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Yes! Let’s do it. Mason’s, 12pm?
Sounds good.
As I got ready for the lunch, I didn’t try to dissect why I was going. But thoughts did creep into my mind that I was just trying to make Brad jealous, or that I was trying to go back to the comfortable past instead of facing my future.
Shut up.
I quieted the voices in my head and approached the restaurant with determination. Just a friend’s lunch, and I didn’t have to think about Brad or anything else. I could just enjoy myself.
“Hey, Cassie,” Jason said when I got in the door. He’d already grabbed a table, and he jumped up to give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “I’m so glad you came.”
“No problem.” I slid in across from him. “Nice place.”
“Oh yeah, I love it here. One of my favorite spots these days. It’s new.”
We both looked around for a few seconds, and I realized that it would take time for us to get back to our old selves.
“So, how’s your mom?”
“She’s ok. Just going for her chemo lately. Good days and bad.”
“Sorry about all that.”
“No worries. I don’t want to talk about that, though. I’d rather talk about you.” He smiled and pushed a menu towards me.
We took a little while to look it over, and then once we ordered, he said, “So, what’s it like working for my dad?”
Don’t blush. Please don’t blush.
I used to have such skills at controlling my emotions as well as my facial expressions. But those abilities were not there in that moment. I blushed as bright red as an apple.
Skills, oh skills, wherefore have you gone?
Looking down at my cup of coffee, I nodded. “Fine. Fine. It’s good. I hear he’s like a big deal.”
Jason shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. Harvard grads always get that, I think. But he has written a lot of articles and made a lot of research breakthroughs.”
“Yeah, I saw on Google.” I swallowed, praying that there would be no more questions about Brad.
“I’ll be going to see him tonight.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked, starting to sweat.
Dear God, would he tell Brad about me? That we’d gone out?
“Yeah, I want to make amends to him, you know? I want to spend time with my half-sister too. It’s so crazy that I don’t even know her.”
“Well, she’s great.” My blush receded as I held onto a topic I was more comfortable with. “She comes into the lab a lot, so I’ve seen her around. She wants to be a scientist, so Brad has her come around and ask us questions.”
“Brad?” he asked. “Pretty unformal for a boss. My dad asks people to call him that?”
My face went red again.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Yeah,” I drawled, trying to make my tone sound believable. “He thinks it makes it all a better workspace.”
“Well, the guy is certainly different than when I was growing up with him.” Jason shrugged.
