We walk up to the hostess stand side by side, and instead of glaring at me, she just laughs. “You think I put on these shoes for you?” She points down to her nude, sky-high heels. Heels that just scream fuck me in them. “I’m not wasting an opportunity,” she retorts, holding her purse in both hands.
“A table for two, please,” she tells the hostess, who looks down at her iPad.
“Can I stand next to you?” I ask. “Wouldn’t want people to think—you know—that we are together and you miss your shot.”
“Shut up.” She rolls her eyes at me and I have to laugh, I’m always laughing when I’m with her. It’s why she’s my best friend. “Also.” She leans in and doesn’t even bother to whisper. “Dinner is on you.”
“When isn’t it?” I huff as the hostess turns and tells us to follow her. I wait for Eva to walk first before following her into the restaurant.
The hostess stops by a booth, putting the menus down. “Your server will be right with you,” she says as Eva slides into the booth. I start to slide in beside her and she pushes me out with her hand.
“Nice try,” she notes, grabbing the menu and looking down at it, while I slide into the booth across from her, tossing my jacket in the corner.
“We come here all the time and you always look at the menu,” I state, putting my hands beside me on the bench.
“They could have updated their menu, and you know me, I like to try different things.”
“Oh, I know.” I take a look around the bar. “You usually hate everything you try and end up eating my food.”
She throws her head back and laughs as she shrugs off the black sweater. “It’s like watching National Geographic,” I tell her as the server comes to our table.
“Hi,” she greets, “I’m Ashley. I’ll be your server. Can I start you off with something to drink?”
“I’ll have whatever you have on tap and she’ll have a Pinot Grigio.” I point at Eva, who just nods.
“I’ll get that started for you,” Ashley says as she walks away.
“You look tired,” Eva observes, looking at me. I stare into her crystal blue eyes, and I don’t know if she’s fucking with me or not.
“I am tired,” I admit. “I’m also fed up with traveling so much.” I stop talking when Ashley comes back with my beer and a wineglass for Eva.
I pick up my beer as Eva mumbles, “Thank you,” to Ashley and asks if she would give us another minute or two.
Putting the beer to my lips, I look at Eva as she glares. “Really?” She tilts her head to the side as I pull the beer from my lips. “Ten years and you do this every single time.” She holds up her glass. “Cheers.” She looks into my eyes because it’s bad luck if you don’t say cheers while looking into the other person’s eyes. Something we fought about at the beginning, and when we both googled it, it said we could have seven years of bad sex. It was something neither of us were willing to tempt fate with so—it’s eye contact every single time.
“Cheers,” I grumble, hitting her glass with mine and finally taking a pull of the beer. I groan and she just puts her glass down.
“So what’s eating at you?” she questions, her perfectly manicured nail tapping the bottom of the wineglass.
“Just tired, I guess.” I shrug. “Spent the past month traveling back and forth to New York. I just want to be home, in my house, for longer than four days.”
“Have you spoken to Stefano about it?” she asks of her cousin and my partner. We started our company about ten years ago, maybe a little more. Time just keeps passing us by. We started our firm when it was just him and me. Two kids out of college, with lots of computer knowledge. We started a small company, just the two of us, and it grew so much now we have a whole slew of people working for us. I’m a forensic accountant, which sounds a lot cooler than it actually is. What it is, has me sitting behind a computer for sometimes twenty hours a day following trails. They hire me to investigate financial inconsistencies, misappropriation of funds and irregularities with the company, and to investigate fraud and cybercrimes. Our contracts vary from private companies to the government. Every single time I show up, I have to laugh at how people use their computers without a second thought, thinking that things can be deleted. News flash—they can’t. So we go in and find out what’s wrong, and they either change it or people get fired. Also, no one likes when we show up. It’s like when you throw a big party at your house, and everyone is having a great time, then the cops knock on your door. It’s not fun.
“I haven’t yet,” I reply, and she lifts her eyebrows. “I know, I know, but he’s a bit busy at the moment.”
“Okay, well, what about you?” She grabs her wineglass and brings it to her mouth. “How long are you planning to wait?” I grab my own drink and bring it to my lips. This has to be why she’s my best friend, because she gives it to me when I don’t want to hear it. She is also the first person I call when something happens. Once, I was with a girl and I didn’t know she was married. When her husband showed up, I had to literally jump from the second-floor apartment, breaking my ankle from the leap. I belly crawled across the grass and hid out until she came to save me. I mean, she did hold it over my head for about a year, but there is no one else I would call.
“I’ll tell him next week when he’s coming to town,” I finally say and stop talking when Ashley comes back, asking if we have any questions about the menu.
“I’ll have a burger loaded with bacon and fries,” I order, not even looking at the menu. She looks over at Eva, who looks down at her menu. “She’s going to have—” I start and earn a glare from Eva.
“He thinks he knows me, but he doesn’t,” she tells Ashley, who just smiles at her. “Kale salad,” we both say at the same time, “and fries on the side.”
“I don’t know her at all,” I tell Ashley. “Also, if you can bring some calamari over and some of the boneless wings.” I look at Eva, who is still glaring at me.
“You are so annoying.” She glares, handing her menu to Ashley.
“Did you not want calamari?” I ask and she refuses to even answer me, instead grabbing her glass of wine and looking around. “And do you not like to eat the boneless wings with your salad?” I laugh at her. “You could say thank you.”
“Whatever,” she says. “Also, three o’clock, two brunettes staring at us.” I don’t turn right away. “One is my client,” she states with a smile, “and the other is glaring, so I’m assuming that one is for you.” I put my head back. “This is why you don’t shit where you eat.”
“For the record.” I hold up a finger. “I’ve never picked up a woman in this place.”
She claps her hands together and roars out with laughter. “Okay, fine, it was one time, but again, what was I supposed to do? You left with Fabio.” I pretended to flip the long hair off my shoulder because he had a man bun.
She laughs. “His name was Richard and he was a nice guy.” I raise my eyebrows.
“You said he didn’t even go down on you,” I point out.
“It’s not all about that,” she returns, and now it’s my turn to throw my head back and laugh.
“It’s always about that,” I remind her. “You get one shot to please a woman.”
She holds up her hand. “Are you telling me that you pleased every single woman you’ve been with?” she asks, and I honestly have to run my hands through my hair.
“If I didn’t, it wasn’t intentional,” I tell her, “or I was in a rush.” I stop talking when Ashley comes back and puts the calamari and boneless wings in front of us in the middle of the table.
“You are so full of shit, Levi, and you’re lucky I like you most days,” Eva fires back as the calamari comes to the table. “And you are buying me dinner.”
“Okay, so what do you think I should tell Stefano?” I ask as I grab a piece of calamari while she tells me what I should do. We spend more than three hours in the restaurant and, as always, it feels like twenty minutes.
“Call me when you get home,” I remind her as I open her car door for her. She gets on her tippy-toes and kisses my cheek.
“Are you even going to be alone?” she asks and I nod. Usually, I would try to meet up with someone, but not tonight. I am legit dead on my feet.
“I’m going home and I’m going straight to my shower,” I inform her as she gets in the car. “Drive safe.”
“Will do,” she confirms, and I close the car door as I step away for her to back up. I hold up my hand and watch her as she drives away, getting into my car and making my way home.
When I get to the parking lot, I enter the code as the black garage door slowly opens for me. I advance my car and drive to my assigned parking spot. I pop the trunk and take out my black bag before slamming it shut and heading to the door on the side where the elevators are.
I press the up button and wait for one of the two doors to open. The phone beeps in my pocket, so I pull it out seeing a text.
Marianna: Hey, you free tonight? Was thinking we could hang out.
That is code for she wants to hook up. Marianna and I have been hooking up for the past two years. Not frequent enough to call us a couple, but often enough for me to know that she is in the mood. I’m about to answer her when I hear a ping telling me the elevator is here. I step in and press the forty-four button.
I’m about to pull up the text thread and answer Marianna when the elevator door opens, and I see a couple of my neighbors who live in the building. We say hello to each other and chitchat about the weather right before they get off on the floor below me. I put my phone in my pocket when the elevator door opens finally at my stop. Grabbing the keys from my bag, I walk all the way down the hall to the end. Sliding my key inside the big brown door, I unlock it before I push it open.
The beeping alarm has me stop to put in the code. I toss the keys on the glass table at the door before turning on the lights. I walk into the open-concept condo, kicking off my shoes. The whole wall facing me is all windows, it’s why I bought the place. The sun comes at just the right time during the day and it has a wraparound terrace. The furniture is very modern, something that came with the place, which is another reason I bought it. The only thing I brought into this apartment was my bed. I walk to the right, heading into my room and turning on lights.
The king-size bed sits in the middle of the room in front of the black wall, the beige material headboard sticking up in the back. I walk over to the walk-in closet on the side, dumping my bag in there. The phone beeps again in my pocket and I take it out as I head back out to my bed, sitting down on it. I’m about to answer the text when Eva’s name comes on the screen that she’s calling. I press the green button. “Did you miss me that much?”
“Levi.” Her voice has me standing, shivers running up my back. My heart pounds faster than it was a couple of seconds ago and the only thing running through my head now is getting to her. I rush back to the front door. “Levi,” she says my name again, this time her voice cracking.
“Where are you?” I ask, running as I put my shoes on, the fear shooting up my spine. “Eva,” I call her name when she doesn’t answer me.
“Oh my God, Levi,” she chokes out again, and I’m grabbing my keys and slamming the door shut behind me. I pull up her contact on my phone and press location, seeing she’s at her house.
“I’m coming to you,” I assure her. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“Okay,” is the only thing she says and all she does is sob quietly in my ear.
