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She was a lovely woman, and yet I’d never wanted someone to leave as much as I did in that moment. When she finally did, RJ looked down at her plate and took a big bite into her mouth before looking back up.
“Were you going to say something?” I took my own bite, trying to appear casual, like the last two minutes hadn’t left me picturing the way RJ’s lips parted.
She shook her head, mouth still full.
“Did you take a big enough bite there?”
RJ still chewed, but held up a middle finger, earning a pointed cough from the woman with three small children at the table next to us.
“Nice. Really nice,” I said as she pulled back her hand. “Corrupting young children now?”
She flipped me off again, this time shielding her hand with the other and covering her laugh.
“For shame, Brooks. For shame.” I sat back in the booth, enjoying my bite. “The youth of America just wanted breakfast, and now...”
“Jerk,” she muttered when she finally swallowed. “I didn’t know the kids were there.”
“I’m shocked at this poor behavior.” I clucked my tongue like my aunt Bette used to do. “Were you going to, um, say something before, though?”
“Nothing important.” She reached into her bag and pulled out an envelope, handing it to me across the table. “Here, though.”
“What’s this?” It was a nondescript white envelope, but it was sealed. “Are you serving me a summons or something?”
“No.” She set her fork down and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table.
I was about to call out her avoidance of my question and guide her back to answering, but she spoke again.
“I wasn’t sure you would want to know, which is why I sealed it.”
I glanced down at the envelope, noticing her foot was against mine again.
“I found his name. Your, or rather... the kid.” She searched my face, her speech speeding up. “It just seemed like you wanted to know, and I thought if I could find out for you, you wouldn’t have to do the searching, and then you’d know.”
I rubbed a finger along the edge of the paper.
“But if you don’t want to know, or if I overstepped...” She reached out and grabbed the envelope. “It was probably a dumb idea. I’ll throw it away.”
“No,” I said, pulling it back from her.
“It’s fine,” she said, gripping it more firmly.
I countered her force, sure the children at the next table were wondering why two adults were playing tug-of-war over waffles. “Will you let go?”
“Will you?” Her eyes flashed, meeting mine and staying there.
Why am I fighting with her for this?The envelope wasn’t large, and our fingers butted against each other, threatening to rip the paper in half. I softened my voice but didn’t ease my grip. “RJ, I want it.”
“Are you sure?” Her voice also lowered, the smoky quality I knew from other contexts coming into it. She also did not relax her grip.
“Why would I tell you if I wasn’t?”And why does the fact that she won’t let go make me want to jump over this table and kiss her?
RJ finally relaxed her fingers, and the force of my grip brought the envelope to the table in front of me.
“Thank you.” I hadn’t actually been sure I wanted it. I could have looked on Sarah’s social media anytime and found out, but I hadn’t. I’d blocked her and anyone connected to her, leaving my digital social life as dismal as my actual social life. I looked at the envelope, aware of RJ’s gaze on me. Her lips were pursed and pulled to the side, like she was considering snatching the envelope up again. “I know it’s stupid that this one thing bugs me so much,” I said, folding the envelope and tucking it into my pocket. “I appreciate you finding out. I’ll look later.”
She let her eyes drift away from me, and her posture stiffened, her fingers twitching like she didn’t know what to do with her hands. “It didn’t take a lot of work, but, I’m glad it’s... rather, I hope...”
“Hope that I forget you did this kind thing and don’t bring it up again?”
