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“Anything to drink, sugar?”
“Water for me, thanks.”
“And for you, ma’am?” the woman asked, turning her gaze to me.
“The double patty melt, with grilled onions, a side of loaded fries, and a chocolate malt. Thank you.” The woman smiled and nodded her head, jotting down our order on the pad she carried.
“I’ll have it out in a jiffy, folks!”
I turned my head back to Thatcher, seeing his lips turned up in a wide grin.
“What?”
“I do love a woman who’s not afraid to eat.”
“Oh, I don’t fuck around when it comes to diner food. Go big or go home.” I chuckled.
“That’s sexy as fuck,” he said. “Remind me to add a malt to my order when she comes back.”
“So, can we take a second to talk about tonight?” I asked, reaching my other hand out to take both his hands in mine.
“Of course.”
“I wanted to clarify something. I did go into the scene tonight in the right headspace. I had put all of the drama aside and focused on us. But it didn’t work like normal.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, truth be told, I have had this habit of keeping things separate.”
“No! You don’t say!” He chuckled, sarcastically widening his eyes in shock.
“So funny.” I shot him a look. “But seriously, I’ve lived my whole adult life meticulously keeping things separate. I compartmentalize things. I have neat little boxes that everything fits into, and I like it that way. But then everything changed. When everything happened this week, those boxes started to fall apart. I thought I could manage, that I could keep things in their tidy little boxes, but I couldn’t. And tonight, things fell apart even more. I don’t know when it happened, but it’s like the boxes broke and things got messy. Honestly, I should have called red myself. I should have taken control. But I thought I was good enough to separate them even without the boxes. Turns out, I couldn’t. And I’m so sorry for that.”
“Sadie, it’s okay. We’re human, and things happen.” He squeezed my hands in reassurance, offering me a small smile.
“I know it is, but I still needed to explain. And I want to thank you.”
“For what?”
“For calling red. For not hesitating when you realized something was off,” I admitted sincerely.
“Of course. We work together. And our next scene will be even better because of it. We are just starting our dynamic. There will be bumps and mishaps along the way, but I’m here for the ride. For as long as you’ll have me.”
Something told me that ride would be a lifelong one. Instead of letting that thought frighten me and urge me to push him away, I let it settle over me like a comforting blanket.
“Food’s up, folks!” The waitress announced as she set plates of fried deliciousness in front of us. “Enjoy your meal, and you just holler if you need anything.”
“Holy shit, this looks good!”
“I told you.” Thatcher ordered his chocolate malt to match mine, and we both dug into our food, words replaced with groans and sighs of bliss at the greasy goodness.
“Have you thought any more about the party?” Thatcher asked some time later, after the fervor of stuffing our faces had waned at least a bit.
“I want to say yes, to be as confident as you and Jamie are about the whole thing, but I’m struggling.”
“I can understand that.”
“I guess I just need more time.”
