“You don’t drive at all?”
“Not in the greater Boston area. Gabriel’s Range Rover is difficult to park and I was always worried I was going to hit someone. Boston drivers are crazy. And don’t get me started on the pedestrians.”
Paul resisted the urge to itemize Gabriel’s myriad failings, and settled on one.
“Why doesn’t he get you a new car? Obviously, he can afford it.”
“I want something small, like a Smart car or one of those new Fiats. Gabriel says they’re like driving a can of tuna.” She sighed. “He wants me in something bigger, like a Hummer.”
He bumped her shoulder playfully. “Planning on invading Baghdad? Or just Charlestown?”
“Very funny. If I can’t parallel park the Range Rover, how the hell am I going to park a Hummer?”
Paul laughed, opening the door to the restaurant.
Before he could ask the host for a table for two, a commotion emerged from a nearby table. A little girl, who was probably three or four years old, was hitting a button on her book repeatedly, generating a few bars of a song over and over again.
As the girl continued this behavior, Paul and Julia looked around the restaurant. The other patrons were less than impressed.
A woman who was modestly dressed and wearing a hijab tried to persuade the girl to exchange her musical book for another, nonmusical one. But the girl shrieked in protest.
It was at that moment that an older man who had been sitting near them noisily demanded that the waiter silence the girl. He further complained that she was ruining his lunch and that children who cannot behave themselves should not be allowed in restaurants.
The woman flushed a deep red and tried once again to persuade her daughter to switch books. But once again, the girl refused, kicking loudly against the table leg.
At that moment, the host approached them.
“A table for two,” said Paul cheerfully.
“By the window?” The host gestured to a table in the far corner, next to the window.
“Yes.” Paul moved to follow the host as he retrieved two menus.
As they were walking across the dining room, Julia noticed that the older man was still grumbling about the little girl and that she was still playing her music loudly and erratically. Julia wondered briefly if the little girl was autistic. Regardless, she was appalled at the older man’s behavior.
She addressed the host. “Maybe we could trade tables with the girl and her mother? If they don’t want to move, that’s fine. But the girl might like to look out the window and she’d be able to play with her book in peace.”
The host glanced in the direction of Julia’s hand, noting the increasing discomfort of the other diners.
“Excuse me,” he said, before approaching mother and child.
The mother and the host had a quick exchange in Arabic, and then the mother addressed her daughter in English.
“Maia, we can sit by the window. Isn’t that nice? We can look out at the cars.”
The little girl followed her mother’s gesture to the table in the corner. She blinked a little behind her thick glasses and nodded.
“Maia, can you say thank you?”
The girl’s name seemed to carry across the restaurant. At the sound of it, Julia startled. She found herself staring at the child, her body frozen.
Maia looked up at the host and mumbled, while the mother smiled at Julia and Paul.
A few minutes later, mother and child were happily situated in the corner. The little girl pressed her face against the window, looking outside at the cars and pedestrians, her musical book forgotten.
Julia and Paul were seated at the other table, next to the now triumphant older man. They ordered a few plates to share and quietly sipped their drinks.
“You didn’t ask me first.” Paul’s voice broke into Julia’s thoughts.
“I knew you wouldn’t mind sitting here.”
“You’re right. In fact, it’s better that you dealt with the situation because I was about to walk over to that guy and talk to him. What a jerk.”
Julia looked at the man who’d been so censorious and shook her head.
“I don’t know why I continue to be surprised by people’s insensitivity. But I am.”
“I’m glad you are. I know too many cynical people.”
“So do I.”
Paul’s eyes flickered to the mother and child. “Are you planning to have a Maia of your own anytime soon?”
Julia winced, the child’s name continuing to jar her.
“No. Um, not yet, I mean.”
Paul gazed at her for a moment, his large, dark eyes radiating concern.
“You look panicked. Are you worried about having kids?”
She lowered her eyes.
“No, I want kids. But later on.” She sipped her water. “How’s your father?”
Paul considered exploring her anxiety but thought better of it.
“He’s okay. I’m still at the farm helping out, so I had to let my apartment in Toronto go.”