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“Definitely too young to buy furniture!”
He laughed.
“I thought we should travel first, work a few years, save up some money. But she was keen to start a family, you know?”
“I think it is a good idea to wait,” I said. “Children require so much extra time and commitment. They’re expensive too; I mean, the schools and the extra classes and they grow out of their clothes every couple of weeks!”
“I wasn’t ready for all that,” Marcus said, sounding sad. “Listen, do you want to get out of here?”
I checked my phone and saw a message from Zac.
Stuck at the garage, you still at bar?
I answered.
Leaving now, will catch u later, ok?
Marcus said goodbye to his friends, and we went outside. It wasn’t that cold, and we decided to go for a walk, grab something to eat. We walked through the town, talking about our past here and visited old haunts like the ice cream parlor, which had since shut down and was a Chinese take-out joint now.
“Shall we get some fries?” he asked, and I had a flashback to how we used to share a packet of greasy fries, which we liked to eat the same way, with plenty of salt and mustard. It was so comfortable with him, there was no anxiety or nervousness on my part.
“Seeing that we’ll both be working in Boston soon, do you think I could give you a call sometime?” he asked. “We could go for fries.”
“Sure,” I said.
I knew he was asking me much more than to meet up every now and then. He was testing the water to see if I was interested in maybe picking up a relationship again. He wasn’t direct about it though, which I appreciated. I didn’t feel put on the spot.
“Do you remember who used to live here?” I pointed to an old house at the end of the street. The paint was cracked, and the front gate was broken, hanging off one of its hinges.
“Wasn’t it the Scuzzy family?”
I laughed. “We called them the Scuzzies, but I think they were called Scurzzi?”
“They were Italian, right?”
“Do you think they still live here?”
We walked up to the house and looked at the overgrown weeds in the yard. The Scurzzis had been a big family, with four or five children, all with dark hair and dimpled cheeks. Mr. Scurzzi had an Italian restaurant in town, and we’d occasionally eat there as a family. My father loved their veal al limone.
“It doesn’t look like anyone is living here now,” Marcus said.
The house seemed too small to house a big family and there was something depressing about how rundown it looked. It made me think of how many things had changed over the years and not for the better. Marcus picked up on my mood.
“Hey, you okay?”
I tried to smile. “I think I should go home,” I said. I wanted to check in with Tucker before he went to bed. We walked back to the bar. I had Sam’s SUV, which I usually used to take Ethan places. He’d lent it to me for the weekend, to bring Tucker home and to save me from having to take a bus. He said it would be in the garage all weekend anyway as he had his car and didn’t need it. Being reminded of Sam’s generosity made me feel guilty about hanging out with Marcus and sending him mixed messages.
“It was good to see you, Natalie,” Marcus said.
I smiled.
Before I knew it, he was kissing me. I was taken by surprise and didn’t react right away, but it wasn’t that kind of kiss anyway. His lips were soft and dry, and it was soon over.
“Sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have done that.” He looked down, shifting his weight from one foot to another.
“It’s fine, really,” and it was. I wanted to reassure him.
“My head’s just all over the place,” I said and that was true.
