“Hey, what are you two up to?” I wiped sweat from my brow.
Claire curled up her nose and sniffed. “It smells like sweaty boys in here.”
“That tracks,” I said breathlessly, gesturing to my body.
“We were just headed to get some lunch,” Levi said.
“And wanted to see if you wanted to join us?” Claire asked. “After you shower.”
I perked up. “I wouldn’t be crashing your date?” I was already tossing my dirty rag into the laundry and spraying down the bench with cleaner.
“No date, just lunch. Come on,” she said with a laugh.
“Okay. Cool, thanks. Give me ten.”
“Take twenty if you need it,” Claire called after me as I sprinted upstairs to take the world’s fastest shower.
Less than thirty minutes later, the three of us sat at a booth at Skytop Diner, Claire and Levi cuddling across from me. Would there ever be a time when I wasn’t alone on this side of the booth?
“You’ve been quiet this week,” Levi said after we’d ordered.
“You know how it is, all the ladies need their time,” I said, lightly.
Claire and Levi exchanged a look that I did not appreciate. A look that said maybe they’d been talking about me, and God forbid, were worried.
“What happened with Sophie and the list?” Claire asked, direct as ever.
“Oh, yeah, that thing.” I shrugged.
I glanced out the window. Was that the same pack of quick-walking grannies? I leaned closer to look, and like a group of flamingos in neon sportswear, all their heads shot forward in unison.
“We heard you were getting pedicures,” Levi said. His dark brow furrowed. “I thought that we were going to do that together someday.”
“Sorry, my man, she popped my self-care cherry.”
“And it went well?” Claire asked, hope written all over her features. So much I had to look away.
“I thought it did. And then when we were done, I managed to put my foot in my mouth.” I pulled out a packet of sugar to have something to fidget with. “She couldn’t get away fast enough,” I confessed, reliving the familiar shame.
“It was probably just a lot for her. I saw that list,” Claire said. “I think it’s actually great that you got her to do even that. Pedicures can be intense.”
I frowned. If it was meant to be a form of relaxation and indulgence, how did these women find it to be so stressful? Why did they put themselves through it?
“She said that, but ...” A little hole ripped in the sugar packet and the grains spilled out. “She seemed so defeated. So frustrated with me. It was like I did exactly the wrong thing.”
“I’m sure you were fine. She’s just going to need a lot of time if her anxiety is as bad as it sounds.”
“It’s really bad.” I used my finger to gather the granules of sugar into a pile. I didn’t want to talk about her personal struggles too much; it was her private business, but maybe they could show me how I could help.
“I’m sure she was glad to have you with her,” Claire said.
I wished that was true, but I worried I just made things worse for her.
We were distracted for a minute with ketchup, salt, and pepper distribution as our food was dropped off.
It was Levi who eventually spoke.
“Let me try to explain this,” he said. He was asking that I give him space to form his words and not jump in to fill in the silence. I stuffed a few fries into my pie hole, just to be safe. “When things were really bad, right after Mom died, the thought of trying to leave the house to talk to people, it was like ... it was like the thought of walking into a burning building.” He spoke measured and with control.
