Page 28 of Pity Party
“We should plan a shopping trip before you go back to school. I’ll give you all my redhead knowledge.”
“Would you seriously go shopping with me?”
“Sure, why not? That is, if your dad’s cool with it. We could hit a mall in Milwaukee on Sunday.” I’m not sure why I’m pushing to spend more time with Sammy, but the truth is, I really like her, and I do know a few things that might make her entrée into Elk Lake Junior High go smoother. You know, like which colors really pop on her.
“You’re seriously the best, Melissa. Thank you.”
The morning flies by with both of our appointments buying dresses. At this rate, I’m going to have to offer Sammy a full-time job. She’s amazing with our clients.
My mom walks in at twelve-fifteen and hands me a bag from the diner. “Here’s your patty melt and fries.” She sounds bitter about it. I’m guessing she hasn’t forgiven me for insinuating her husband is useless.
“I’m meeting a friend for lunch,” I tell her. “You go ahead and eat it.”
“I can’t eat this!” She shakes the bag like it’s a maraca. “I have high cholesterol.”
“If you can eat all the red meat you cook at home,” I tell her, “one patty melt isn’t going to send you to the hospital.” I’m really not in the mood for Margie today.
“Who are you having lunch with?”
There is no way I’m going to tell her the truth, so I say, “Paige.”
Sammy pipes in with, “I’m meeting my dad at the diner at twelve-thirty. Want to walk over with me?”
Super. My first, and possibly only, date with Tim is going to be witnessed by Sammy’s dad. I don’t know why the idea bothers me so much, but it does. “Sure,” I tell her. “We can ask him about Sunday then.”
I hurry into the back to check my makeup and fluff out my hair. At twelve-twenty, Sammy and I stroll out the front door. I confess, “I’m not having lunch with Paige, even though she’ll be there.”
“Really?” Sammy sounds excited. She probably doesn’t catch adults lying to their parents very often. “Who are you meeting?”
“Just a guy I went to high school with.” I don’t tell her that we reconnected on a dating app. I want as few people to know that as possible.
“Is he cute?”
“Very, but we’re just friends.” I can retract that statement on the off chance some kind of love connection occurs.
“Are you going to introduce me to him?”
I slow my pace while I think about how to answer that. It’s like my brain and feet are powered by the same energy source and I can only do one thing at a time. “Probably not today,” I finally say.
“Because it’s a date?” Her expression morphs into one of pure enthusiasm.
“Fine, it’s a date,” I concede. “But I don’t think things are going to go well. Tim was super popular in school, and I wasn’t. We’ll probably just make small talk for a bit before going our separate ways.”
She nods her head. “That’s cool. Should we work out a sign so I can rescue you if you need me to?”
“Et tu, Brute?” I’m guessing Sammy isn’t proficient in Shakespeare yet, so the Julius Caesar quote has probably gone over her head. So, I say, “Paige wanted to know the same thing.”
“What did you tell her?”
“I said that because Tim was living in Elk Lake again, I didn’t want to use such an obvious tack if things went south. Worst case scenario, I can always claim I’m feeling sick.” Then Tim can add that to his inventory of sketchy memories of me.
When we arrive at the diner, I open the door for Sammy, before following her in. She immediately waves at her dad, who’s sitting in a booth in the corner. God, he looks good. My fingers start to fidget with the desire to touch his hair again. I don’t know what the guy does for a living, but he could seriously do shampoo commercials.
I force my gaze to move around the dining room to see if Tim is already there, but he’s not. “Let’s go ask your dad about Sunday,” I suggest to Sammy.
She has a bounce in her step as she leads the way to his table. “Hey, Dad.”
He smiles at her before he notices me. When our eyes connect, he swallows visibly and says, “Melissa.” The timbre of his voice rolls over me like warm maple syrup, which must be why I’m about to drool.