“Yeah. You seem okay.” For his part, Duke looked miserable, running his hand through his hair.
“I promise I won’t do any better if you come near me.” I held my hand out to him once more when he looked as though he was debating another rescue in the form of a hug.
We both stood there awkwardly while I wiped my tears and jabbed my fingernails into my hand to give my pain sensors something else to focus on besides my eyes.
Slowly, Duke picked up the toilet brush he must have dropped and stepped back into a stall. I picked up the mop once more.
“Well, this is going to be horrifying tomorrow,” I reflected, my sorry attempt to lighten the mood.
“Don’t worry about it. If I had a dime for every time I cried in the women’s bathroom…” Duke said.
In spite of myself, a laugh bubbled out of me. I waited a moment before adding, “Thanks for the Dr. Pepper.”
“Sure. Sorry about the tires.”
“Thanks.”
“Was the drink better having fallen? I had to walk down to the gas station on the corner for that.”
My heart fluttered at the thought. “I’m surprised you remembered.”
“I did take a tiny swig, and it tasted exactly the same to me, but what do I know?”
“You can’t be trusted. You drink Coke from a can.”
“When you start out with perfection, it’s hard to settle for anything less.”
I plunged my mop into the brown, soapy water. The sound of scrubbing and flushing became the only noise in the bathroom—until he spoke again.
“And by the way, I remember everything about that night.”
I paused in my mopping for a moment at his words before forcing my limbs to start up again, to keep moving. Taking a big breath, I searched for something else to occupy our minds. “What’s your favorite candy bar?”
“Thinking of getting me a treat?”
“No. Just conversation to drown out the sound of you scrubbing my toilets.”
“Snickers,” he said firmly.
“Wow. You just skipped past Twix without a word?”
“Sub par.”
“What? No way. It’s a cookie, chocolate, and soft caramel. It’s culinary perfection.” I had almost made it with my mop to where he was cleaning.
“Wrong. That can’t keep you alive in a desert. A candy bar needs some protein.”
“Wait. Why am I in the desert?”
We went on like this for a few more minutes, mindless chatter and teasing occupying our thoughts as we finished our parts of the bathroom. He held the door open for me as I moved the cleaning cart out into the hallway.
“What’s left?” he asked. “And don’t lie to me.”
“I always save the men’s bathroom for last. It’s like a special little treat for me.”
“Gross. Okay, then can you wait here for a sec?”
I paused, glancing up at him. “Why?”
