“Yes?” she asked.
“Um,” I said, realizing I had no plan past this first greeting. “How’s it going?”
Deb looked at me, then at the rest of the group at the table, as if weighing whether this was a trick or not. “Fine,” she said slowly. Then, in only an incrementally more friendly tone, she added, “How are you?”
“Do you want to sit with us?” I asked her. I felt both Riley and Heather look at me, but I kept my eyes on Deb, who looked so surprised—shocked, even—that you would have thought I’d asked her to lend me a kidney. “I mean,” I continued, and now Dave was looking at me, too, “there’s, um, room here. If you do.”
Deb, no fool, looked at Heather, who was staring at me, an incredulous look on her face. Forget borrowing a kidney: by her face, you’d think I’d offered to eat one. “Well,” she said slowly, pulling her purse a little closer to her side, “I—”
“She’s right,” Dave said suddenly, scooting a bit down from me to create a bigger space between us. “The more, the merrier. Have a seat.”
Riley narrowed her eyes, twisting the top off her water again. Meanwhile, Deb was looking at me, so I tried to convey with one look both reassurance and confidence. Somehow, though, it worked, because she came over—slowly—and slid onto the bench beside me, parking her purse in her lap and folding her hands over the top of it.
This time, I did have to say something. I’d pulled Deb into this, so the least I could do was try to make her feel welcome. But my mind just went blank, then blanker still as I began trying desperately to come up with any conversation starter. I was just about to say something about the weather—the weather!—when she politely cleared her throat.
“I like your tattoo,” she said to Dave, nodding at the circle on his wrist. “Does it have special meaning?”
I knew I was not the only one surprised that this was the topic she chose to broach: Heather and Riley were staring at her, as well. But Deb was giving Dave her full attention as he glanced down at his wrist, then said, “Yeah, actually. It, um, represents someone I was very close with, once.”
Hearing this, Riley closed her eyes, and I thought again about the matching circle on her own wrist. You didn’t just get a tattoo with someone for nothing.
“What about you?” Heather asked Deb suddenly. “Do you have any tattoos?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Really?” Heather said, raising her eyebrows. “I’m so surprised.”
“Heather,” I said.
“I would actually love to have one,” Deb continued, glancing at me. “But I haven’t found anything I feel passionate enough about yet.” To Dave, who was watching her with an attentive expression, she added, “I think it’s important that it really have meaning to you if it’s going to be a part of you forever.”
Heather’s eyes widened, and I felt like kicking her in the shin but restrained myself. Dave said, “That’s very true, actually.”
Deb smiled as if he’d paid her apliment. “Yours looks kind of tribal to me, with the thick lines and the black.”
“You know about tribal tattoos?” Dave asked her.
“A little,” Deb replied. “Although personally, the Japanese designs are my favorites. The fish, and the foo dogs. The artwork is so imperial and classic.”
“Are youkiddingme with this?” Heather interjected, incredulous. “How doyouknow about tattoos?”
“My mom had a friend who had his own shop,” Deb said, either unaware of or just ignoring her tone. “I used to stay there after school until she was done at work.”
“You,” Heather said, her voice flat, “hung out at a tattoo shop.”
“It was a while back.” Deb smoothed her hands over her purse. “Very interesting, though. I learned a lot.”
Dave, on Deb’s other side, suddenly caught my eye and I was surprised to see him smile at me, like we were the only two in on a joke. Even more unexpectedly, I felt myself smile back.
“So, Deb,” I said. “Hypothetical situation. Your boyfriend cheats on you. Do you grant him another chance, or end things?”
Heather rolled her eyes. Riley, though, was watching us.
“Well,” Deb said after a moment. “Honestly, I’d need more details before I could say.”
“Like what?” Dave asked her.
She thought for a moment. “Length of the relationship, first. I mean, if it’s really early days, it doesn’t bode well. Better to move on.”
