Chapter 64
Dot grabbed a booth in the back of the restaurant.
“You said there will be three of you dining with us tonight?” The waiter started to fill the water glasses.
Dot nodded, still in shock at what she’d seen a few doors down at the wine bar. While it was true she and Danny had not talked about being exclusive, it was obviously exclusive. Wasn’t it? Didn’t it go without saying?
And then there were those townie girls. Dot sat thinking of all the things she should have said. But she’d choked when she had the chance, and now she was kicking herself.
She looked up as the door to the restaurant burst open.
“Where’s our girl?” Mary said, dressed in black leather pants, heels, a dark gray sweater, and a red puffy vest. Her hair was down and wild.
Dot waved from the booth. She gave Mary a double take.
“Oh no, did I screw up your plans? You look like you were going out.”
“What? In this? No. I was just hanging at the house,” Mary said.
“I thought the same thing,” Harper said. “But Jake’s on duty tonight.” Harper was wearing much more sensible clothing for an emergency meetup on a weeknight at the local Thai restaurant. Jeans, navy suede ballet flats, and her ubiquitous NYU hoodie.
The waiter came by and asked if anyone wanted a drink.
“Yes!” they said in unison.
Mary picked up the plastic drink tent from the table and quickly studied it. “How about a round of Basil Mojitos?”
“Excellent choice,” he said and rushed to get their cocktails.
“Okay. Spill. What happened? Who do we need to murder?” Harper was ready for the drama.
“Yes, tell us everything.” Mary leaned in, her elbows on the table. Dot had their full attention.
They patiently listened to the entire story stopping only to order tom yum soup, green papaya salad, pad Thai with shrimp, mango sticky rice—all to share.
“Okay, first, we take out the townies. They’re horrible,” Harper said.
“I mean, it is self-defense,” Mary said. “We’d probably only be sentenced to twelve years. We’d be paroled in six with good behavior.”
“So, you’d do the full twelve?” Harper asked.
“Yeah, probably.” Mary scooped another helping of the shrimp entrée onto her plate. “But how do you know that Danny was on a date? Couldn’t he just have been catching up with a friend?”
“It didn’t look that way to me. They were so into each other.
She had her hand on his arm. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
I know what I saw.” The longer Dot thought about seeing Danny at that candlelit table with the wine flowing, the more convinced she was that it was definitely a romantic dinner.
“Why don’t you text him to see if he responds?” Harper asked.
“I don’t want to seem desperate. Or that I’m checking in on him.”
“But aren’t you desperate to know?”
“Yes. But also no.” Dot put her chopsticks down.
“I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about what Maddy said.
And while she’s an awful person, maybe she had a point.
Maybe she was trying to protect him. I know that Danny has been through hell.
And I absolutely have fallen for him. But we’ve never talked about being exclusive.
It’s not like he’s said that he loves me. ”
She took a sip of her drink and set it down. And immediately picked it back up again. “And we go back to New York in a month. Then what? It isn’t fair for me to string him along and then leave, is it?”
Mary considered this. “Do you love him?”
“Oh gosh, I don’t know. I mean. Yes. Maybe. But it’s so complicated.”
“Why is it complicated?” Harper asked gently.
“Because my life is in New York. I left a good paying job—that I hated, I know—to try this. I dragged you here with me on a whim and now . . . now I just . . . ugh. I don’t know.”
Mary signaled to the waiter that they’d have another round. “I know that you have so much on your mind,” she said. “We all do. But before we get carried away, let’s just pause for a moment.”
“Yeah. My mom always tells me not to think too far ahead,” Harper said.
“How’s that going for us?” Dot asked, with more bite than she intended. “Wait. I’m sorry. I’m a wreck. You’re right. I know. I should just take a minute and think things through.”
Mary considered her from across the table. “You love him. I can tell.”
Dot blushed and lifted her eyebrows. “You’ve always known me better than I know myself.”
“But you’re hiding something. What else is going on? Tell us,” Harper pushed.
Dot still hadn’t told them about the Super PAC job opportunity in Washington, D.C.
“Okay. There’s one other thing.”
“Oh, here we go.” Mary sat back, bracing herself for whatever it was. “You slept with Fletcher in Milwaukee. I knew it.”
“No! I have a job possibility. Working for a Super PAC doing strategic communications. A more senior role. Good pay.”
“That sounds amazing,” Harper said.
“There’s just one little thing though. Well, it’s a big thing.”
Harper motioned for Dot to keep talking.
“It’s in Washington.”
“D.C.?”
“Yes.”
“But you live in New York,” Mary said.
“Exactly.”
“Do you want the job?” Harper asked.
“I want that job, but I want it to be in New York.”
“Is that an option?” Mary asked.
“No. It’s an in-office job. No remote work.”
“So, you’d move to Washington?” Harper asked.
“I don’t know,” Dot replied.
“So, this is more complicated than just what you and Danny will do?” Mary hit the nail on the head.
“Yes.”
“Perhaps you’re making it more complicated than it needs to be,” Mary said as she signaled the waiter for the bill.
“Well, things get easier, especially if Danny is dating other women,” Dot said.
“You don’t know that he’s dating other women,” Harper interjected.
“I saw what I saw.”
“Maybe you’re telling yourself that’s what you saw without even asking him about it,” Mary said. “Like you’re trying to talk yourself out of being in love with him and looking for an easy way out.”
“Ouch.” Dot felt hurt.
Mary reached over and took Dot’s hand. “You don’t have to have everything planned out, you know.”
“But I must have some sort of plan. I need a job. I have bills to pay. I need to get my life going.” Dot was spiraling.
“Shall we go home and get some sleep. See how things look in the morning?” Mary started to put on her coat and the waiter came over to help her into it.
“Thank you, you’re such a gentleman.” She bestowed a smile on him and rested her hand gently on his shoulder, making his day.
Harper pushed them toward the door. “Let’s get out of here before he asks for your number.”
As they left, Dot glanced down the street at Cocoa and Cabernet, where she’d seen Danny and his date. The restaurant was closed for the night. The lights were off, and it was dark.
Like her mood.