“Are you saying you never go out into the field? Because I thought we were going out into the field on this job.”
“Yeah, very occasionally I go out into the field, when there’s really nobody there but me, or it’s just an easy task like wandering around a store kind of thing. But, like Dev, most of my work is done here in the warehouse.”
I busy myself with my phone for a couple seconds, checking to see if my sister has responded and hiding any reaction I might be having to hearing Dev’s name. My heart is fluttering the tiniest bit.
No luck on an answer from May. I turn my attention back to Lucky. “That must make your family happy, that you don’t do the risky stuff.” I smile at him, trying to cover the fact that I’m delving into his personal life now.
“The only family I have swims around a little bowl, so it doesn’t matter either way. But I’m not much for hand-to-hand combat anyway. I like dealing with numbers, not bad guys.” He grins again, completely fine with being a chicken poo pansy, just like I am.
My smile comes both from the general fact that I like talking to him and from the fact that what he says is completely ridiculous. “Your family swims around in a bowl?”
He shrugs and then goes to his paperwork, flipping open the folder again. He talks at the papers, like he’s maybe a little bit embarrassed about his answer. “I have a goldfish.”
I’m trying not to laugh. I can’t tell if he’s joking or not. I play along, anyway. “What’s his name?”
Lucky is smiling shyly as he looks at his papers. “Sunny.”
“Of course it’s Sunny.” I do laugh then, because he’s a grown man, but inside him obviously lives a small boy. “We have a gerbil at our house.”
Lucky turns his head to look at me. “What’s his name?”
“Harold. We keep it casual, though, and call him Harry.”
Lucky laughs. “Of course his name is Harry. What else would it be?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I was gunning for T-Rex, but the kids lobbied hard for something softer.”
Lucky chuckles, and encouraged by his response, I jump in with more details. “We inherited him from my son’s preschool classroom.”
He lifts his brows. “Adopting a classroom pet? That’s a big commitment.”
I roll my eyes. “Tell me about it. The sucker grew testicles one day, and the teacher said it was interfering in the learning process, so Harold had to go.” I pause, realizing with a start that I’ve once again over-shared. I tense up, waiting for the awkward silence to take over.
But I needn’t have worried. Lucky just keeps on rolling with the conversation. “And how exactly do testicles interfere in the learning process?”
It’s difficult to keep a straight face at this point. “Well, apparently, testicles are very distracting. The kids liked to look and point and talk about them. A lot. And I don’t know if you’ve ever spent any time around three-year-olds, but they tend to fixate on things like gerbil ’nads.”
Lucky barks out a laugh and then leans back in his chair. “The only young boy I’ve been around is Dev’s son, but I get what you mean. I’ve seen that curiosity in action many times. The kid’s like a dog with a bone sometimes.”
I’m completely curious right now about Dev’s son and Dev’s relationship with him, but now is not the time to delve into that. I can’t interrogate Lucky about another man’s child when that man isn’t here. It just seems too sneaky. Too devious. My curiosity is just going to have to take a backseat to propriety. Seeking a distraction, I gesture at the file.
“Do you want me to look through that? Is there anything in there that applies to what I’ll be doing?”
“Sure. Take a look.” He slides the file down the table to me. “I’m not sure a lot of it will apply, but you’re welcome to it.”
I check my phone again—still no response from May—and open the file. I make an attempt at scanning the papers inside, but my mind really isn’t on the task. I keep thinking about Dev and his son, and the fact that his child sounds a lot like mine. I wonder why, when I mentioned getting them together, Dev seemed so against the idea. I wonder if his son likes McDonald’s as much as Sammy does. I’ve promised my boy a trip there, so I know what I’ll be eating for lunch. I can plan on a stomachache after, too. I should probably stop by the drugstore and buy some Alka-Seltzer on my way home.
“I can make a copy of the file for you if you prefer.”
I snap out of my trance at the sound of Lucky’s voice. “Sorry? I’m a little distracted.”
He smiles. “I got that. Don’t worry about it.”
“Is it that obvious? Dang. I’m going to have to work on my stealth mode, I guess.” I shrug, feeling like I need to explain myself. “I’m really sorry. Seriously. I woke up today to my boss telling me I’d been laid off. It was a bit of a shock.”