Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
“I need clothes,” I tell her, and the waiter comes up the stairs and goes to the wall. I just noticed it’s a hole in the wall, and he presses the button, and then the food comes upstairs.
He puts plates of mozzarella sticks, fried zucchini, meatballs, and mussels in a tomato sauce, some fried calamari, and then some grilled calamari. The food just keeps coming. “Who ordered all this?” I look at everyone at the table, and they chuckle.
“They always do this; it’s their way to woo you. They are doing this because you are new,” Zoe says. “They want to impress you so you’ll come back.”
Everyone reaches in and grabs different things, and I cut into the round plump meatball covered in sauce and the smell of the spices and garlic hits my nose right away. But it’s nothing like it is when it hits my tongue and melts in my mouth. “After a bite of those meatballs, I knew I was going to be coming back.” I lean in to Zoe. “This is going in my pros list for buying a house near here.”
“You can also just come when you want them.” Zoe smiles, and unlike before, I feel it’s forced. Ever since the dating topic came up, our conversation feels forced. That she’s feeling uneasy about what she said.
We remain quiet for the rest of the meal. No one says anything to start new conversations, and when the bill comes, everyone except Zara tries to get it. In the end, Evan won. Pushing from the table, I’m the last one to walk down the stairs. I nod to the woman behind the bar and grab a business card on the way out.
“I’ll catch up with you guys on Sunday.” I hear Zoe saying, walking to Evan and giving him a hug.
“We can drop you off,” Evan says.
“No.” She shakes her head, walking to Zara and giving her a hug. Then she shocks me when she bends and kisses her stomach. “That kid is going to love me just as much as you guys,” she says, then she turns to look at me. “You have my number if you still want to go to that open house tomorrow. Let me know.” I nod at her. “And if you find someone who you want to go with”—she smiles—“no hard feelings.”
“I’ll text you guys when I get home,” she says, and she walks around them.
“Where is she going?” I ask them, watching her make her way to the corner and then turning the corner and out of sight.
“She is going to catch the subway,” Zara says and then walks to the truck.
“Is that safe?” I ask them, not sure if we are in a good area or not. I’m irritated with her, but I don’t want anything to happen to her. I look at Evan and Zara, wondering why they even allowed her to walk away from them and at night, no less. I don’t move from the spot in the middle of the sidewalk as I look at them and then at the corner where she just disappeared around.
“She does kickboxing and Kung Fu,” Zara says over her shoulder.
“Plus, she’s crazy as fuck,” Evan says. “I feel bad for the guy who tries to attack her.” My eyes never leave the corner she disappeared around. I watch Evan open the door for his wife and then kiss her.
“Actually,” I tell them, “I’m going to catch up with her and talk about the open house.” I look at Zara. “It was nice meeting you,” I tell her, and then nod at Evan. “Thanks for dinner. I’ll see you Monday,” I say. Taking off at a light jog, I turn the corner, looking around to find her.
She’s already three blocks ahead, so I step up the run and then call her name. She stops walking and turns to look and is shocked when she sees me. “What are you doing?”
“It’s nighttime,” I tell her, looking around while I try to slow down my breathing.
“Yeah, it usually happens when the sun goes down,” she says, and then we hear a honk and look to see Evan and Zara waving as they drive away.
“I didn’t want you to be alone at night, and I thought we could talk about the open house,” I tell her, and she turns to continue walking, her heels clicking on the concrete sidewalk.
“You could have called me.” She looks over at me, ignoring the fact I didn’t want her to walk alone at night.
“After all that food,” I say quietly, “I need to walk.” Looking down at our feet, I watch as our steps becoming leisurely. “This was a good choice.”
“Do you even know how to get to the loft from here?” she asks me, and I shake my head, looking down to smile.