He had to stop thinking about the whole world as if it were a movie.
The light turned green again, and his eyes drifted back to Cara, who was slurping sweet tea like her life depended on it, probably because she didn’t like her pasta. In some ways, she was perfect. So what if she didn’t like good movies? So what if she didn’t understand that there was one thing and one thing only you should order at Spanky’s? So what if she had a serious lack of childlike wonder when it came to traffic lights, which was especially strange for someone who regularly wore tie-dye shirts? Did it really matter?
And yet Gael couldn’t help but think about what Sammy had said, about both of them being fresh out of relationships, about jumping in too fast.
The light turned yellow, and Gael overheard the conversation of the two girls at the next table, one of them going on about a roommate of hers who “can never be alone” and “just latches herself onto the first guy she stumbles across,” which was particularly apt because Cara had literally stumbled across him. He marveled at the irony that “Fools Rush In” was playing from the speakers.
Gael was scared of being hurt again, stepping out into the great unknown that was romance. He was scared of being wrong.
He wondered what would happen if he started dating Cara, how it would end. If he would be hurt again.
The light turned red.
(I gave him a bit of a nudge, pushed him onto the edge of a decision.) “So do you still talk to your ex at all?” he asked.
The question caught Cara off guard. She choked a little on her sweet tea, but then instantly cleared her throat, composing herself.
“No,” she said. “Why?”
“I was just wondering,” Gael said. “I mean, it wasn’t that long ago, right?”
Cara shook her head. “It was a couple of weeks before I met you.”
“Do you still have feelings for him?” Gael asked. “How long were you together again?”
“Just four months,” she said.
Gael had developed pretty intense feelings in less time than that. She seemed to sense his hesitation at her evasiveness.
“And to answer your question, no, I don’t have feelings for him.”
He nodded, but looked down at his mostly eaten sandwich.
“Hey,” she said.
He popped a fry in his mouth and ate it quickly.
“Hey,” she said again.
Gael looked up.
She didn’t drop his gaze as she said the words. “You don’t have to worry about him,” she said.
And just like that, the light turned green.
cool hand fluke
As Gael and Cara grabbed their coats, Gael heard an unmistakable voice.
“But it says you’re open until ten. It says right there on the door.”
Gael turned to see Anika, standing with Mason, just inside the restaurant door. The hostess’s back was to them, but Gael could hear the edge in her voice. “We don’t seat people past nine thirty, okay?”
Anika sighed loudly. “What if we promise to be fast?”
Gael had always thought Anika’s gumption was amazing, but right then, it just seemed kind of rude.
(That’s what happens when you people put your partners on pedestals. The fall is just that much greater.)
“Come on,” Mason said. “Let’s go somewhere that will take our money.”
Cara turned to Gael and rolled her eyes, the kind of look that says, Who does this girl think she is? Can she get out of the way so we can get out the door?
Gael didn’t even have time to take Cara aside and explain the situation because that’s when Anika looked past the hostess and caught his eyes.
“Oh,” she said, and Mason looked up then, too.
For a second, she and Mason just stood there, staring at him and Cara.
Without even thinking, Gael reached for Cara’s hand and held it. Well, grabbed it.
Anika’s face tightened, and Mason grinned.
“Look, I’m not going to seat you,” the hostess said, wholly unaware of what was going on.
“Sure, got it,” Anika said quickly, then walked out the door. Mason gave Gael a goofy wink before he made his exit.
Gael felt Cara tense up. He let her hand go.
He watched as the door closed behind Mason, and then they left the restaurant, too.
Luckily, by the time they got outside, Anika and Mason were well down the street, backs toward them.
Cara crossed her arms. “What in the world was that about?”
Gael bit at his lip and stole another glance toward Anika and Mason. They were far down Franklin, practically out of sight. Anika was walking pretty fast.
“Uh-uhm.”
He turned back to Cara. “I’m sorry. That was my ex. I don’t really have an excuse. I guess I just wanted to show her that I wasn’t some pathetic guy who was still pining over her or something. I wanted to show her that I had found someone really cool.”
(This is what I whispered in Cara’s ear: How dare he use you to make her jealous? Ditch him. He doesn’t deserve you!)
But it didn’t work because Cara knew she’d done the same thing herself at the basketball game.
“Don’t do it again,” she said firmly. “Nothing happens until November, and if it does, it is not to make an ex jealous, okay?”
Gael nodded vigorously. “Okay.”