Chapter 5
HENRY AND I WALKED TO THE LITTLE TUNA mostly in silence. “So,” he finally said when we were two storefronts away. “You’re throwing a party.”
“I guess.” I shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Maybe?” He shook his head and laughed. “You said the word party—”
“No!” My voice jumped an octave. “I said gathering.”
“Same difference,” Henry said. “We’re cater-waiters. Gathering is an automatic synonym for party.” He gave me a look. “Did your mom leave behind her Costco card?”
I groaned. He knew that, deep down, I was just like my hostess-with-the-mostest mother. If I was going to host a party, I was going to commit to hosting a party.
“Let’s focus on the positives,” Henry continued. “Griff had a total She’s All That moment back there.”
“A she’s-all-what?”
“She’s All That.” Henry paused our promenade to give me a look. “Romantic comedy from 1999 with Freddie Prinze Junior?”
“Doesn’t ring a bell,” I lied, knowing it would annoy him.
Sure enough, he let out a heavy sigh. “High school jock bets he can turn the nerdy girl into prom queen?”
“Let me guess,” I said dryly. “She takes off her glasses and suddenly she’s gorgeous.”
“How’d you know?”
“Because Taylor Swift spoofs the scene in the ‘You Belong with Me’ music video,” I said. “I’ve also seen the movie, Hank.”
Henry flashed me the middle finger with one hand and used the other to zap my waist. “The equivalent of that happened earlier,” he said after I tried to swallow my squeal. “Griff saw your new hair and now thinks you’re a goddess.”
“Sure he does.”
“No, honestly,” Henry said. “He could barely get any words out. For a second, I thought he was going to faint. He looked like he’d reached the peak of Mount Olympus.”
“I think you’re exaggerating,” I told him, even though something had sparked in my chest at his words. Was Griff really seeing me in a new light?
“I think our plan is going to work,” Henry countered, holding open the sushi restaurant’s door for me. “We just need to give it some time.”
You still haven’t said you like my hair, I thought before stopping short by the hostess podium.
The Little Tuna was all contemporary minimalism with moody lighting, but still, Ellie’s pink-blond hair glowed in the dim light.
She and Chase sat at a nearby table. I never would’ve thought it was possible to look lovestruck while eating edamame.
I could only see Chase’s back. He had dark hair and broad shoulders.
“Henry,” I hissed at the same time he said, “Chen, party of two.”
The host scanned his list and nodded. “Yes, if you’ll please follow me,” he said, collecting a couple of menus.
“Henry.” I grabbed his sleeve before he walked into the lion’s den. “Ellie’s here.”
“What?”
“Ellie is here,” I repeated. “With Chase.”
His face paled, and I didn’t blame him. It was one thing to see his ex-girlfriend solo, but seeing her so happy with Chase…
“What do you want to do?” I asked quietly. “Stay? Bail?”
“Does Hamburger Hill sound appetizing?”
I meant to nod, but then found myself shaking my head, lacing my fingers through his, and subtly tugging him toward our table. Henry and I had orchestrated this scheme to make Ellie jealous, so Ellie actually seeing us might be a strong start.
Our table was, as fate would have it, on the banquette wall. Two tables over from the lovebirds. There was no one dining between us.
Ellie noticed us as soon as we sat down, mid-sip of water. “Oh my god, Audrey!”
“Hey!” I plastered on a smile. “I didn’t know you liked sushi.”
“Neither did I,” Henry mumbled.
If Ellie heard him, she didn’t let on. “Your hair is really something else,” she told me. “Tate sent me a photo earlier.” Pause. “I think it’s her best makeover to date.”
Makeover? For some reason, the word stung. Yes, my haircut was making everyone’s head spin, but I was still me.
“Thanks,” I said brightly, then caught Ellie glance between Henry and me.
I felt a pebble land in the pit of my stomach, hoping she didn’t feel betrayed.
Ellie Hopper and I only hung out due to proximity and/or convenience, so I didn’t feel like I was breaking girl code by sitting here with Henry…
At least, I didn’t think so. “You must be the infamous Chase.”
“Infamous?” His lips curled up in a cheeky smile. “What makes me infamous?”
Oh, I don’t know, I thought. Maybe the fact that you stole the love of my best friend’s life?
Henry cleared his throat. “Nice to see you, man,” he said to Chase, always the bigger and better person. “How’s Davidson?”
He nodded along as Chase talked about college, but I imagined the words were going in one ear and out the other.
“What about you, Chen?” Chase asked after Henry and I had ordered Thai iced teas. “You still doing improv?”
“Whatever gets me closer to Weekend Update on SNL,” Henry said dryly.
Everyone laughed, but I noticed a slight hitch in Ellie’s. I’d known Chase for all of five minutes, so I couldn’t pen a Google review on him yet, but I did know that he didn’t have Henry’s wit.
No one did.
“If you’ll excuse me a moment…” I inched out of the banquette. “I’m going to run to the bathroom.”
A high level of don’t-leave-me-here alarm flashed across Henry’s face, but he quickly recovered, pushing back his chair so he could stand up before I did.
His manners were also unrivaled. My mom said that men stood whenever a lady left or returned to the table.
My phone pinged three seconds after I locked the restroom door. You call HH and order takeout, Henry had texted. I’m brainstorming a way to get us out of here.
Really? I replied. Double dates aren’t your thing?
He countered with a snarky New Girl GIF.
Fair, I thought. Ellie and Chase hadn’t even gotten their sushi yet; they weren’t on their way out anytime soon.
Chase would probably chill out if we stayed, but I had a feeling Ellie and Henry—no matter how hard they tried not to—would eavesdrop on each other.
Meanwhile, I’d feel like I was part of the world’s most awkward performance piece.
A sighting of Henry and me together was enough for tonight, right?
“I’m sorry, but we need to go,” I said anxiously when I got back to the table (Henry stood again). “I left the furnace on.”
“Oh, crap.” There was a glint in Henry’s eye that I knew only I could see. It made me want to smile. “Yeah, we better—”
“Don’t you leave the furnace on all the time?” Ellie asked. “It takes hours to heat up.”
“Furnace?” Chase inquired.
“Audrey blows glass,” Henry explained.
Chase snickered like a twelve-year-old boy.
I pointedly ignored him. It was always annoying how sexualized glassblowing was. My furnace’s reheating chamber was commonly known as a “glory hole.”
“Yes,” I told Ellie, “but I’m pretty sure I left the hatch open, so the glass isn’t totally contained.” I forced a laugh. “My parents will murder me if I burn down the house!”
“Schumacher wallpaper is expensive,” Ellie conceded.
Henry, the only person I knew who still carried cash, dropped a ten on the table to cover our drinks before putting his hand on my lower back to usher me outside. I stifled my surprised shiver, in case Ellie was watching. “Great to meet you, Chase!” I called over my shoulder.
“Very heartfelt,” Henry noted as we raced each other to his car.
“WHAT DO YOU WANT TO WATCH?” I ASKED. The Highlander smelled like Hamburger Hill heaven. I was driving, and Henry had been obediently feeding me fries on the way home. Now we were finally at the front gate. “Modern Family?”
“Mmm,” Henry mumbled.
“Early Modern Family?” I clarified, because out of the eleven seasons, the earlier episodes were best.
He was quiet while I rolled down the window and punched in the gate code. “I don’t think I’m going to stay,” he said. “Is that okay?”
“Oh,” I said, sort of surprised.
“I’m sorry,” he added. “It’s not you…” He let out a long sigh. “Honestly, all I want to do is climb into bed with a good book.”
“How fitting,” I joked, and offhandedly gestured to his haul from Bedtime Stories in the back seat. “You have some strong contenders.”
Henry chuckled. “I’ll text you tomorrow,” he said once I’d put his car in Park. “We can go to Costco when you’re back from Brooklyn. I should be finished working the retirement brunch by then.”
Right, we needed supplies for my small gathering.
“I’m going to text Ellie,” I said, partly as a way to assuage my guilt about not giving her a heads-up about my date with Henry and partly to stall going inside. My house seemed spooky tonight, looming large in the darkness.
Not to mention, totally empty. I didn’t even have a pet goldfish to keep me company.
You don’t get lonely, I reminded myself.
“No need,” Henry said. “I invited both her and Chase while you were in the bathroom.”
“Seriously?” My eyebrows knitted together. “You couldn’t even be in the same restaurant as him. How is my house going to be better?”
“I was being polite,” Henry said. “There’s no chance Chase Reynolds is going to a high school party.” He shrugged. “He said he has ‘business with the boys.’”
“As in the superheroes?”
“He wishes.” Henry smirked. “No, just high school friends. Guys I know Ellie despises.”
I laughed and finally unlatched the car door. Henry followed suit. “Start counting down the days,” I told him. “Their relationship is doomed.”
“She seemed pretty into him tonight.” Henry sounded like he had a lump in his throat.
“Maybe,” I said. “She wasn’t comfortable, though.”
“We certainly know how to kill the mood.”
“That we do,” I agreed. “But even before we sat down, I could tell she wasn’t fully relaxed…” I rounded the hood of the Highlander to meet Henry at the front stoop. “At least, not the way she used to be with you.”
Henry looked thoughtful but stayed quiet and offered me the brown bag of greasy takeout. My mouth watered at the thought of my burger.
“Thank you,” I said. “Have fun snuggling up with your books.”
“I fully intend to,” he replied, but didn’t get back in the car until I’d unlocked my front door. One foot in the foyer, I heard him start the engine before quickly killing it and rolling down his window.
“Is everything okay?” I called.
“I forgot to say good night! So… good night!”
“Good night,” I said, giggling, then couldn’t help but ask: “Do you like my hair?”
Henry was quiet for a moment. “You’ve definitely stepped up your reputation.”
Then his window went back up, and he started the car and rounded the rotary-situation in the driveway.
I smiled as he honked twice in farewell and passed through the gate. He was a fan of the new look.
At least, I thought so.