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“I… yeah, I crashed hard.”
Anthony slid to the side of the bench. “I made coffee. Come sit.”
I walked to the bench and sat between him and Chris, feeling both shoulders against mine. This whole thing was surreal.
Anthony poured me coffee and gave me the cup. “You slept all right?”
“Yes.” I exchanged a quick glance with Chris. The bruise on his cheek wasn’t the worst I’d seen, but it was noticeable. I didn’t even remember breaking the spooning position during the night. I wondered if he had woken up with me still wrapped around him. “What were you guys talking about?”
“I was telling them about a stupid case I’ve been working on,” Chris said. “Rich people and their problems are hilarious.”
“I don’t know what I’d do if I became rich,” Anthony said. “Maybe a nicer apartment and a better truck, but that’s it.”
“Maybe pay for a new logo for your business,” Jay said with a smirk. “Even with my lack of taste I can tell that thing is awful.”
“I second that,” Chris said, “although I wouldn’t wait for you to get rich to fix that. Wasn’t it done by a high-school kid back in the day?”
“Atalentedhigh-school kid, yes. And my logo isn’t going anywhere,” Anthony said with confidence. “It would jeopardize my brand.”
“At least go for a new Xbox,” I said.
Anthony nodded. “Yep, a new Xbox for sure. But I won’t need that to beat your ass.”
I laughed. “We’ll see about that.”
The conversation went on from there. Effortless. Natural. Whichever emotional baggage we had been carrying seemed to be left in the past. I didn’t know if we would ever find ourselves together like this again, so I allowed myself to soak in that moment, every word spoken. A dam had tumbled down between us, and the current was unstoppable. None of us brought up last night’s events or dared to ask Chris about his past. Those things might be brought up again in the future, but it seemed we were all eager to move on.
Two hours later, Anthony was the one who said he needed to head back to the city to buy some supplies for a new gig. He was my ride back so it meant I would be heading off as well.
Chris glanced at his watch and said, “Shit, I have a meeting in thirty minutes.”
“It’s Saturday,” I said.
“Yeah, tell me about it. At least it’s only one meeting. I’ll stay here to take the call.”
Jay got up. “Guess I’ll be heading back as well. You okay to lock when you leave?” he asked Chris. “Drop the keys in the mailbox and someone should come pick them up tomorrow.”
Chris nodded. “Will do.”
It only took us a few minutes to gather our things, and during this time a cloud of tense silence settled over us. I supposed we were all thinking the same thing—what's next?
The last of us who I expected to address that question was the one who did. Chris opened his laptop on the table—the same table we had made him lie on not that long ago—and asked, “You guys have plans for Friday?”
Anthony, his backpack in his hand, asked, “Plans?”
“Yeah, are you guys doing anything? We could go grab drinks, maybe dinner.” There was no hesitation in his voice.
I cleared my throat, fighting a smile. “Yeah, I can make some time for you guys.”
Anthony nodded. “I’m free.”
I watched Jay, unable to read his stoic expression. He might have been able to let go of his desire for revenge, but what Chris was asking was perhaps too much of a stretch.
Finally, to my surprise, Jay nodded. “See you guys on Friday, but nothing fancy.”
Chris covered his mouth in shock. “Nothing fancy? But what about the country club?”
I burst out laughing. It was an old joke of ours, how we would one day get to spend our days playing golf at the country club while getting lazily fat. We had all been broke and much younger when we started fantasizing about the country club.
