“Phew. We did it! Thank you so much,” she says. “He’s tough to get down sometimes, he really pushes it. The car usually works, but I can’t really carry him up the stairs anymore. I appreciate it so much.”
“It’s really no big deal,” I say.
“Well, it’s rare for me to get the opportunity to relax before I have to go to sleep.”
I look down the length of her extremely good-looking body. I’m thinking about helping her relax. I shake the thought out of my head.
“Well, that phase will be over soon for him.” She’s staring at me, blinking, maybe mulling something over. I arch my eyebrows. “Well—”
“Would you like a glass of wine? It’ll probably be gross to you though.”
“Wow, you’re really selling it, Kate.” I smile.
“No, I mean it’s two-buck chuck,” she says with a shy laugh.
“I don’t care what it is. I’d love to have a glass of wine with you,” I tell her.
“Okay, have a seat.” She gestures toward the couch.
Her apartment is what you’d expect. IKEA mostly, and a lot of photos of just her and Tristan. It’s clean and tidy but void of personality. Dani is one of those people who likes eclectic but organized chaos throughout the house. She’s a neat person, but she’s also the type who will randomly stuff things in cabinets and then chime, “Outta sight, outta mind!”
I should stop comparing.
Kate returns with the wine, hands me my glass, and takes a seat next to me. “Your place is nice,” I tell her.
“Thank you. It feels a little college-dorm-roomy for a thirty-year-old, but it works for us.”
“You’re thirty?”
“Twenty-nine, I’ll be thirty next month.”
“But I thought you had Tristan—”
“Yeah, I had him my senior year, but I was already on the six-year plan because I changed my major three times.” She laughs at herself. “And when I had Tristan, it added another year. Then I decided to go back to school for what I’m doing now, so I guess I’m one of those people…”
“One of which people?” I say earnestly.
She shrugs. “I don’t know, like fickle or something.”
“You’re only thirty. You have the schooling and you’re raising a kid. Don’t be so hard on yourself, I wouldn’t call you fickle at all.”
I glance around, looking for a possible music source.
“How ’bout some music?” I say.
“Music?”
“Yeah, like a Bluetooth speaker or something I can link to myphone.” I’m not trying to be slimy by setting the mood, it’s just unbearably quiet and Kate isn’t a gabby person. There are a lot of lulls in the conversation. And, well, after so many years with Dani, I guess I’m just used to having music playing.
“Oh. I do have a speaker. It’s in my room. Come on.” She stands and holds out her hand. I hesitate for just a moment and then stand and follow her to her bedroom.
Inside her minimalist room, she hands me a small Bluetooth speaker. I sit on the edge of her bed, attempting to link my phone to it. She sits next to me, waiting for me to figure it out.
In an attempt to break the awkward silence, I gesture my head toward the TV. “What do you like to watch?”
“Everything. I’m kind of a TV junkie, but I also like to watch the great artistic films.”
I nod and smile. Something about her doesn’t make sense. It seems forced. “Did you ever watchLitigators?”
