"We never, ever go to a restaurant called Mar de Napoli. Bad memories," I said, shivering.
Patrick gave me a concerned glance, but shrugged it off and smiled. "No problem. We'll do Thai or something. Tell you what, let me see what I can pull together, and I'll give you a call tonight. Say around eight or nine?"
"Make it nine. I've got a workout scheduled with my housekeeper after work today, and they like to push me hard. I'll need it after this feast."
Chapter 7
Sophie
That evening, when Tabby came in from work, she was practically floating. It’d been a long time since I'd seen that look in her eyes, and the warning lights in my head immediately started flashing. I didn't get to see much of what Tabby had looked like when Scott Pressman had seduced and then screwed with her head, not until he already had her all messed up inside. But I'd seen that look before.
"Uh-oh," I said, setting aside the laundry I was folding. We still had at least a half hour before we did our workout, as Mark was in the other room, catching the last of the day's trading, leaving just the two of us girls. "You've got a look on your face that worries me."
"What look is that?" Tabby asked, smiling that silly little smile she gets every time she starts to like a new person.
"That look that your heart is running way faster than your head, and that a certain City Councilman is the one leading it on the way," I said, folding the last of the t-shirts and going to work on the part of the laundry I hated most, socks. Mainly I hate matching them, because I swear they all run away from me, hiding amongst their similar yet not identical brethren. I had already threatened Mark repeatedly that next time we went shopping, I was going to throw out every sock in the house, and buy nothing but two identical twelve packs for everyone in the house, black for Mark, white for me and Tabby. She and I wear the same size socks, and we'd shared clothes in the past. I never did get around to backing up that threat though. "I guess your lunch went a lot better than you'd expected."
"It did," Tabby said, unbuttoning her suit jacket and setting her briefcase on the kitchen table, plopping down to pull off her high heels. "In fact, he asked me out on a real date right at the end."
"That's not the normal way to conclude a business meeting," I remarked, finding my first matched set, a pair of Snoopy socks that Tabby's had for years. They were nearly worn through, but Tabby refused to throw them out, since they were a gift from me back when we were undergrads together. "In fact, I've never had a business meeting conclude that way."
"True, but you met the man of your dreams in a nightclub," Tabby said, massaging her feet. "Not all of us are so lucky, remember."
"I don't want to drag up something painful Tabby, but the last guy you were with, well, he tore you up pretty bad," I said softly, tossing the first pair of socks underhand into Tabby's basket for putting away later. "Are you sure you're ready to get back in the game?"
Tabby put her feet down and came over next to me, taking my hand. "Do you mean am I ready for the risk of exposing my heart again?"
I nodded. "I'm not trying to be cruel, but you've been protected for the past few months."
I was surprised when Tabby pulled me into a hug, wrapping her arms around me and nearly squeezing the air out of my lungs.
"I've learned more about myself and my heart in the past six months than I have in my entire life,” she said softly in my ear. "The best thing was that you've been there for me the whole time. You and Mark really.”
She kissed my temple near my right ear once, then let me go, keeping hold of my hands. “I’ll never forget it. But yes, I think I’m ready. Seeing you and Mark together every day reminds me of what I’m missing.”
“All right,” I said, realizing Tabby’s longing need for love. “You know I love you, Tabs. I just want what’s best for you.”
"I know," she replied, letting go of my hands and turning to the laundry basket, helping out. "You showed me what real love looks like, having me stay with you and Mark. I've gotten to watch as you two have made something better than anything my parents have. At the same time, both of you have loved me as me, which is also a hell of a lot better than what my family did for me. Also, I'm going to take it slow this time. I know I'm not exactly the best judge of character when it comes to people sometimes, especially men.”
"Oh, I don't know about that," I replied, finding the match to the sock Tabby was hunting for and handing it to her. "You did pretty well in choosing me and Mark, after all."
Tabby chuckled and put her head on my shoulder. "I did do that pretty well, didn't I? Okay, I'll say I've chosen two times pretty well. But I can't take full credit for Mark. You chose him, remember? I just got lucky enough to tag along on that one."