He batted away her attempt at redirecting the conversation. “How long have you known, exactly?” His brows pulled together. A soft frown drooped onto his face when he realized he sounded like an excluded child—sniveling and jealous.
“A while, I guess. It’s the only thing that really makes sense,” she said and brushed hair out of her eyes, guarding herself from the sun and casting shadows across her features.
“And is this—what we’re doing right now—related to that?” He gestured towards the dry-cleaning bag she had slung over her arm. The soft plastic rustled in the wind, bending against Sophie’s legs as the coastal breeze picked up again.
Sophie let out a sharp laugh. “And how exactly would getting dad’s suit tailored be related to that?” She left him to ponder that as she stepped into the street.
With a start, Daniel looked up to see that the crosswalk light had changed. He could tell by the way that she was shaking her head that she was still laughing at him; the wind carried the sound of her laugh away, down the cross street. He stepped off the sidewalk, picking up his speed to catch up with Sophie. Her curls bounced in time with her steps, springing up as her boots clicked against the asphalt. “Well, I don’t know,” he said, as he tried to form some sort of explanation in his mind. “Maybe it’s the suit he uses when he… ya know,” he lifted his thumb to his neck, running the rough edge of his fingernail across his skin in a quick line. He then used his fingers to signify the squirting of blood, to which his sister rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, maybe Mrs. Mercado filled it with cocaine,” Sophie posed with a sarcastic glare in Daniel’s direction. “Dad doesn’t have a murder suit, Danny. He’d barely hurt a fly.” Sophie waved an apology to a shopper that she walked in front of, instinctually speeding up to keep from blocking the walkway for too long.
Daniel realized how much like their mother Sophie had become in that moment—kind to strangers on the street, even in the middle of berating a family member—he couldn’t help but smile. “You never know, Soph.”
“You’ve always had an active imagination…” Sophie taunted as she closed in on a wooden door. She pulled it open, holding it for Daniel as he shuffled into the restaurant behind her. The smell of roasted garlic was almost instantaneous as the two of them stepped onto checkerboard flooring; black chairs lined the wall on the opposite side of the register. One of them held a stack of menus with a dark red washrag on top. Beside them, there was a black bucket filled nearly halfway with sets of napkin-wrapped silverware. Daniel’s stomach growled from underneath his sweater just as a waiter came around the corner and showed them to a table. When they were alone again, Sophie flipped her menu down. “I can’t believe you were too dense to see it for so long.”
The condescension in her voice sparked a flurry inside of Daniel’s chest. His eyebrows knitted together as he lowered his own menu. “I had considered it as a possibility,” he said as his hand raised his water to his mouth. “Thanks for lunch, by the way.”
“Oh, am I paying?” Sophie laughed, her eyes lifting into her smile.
Daniel shrugged playfully. “Was your idea to stop.” He turned back to the menu, regarding the popular choices on the front. Deciding loosely on a platter of fish and chips, he discarded his menu.
Sophie rolled her eyes at his comment, laying the menu on the table after a quiet moment. “Anything to get out of dinner tonight.”
Daniel lifted his eyebrows into a questioning arch.
“Mama’s boiled bacon and cabbage,” her mouth dropped the word out like a rotten piece of fruit. She began picking apart one of the breadsticks from the basket on the table, pulling small pieces of the fluffy bread into her mouth with a sneer. It was as if she’d somehow conjured the dish by speaking its name. “It’s disgusting and totally overrated,” she said without remorse, tilting her head as if she’d declared it so. She popped another piece of the breadstick into her mouth, looking deeper into the dining room from over Daniel’s shoulder.
Still laughing at his sister’s critical thoughts on the national dishes, he turned to follow Sophie’s gaze. Behind him, sitting at one of the more intimate booths near the back wall of the restaurant, was Caitlin.
Her full, red hair was pulled back behind her ears, curling in sleek strands around her shoulders. The red wave flipped outwards at the small of her back. In the warm lighting of the candlelight, the red hue to her hair looked more intense than ever. Glowing in the warmth, she looked nearly ethereal. Her eyes were lined with smokey, purple liner that matched the dress that curled around her bosom. From this angle, Daniel was certain that Caitlin couldn’t see him—and the part of him that registered how long he’d stared was grateful for this. He continued to look at her, watching as her mouth curled around words and her eyes lit up with interest and surprise—it only then occurred to Daniel that Caitlin wasn’t eating at the restaurant alone.
Across the table from Caitlin sat a dark-haired man. Sitting opposite of her, he looked nervous. Daniel decided—having only witnessed their date for a moment—that the man she was with was decidedly average. They’d clearly been here for a while, but it looked like Caitlin had mostly touched her wine—a merlot, Daniel guessed, because it was her favorite—instead of her food. Upon closer inspection, he could now see that Caitlin’s smile looked rehearsed and awkward—wavering like a slight twitch. “What’s she doing here?” Daniel asked, gesturing towards them to his sister. “Who is that guy?”
Sophie leaned over in her seat, holding her water glass close to her. She tucked the straw into her mouth to take a sip of water as her eyes narrowed on the couple. “I don’t know—never see him before.” After a second, Sophie’s suspicious eyes focused on her brother instead.
Daniel only twitched in confusion underneath his sister’s gaze, doing his best not to let her see how bumping into Caitlin had affected him. He lifted his water glass to his mouth, taking an ice cube into his mouth. As he crunched on the piece of ice, he fought the urge to take another look over his shoulder. The image of Caitlin’s red hair against the brick wall had already burned into his mind—the way her eyes lifted from the table to catch the soft glow of the candlelight.
Sophie’s words were muffled by a new breadstick. “Maybe she’s actually looking to get married.”
Daniel lifted his eyes to his sister’s, pulling back from her as if she’d suggested something preposterous. He scoffed—the impulse to argue with Sophie leaving a sour note in his mouth—but when he turned around to get another look at her, it was clear to him she was on a date. He turned back around, tucking his mouth into a sideways grimace. He took to reevaluating his options on the menu before ultimately deciding on the fish and chips anyway. The waiter took their menus away after taking their order down; Daniel vaguely heard his sister order something involving shrimp and thanking the waiter. Before long, the waiter returned with their meals.
Carving a bite of white fish off of the larger, fried piece on his plate, Daniel struggled to keep his attention from Caitlin’s table. After seeing her, every laugh in the restaurant somehow either belonged to her or the man she was with—that floppy-hairedAmericanof all people. He couldn’t help but feign interest in art on the wall to try to sneak a glimpse of her from the corner of his eye. To Daniel’s horror, the figures from the back of the restaurant were walking closer—and had somehow managed to ramp up their illustrious display of romance.
“Caitlin,” Sophie called, waving them over.
Hushed voices spoke quickly behind Daniel. He gave his sister a warning look, but she ignored him to greet Caitlin as she stepped into place in front of their table.
“How’s it going?” Daniel’s sister asked, shooting a curious glance as the man Caitlin was eating with took the place next to her. She laced her hands underneath her chin, looking like an overly-eager interviewer for a morning talk show.
Daniel felt a swirl of embarrassment in the pit of his stomach. He turned away from his sister, instead watching the man at Caitlin’s side with narrowed eyes. He stood a touch closer than Daniel would’ve dared until similar circumstances. He felt his lip pull up, curling in disgust and judgment—Caitlin worked quickly when business was on the line. As he looked at the red-haired woman standing in front of him, he decided that what he felt most for Caitlin was pity. To chase the idea of a relationship only in order to receive a hand in the business she should’ve earned as her birthright? It was more than a dishonest and fruitless venture—it was borderline prostitution! He winced, regretting the thought. Thankful his thoughts were not prominently displayed on his face, Daniel settled for simple disapproval.
“Oh, gosh,” Caitlin started to laugh. “I’m so sorry, this is Jacob—” she moved to introduce the man at her side. They traded quick greetings over the table before the man turned to Daniel, who continued to pick at his dinner to avoid greeting the man directly.
“Join us for a drink, won’t you?” Sophie asked, already scooting to make more room for Caitlin on her side of the table. Sensing the hesitation between the two of them, Sophie lifted her hand and ushered them in. “Come on now! It’s just the one,” she winked at Caitlin when she said this.
Being the only two to understand that a cocktail invitation from Sophie never ended with simplyonedrink, Caitlin and Daniel shared a laugh. Daniel struggled against the urge to look at her, wondering briefly if her face had been compelled in the same way as his. Without looking, he was certain that the candlelight was lighting her face up as it had before. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the brilliant tendrils of the ember-colored hair as each curl were engulfed in flames.
“Alright,” Caitlin agreed finally, shimmying into the booth next to Daniel’s sister; her hair ran over her shoulder with the reckless speed of a wildfire. Her date took his place at the end of Daniel’s side of the booth, his leg sticking out in the walkway. Caitlin didn’t seem to notice. “It’s nice to see you two out together.”
