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“Why not?” He didn’t understand that.
“Because... Because I knew it would upset her.”
“She always has to be the center of attention?”
“Well, I know that sounds terrible, and I don’t mean for it to. Norma Jean is my best friend, and I love her. I don’t want to say anything unkind about her.”
“Isn’t it okay to speak the truth?”
“We’re supposed to speak the truth in love. And I think sometimes it’s better to say nothing rather than say the truth which could be hurtful.”
He couldn’t argue with that, and he appreciated the fact that that’s how she felt. Still, he felt like she was allowing Norma Jean and what she wanted to influence her life a little bit more than what was necessary.
“So if Norma Jean weren’t here, you’d have gone to the diner with me?”
She looked down and fiddled with her cup that sat on the table.
“Maybe,” she finally said. He felt like that was the truth.
“What would I have to do to talk you into it?” He clamped down on his tongue. He didn’t want to have to talk some girl into wanting to be with him. Except, he kinda felt that if he had a little bit more time to spend with Sally, he could loosen up and be himself, and she would enjoy being with him. If he could only talk her into it.
“Nothing. I... I just have this thing where if my friend is interested in someone, then I step back. I don’t usually have that problem.” She chuckled. “In case you haven’t noticed, Norma Jean is gorgeous. But regardless, if she has a preference, I just allow her to move forward, and I don’t. I’m sure she would do the same for me.”
She didn’t say that with a whole lot of conviction, and Peter got the feeling that perhaps there had been more than one time in their relationship when Norma Jean had taken a man that Sally had been interested in. Sally didn’t say anything more though, and Peter couldn’t fault her for her values. He appreciated someone who cared about their friend enough that they wouldn’t step on any toes.
“What if I say I’m not interested in her? Does that change anything?” He was pretty sure it would. After all, if there was no chance for Norma Jean and him to have anything, there was no need for Sally to stand back.
“Not really. I have to wait until Norma Jean decides she’s not interested.”
“Well, she’s playing in the band right now.”
The band had stopped for just a moment, finishing one song, and then they went into an introduction for the next.
“I love that song,” Sally said with a smile as she set her chin on her hand and listened.
“Come on, we don’t have to do anything more than stand and sway.” He didn’t think she was going to take him up on it, and he really wasn’t sure he wanted her to. She said her foot wasn’t hurt that bad, but she had told him already that she wasn’t hurt at all, so he wasn’t sure he believed her. He thought maybe she was one of those people that downplayed anything that was wrong with themself in order to focus attention on other people. And he supposed that was something a caregiver had a tendency to do. He’d heard that she’d been a caregiver for her aunt until her death earlier that year.
“I really do love this song... Okay,” she said, shoving her chair back and standing to her feet. Or her foot, since she had one foot up.
Stepping forward, he put his arm around her on the side of her hurt foot.
“You can lean on me,” he said, thinking maybe it wasn’t a bad thing that she had hurt her foot.
“Thank you,” she said as she hopped around the table, putting weight on him as he steadied and balanced her.
“We can just stand here. We don’t have to go too far.”
“Thank you. It’s...a little bit hard to sit and watch while everyone else has fun.”
“It’s hard to watch you sit when I’d rather be dancing with you,” he said in return. That made her smile, and that gave him a little bit of confidence.
Although, he didn’t feel the need to speak when she stepped in his arms, and he wrapped them around her, pulling her close. True to his word, he didn’t move, but planted his feet, and just swayed from side to side.
She hummed a little to the music, and he enjoyed listening to her.
“You must really like the song. You seem to know all the words.”
“Yeah, it was one of my favorites growing up. I have always loved music, and I’m a little jealous of people who can play an instrument.”
