Tiana.”
“I’ll have to find a Rapunzel ring.” If they even exist.
“You get it.” She weeps. Tears and all.
“You need to brush your teeth and get into bed.” I flush the toilet again and slowly get up.
We will have to talk about our boss tomorrow. Somewhere no one can listen. Somewhere safe.
Because if Dom finds out I know, I’m dead.
If he finds out I know, I’m dead.
This secret could kill us both.
We take this to our graves.
But right now, Alex doesn’t even know there’s a secret. She’s drunk and happy and planning our platonic marriage while a woman’s body rots somewhere in this city.
How do I tell her tomorrow? How do I destroy this innocence?
“Must I?” She sits up and promptly falls over.
“Yes.” I sit her up and position her against the sink, grabbing her toothbrush and some toothpaste. “Remember when you refused to brush your teeth for that one week three years ago?”
She shudders. “I needed a root canal.”
“Here, brush your teeth.” She pouts and closes her lips. “Fine. Root canal.”
“You run a hard bargain.” She grabs the toothbrush. And I do the same. “I want kids.”
I pause. This usually isn’t a conversation we have. I mean we have had it in the past, but it isn’t one we dwell on.
“I’m going to get a donor.” She glances up at me. “A sperm donor.”
“I think you have some on your shorts.” I point out, trying to keep my voice light.
Normal.
She looks down to a suspicious stain. When she doesn’t deny it and shrugs, I know it is definitely cum.
“Not breeding material,” she says around her toothbrush.
I swallow bile. She’s joking about a man whose name she doesn’t know. In an alley. Tonight.
