Page 51 of True Colors

“Very much.” I wipe the corner of my mouth with my napkin. “I’m surprised you come here so often.”

His eyebrows furrow. “Why?”

“You don’t seem like the type who’d enjoy diner fare.”

That catches him off guard. “Really?”

I shrug casually. “Just…you’re a CEO and…y-you know a b-bigshot.”

This amuses him. “A good patty melt, darling, is a good patty melt. And they make it very well here. Of course, it can’t compete with a New York slice, you understand? But it’s the best San Francisco can offer.”

It’s nice to just talk to him.

Conversation comes easily—no effort, no performance. He isn’t stiff or imposing the way he can be at work. I realize he’s one of those people who operates in two modes—the polished professional and the private man. He keeps them carefully compartmentalized, and tonight, I’m with the latter.

After dinner, he asks if he can walk me to my car.

I shake my head. “I don’t have one.”

He does a double-take. “How are you getting home?”

“My b-bike.”

He freezes. “Your…bike?”

“Yes. Haight is not far. Just a fifteen-minute ride.”

His jaw tenses. “Please tell me you don’t ride alone through Haight at night.”

“I do.”

He looks horrified. “No. Absolutely not.”

“It’s f-fine.”

“It’s not.” He leans down so his face is close to mine. I can smell his cologne. “Why don’t you have a car?”

My shoulders slump. “I…I don’t have a license.”

Now, his eyes widen. “How come?”

Damn! Now I have to tell him more about myself, and I don’t want to because it is all embarrassing.

“I…I have anxiety, and driving makes me…anxious. So, I de-decided that I’d just bicycle.”

“And Finn’s okay with this?” he demands.

He’s angry, and I don’t like it. I don’t like the raised voice. I tamp down the first tendrils of disquiet.

I don’t like that he brings up Finn, like he’s my keeper. I want to say, “My transportation isn’t Finn’s business,” instead I mumble, “Of course.”

He shakes his head. “We’ll have to find a safer option.”

We? Who’s this “we” he’s talking about? And why does he care? Why does his care affect me?

When we reach my bicycle parked in the HelixSphere parking garage, he stops dead as I unlock my mint-green bike.

“This is yours?” he sounds incredulous.