He inhaled.“Starting over, as two regular people, what were you thinking of?”
She felt herself relax but stayed leaning forward so she could hear him.“Anything that comes with fries.”
“I don’t blame you.They’re great here.”
She raised her eyebrows.“Wouldn’t have thought I’d hear you say that.”
“Moderation’s important,” he said.“I’m not saying anyone should eat like this all the time, but there’s nothing wrong with a treat now and then, especially depending on where you are.”
“If that’s how you feel, why not get bone marrow-splashed fries?”She pointed to an item in the Sides section.
“Twist my arm.”Sure enough, when the waiter came to take their orders, he asked for the specialty fries with what the restaurant called “Le Burger.”Misty’s sandwich came with truffle Parmesan fries, and she had no complaints whatsoever about that.
“Anything to drink?”the waiter asked.
Before answering, Spencer glanced at her.“I’m not a big drinker, but don’t let that stop you if you want something.”
She thought about it.“I wouldn’t rule it out, but not right now.Just a sparkling water to start, please.”
“I’ll have the same.”
“Excellent.”
The waiter headed off, and Misty leaned closer so Spencer could hear her over the music.“How highly indulgent.”
“It’s just for today.Besides, I’m the type who’d rather have good fries once a month or less than cardboard fast food fries every day.It seems like a good balance to me.”
“Balance is important.I swear, what was supposed to be Tish’s performance diet turned into her regular diet sometime in high school.”
Spencer’s eyebrows shot up.“I still can’t believe you’ve been friends that long.”
“Longer.I don’t even remember exactly when we met.We were at the same school, K through 12, did track together...Then she got recruited by Columbia, and I went to Pratt, so we were still in the same city and able to see a lot of each other.”
“Wow.”He shook his head as if dazed.“How did we see each other so often and all that never came up?”
“It’s not like I learned a ton about you,” she pointed out.“Even though you dropped some pretty interesting crumbs into conversation.”
He looked more surprised than he ought to.“I did?”
“You did, Mr.Kickboxer.Was that just a hobby, or did you ever turn pro?”
He glanced away briefly before answering.“I spent some time as a pro, got engaged to a fellow fighter, but then I tore my ACL and had to hang up my gloves after surgery.We broke up a few months after that.”
Misty winced on his behalf, both from the injury and at hearing about the death of those dreams.Without even thinking about it, she reached across the table and covered his hand with her own.“I’m so sorry.”
He shrugged, maybe a little too easily.“That’s what got me into personal training.I tried working at an insurance office for a while, but couldn’t take it.Picture every stereotype you’ve ever heard about corporate life, and you’d find it at that place.But then a friend asked me to help his actor brother learn some moves for a role, wouldn’t take no for an answer, and I realized there was a career opportunity there.One where I still get to do what I like to some degree.”
She nodded.“I hear you all too well.Picture every stereotype you’ve heard about micromanagers, and you’ve got my twerp of a former boss.Is it any wonder I went freelance?”
“What were you doing before that?”And how had that never come up during their time together?
“I was working my way up in the graphics department of an ad agency where I interned during college.I loved what I was doing, but not so much the environment I was doing it in or the fact that my old boss kept Slacking me at two in the morning for crap thatalwayscould’ve waited until work hours.”
She shook her head before continuing.“Then one day, an author contacted me about some fan art she’d seen on my socials of two of her most beloved characters.A special edition of their book was about to come out, and she wanted me to draw memorable scenes for the inside covers.It became a bestseller, other people started reaching out to me, and it was so demanding that I couldn’t keep up with that and my ‘real job.’I had to choose one or the other, and it was no contest for me.”
“Wow.”
She smiled modestly.“Yeah, my parents thought I was crazy to give up my title, company health insurance, and all the other benefits.And yeah, I’m living with a bunch of roommates for longer than I ever wanted to, but I feel better for it.No more corporate clothes, no more coworkers stealing my snacks and ideas, no more filling my days with boring, do-nothing jobs just for the sake of my butt at a desk at certain times of the day.When I’m working, I am truly busy.”
