“Definitely,” Caitlin said without any hesitation. “Could you ever forgive me?” Sophie whispered. “Completely? And not just the kind of forgiveness the girls do when they say, ‘oh yeah, babe, it's fine’ when in reality, it's not?”
After a pause, Caitlin squeezed Sophie's knee lightly. She rose to lock the door, preventing further customers from entering during such an important conversation. “I am one-hundred percent certain that I am not upset with you, and if the roles were reversed, I think that I would have done the same thing. I thought maybe you were close to telling me about it the night that the truck broke down.”
“Oh, I was!” Sophie gasped, her face brightening and her eyes eager. “I desperately wanted to tell you and everything within me hated myself for not just spitting it out!”
“But it's okay,” Caitlin repeated. “Besides, had I not found out the way I had, I don't know that my father and I would have been able to have that heart to heart, or that Daniel and I would have been able to make that leap forward in our relationship.”
“Oh yeah,” Sophie said, the sly grin crossing her face. “I heard all about that.”
“What?” Caitlin gasped. Her jaw dropped as her stomach leapt uncomfortably. “What do you mean you heard all about that?”
“I heard that your father came over to my brother's apartment and found your hair tousled and shirt ruffled,” she grinned, trailing off.
“Oh, Lord,” Caitlin groaned. “Perhaps I should tell you, then, your brother and I are sleeping together.”
“Well, no shit,” Sophie snorted as she slid Caitlin's bowl of tomato soup toward herself and began taking thoughtful sips. “So, sleeping together. That sounds continuous, like more than once,” she said. She jerked her head over to Caitlin. “When was the first time?”
“Remember the night the truck broke down?” Caitlin trailed off, looking down at her hands as they tangled together anxiously.
“No!” Sophie gasped in surprise. “That soon?”
Caitlin frowned, not liking the implication that they moved too fast.
“Oh no, I'm not meaning anything cruel by that!” Sophie rushed. “I was just surprised. The timing wasn't what I would have expected,” she finally finished. She reached for Caitlin's glass of iced water.
“Yes, well, it's not something I was expecting either, yet here we are.” She sighed and slipped back onto the stool.
“It’s okay, though. All the best love stories and movies involve characters who move at their own pace, propriety be damned!” she said. She slammed her small hand on the bar.
“I guess that's true,” Caitlin agreed as she reached for her glass of water and drank deeply, her throat surprisingly dry. She'd spoken with Sophie countless times about boys, crushes, and lovers. But now that she was discussing Sophie's brother, things felt a bit more complicated.
“Do you love him?” Sophie asked as Caitlin choked on her water.
“Sophie! What kind of question is that?” she asked, her cheeks flushing the same shade of crimson as Sophie's blouse.
“Just that. Do you love him?”
“I…” Caitlin sputtered before tearing her eyes from her friend and looking down at the half empty glass of water. Needing to do something with her hands, she twisted it back and forth as the condensation streamed down onto the glossy bar top. “Icouldlove him,” she supposed, “given more time. It's only been three days,” she said with a half laugh. “Or, is it four now? I can't quite remember.”
“I suppose that's true,” Sophie said, and laid a gentle hand on Caitlin's wrist. “Whatever you feel, whenever you feel it. I just want you to know how much I support that. God, and to think from the very beginning, it was me pushing the two of you together. I chose that restaurant for a reason, you know.”
“What?” Caitlin asked in surprise. “What do you mean?”
“The day that Daniel and I stopped in during your date with the American. You told me where you were going to lunch, remember? So, I made sure that we stopped at the same time.”
“Why?” Caitlin gasped. “You stalker.”
“I wasn't stalking,” Sophie giggled as she pinned back her long blonde locks. “I wanted Daniel to see that you were desirable. He had it in his head that you were this spoiled child, but you're not. You're a grown woman, independent and strong and sexy and vibrant.” Sophie gushed as Caitlin blushed deeper.
“Who's in love with who now?”
“Oh, shut up,” Sophie said with a wink. “I knew that he saw you with the American-”
“Jacob,” Caitlin interrupted. “His name is Jacob.”
“Yeah, sure, Jacob,” Sophie continued on, unbothered by the omission of his name. “I knew that if he saw the two of you together, he would see you in a different light, as someone dateable. And once he saw you and I saw the ‘aha’ moment in his eyes, I had to make sure that he could verbalize it because somehow that made it all the more concrete.”
“So you interrogated him?” Caitlin stated as she downed the rest of her water.
