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“I’m so glad you called!” Millie said, unlocking the car door for me.
She was waiting out front in her white Escalade, dressed in jeans and a white puffy jacket. I had called Millie in hopes she’d want to come over to share ice cream and watch a movie, just like Jill would have done. But she immediately latched on that I needed outside time and to get away from my house. She wouldn’t take no for an answer until I had agreed to go out with her tonight.
I stepped up into the passenger seat. “This is a huge car!”
She reached over the center console to give me a hug and laughed. “Largest one I could persuade Dad to get for me. Need a big vehicle to haul all his artwork around.”
“Have I seen his art?”
“Probably not. He only sells to private collectors. Most of his work is commission, though he also does a lot of artworks that are ‘whatever comes to him in the moment,’” she said with air quotes.
“So why are you looking for an art gallery?”
“Mom finally persuaded him to get rid of ninety percent of his whatever-comes-to-him-in-the-moment paintings. They were taking up one of the master closets, and she was getting tired of looking at them. Though, between you and me, Mom’s just going to fill up the closet with couture dresses.”
Catching the incredulous look on my face, Millie added, “She collects them.”
That still didn’t compute in my head.
She laughed again. “My family is well-off. Does that help?”
“Sure.” No wonder she had an Escalade as a commuter car.
“Anyway, enough about my family. Did you have anywhere you particularly want to go tonight?”
“Not really. Like I said, I was happy to stay home.”
“And as I will reiterate, that’s not an option. I have the perfect place for us to go then.”
“I don’t want to get drunk or go to a club, if that’s what you’re thinking,” I said quickly.
“No. No. None of that. This will be funner. Just sit back, we’ll be there in no time.”
Sure enough, about fifteen minutes later we were parked in front of a bowling alley. But it wasn’t just a bowling alley. I could hear music, and there looked like arcades at the entrance.
“Lira and I found this place our first night here,” Millie said, hooking my arm and leading me into the building. “I’ve got the record on the Pac Man game. Have you ever beat any of the games here?”
“No, I’ve never been here.”
Millie stopped and turned to look at me. “What do you mean you’ve never been here? You’ve lived here for how many years?”
“Many. Law school plus two years.”
Her face was a kaleidoscope of emotions—amazement, confusion, and then ending on pure joy with a smile that split her face. “I amsoglad you called! We’re going to have so much fun.” She turned to the girl behind the front desk and said, “Two for bowling.” Turning back to me, I saw her eyes were ablaze. “We’re going to start with bowling and then we’re going to play every arcade game we can get our hands on. Tonight, your goal will be to forget about everything else in your life. Pretend you’re in the court room and that you have to win every single game in order to leave.”
Her energy was starting to rub off on me. “I can do that.” I smiled. This was the distraction I needed. I was so happy I called Millie tonight.
“Good. We’re in lane two. Let’s go!”
We spent the next hour bowling, laughing, eating pizza and mozzarella sticks, and learning that the two of us were the worse bowlers this place had ever seen. And we didn’t care one bit.
True to her word, Millie and I played every game in the arcade section, and I even beat her in skeeball. I squealed like a three-year-old who had just won the biggest birthday cake in the world. We both jumped up and down, not caring that others were staring at us.
“I haven’t had this much fun in such a long time,” I confessed.
Millie gave me a big squeeze. “I’m so glad you’re having fun. I have one last thing for us to do tonight.”
