“Like grilled cheese and spaghetti?” he asked with a lopsided smile.
“Exactly. Hard-boiled eggs, toast, yogurt, cereal, popcorn…you get the idea. If we landed in Italy, we’d probably make Italian food and make up a story about something that happened the last time we went to Italy. Picture this.” I spread my hands apart like a director setting a scene. “Seven years old and never been outside of California. My concept of Italy was spaghetti and pizza. That’s it. So my story went something like this…
“The last time I went to Italy, a seagull stole a piece of pepperoni from my pizza. I got mad and asked him why he was so mean. He said he was sorry, but he could show me where to find more. His wings would spread, and Jess and I had to hop on. Then he’d take off, and we’d be high above the clouds…until the wind blew and we fell into a deserted castle run by space aliens who looked like normal people. They wanted us to take over the world with them. And we were down with that,” I reported matter-of-factly.
Braden grinned. “That’s genius.”
“I told you so. We stretched a sad five-minute snack into a meal that provided an hour or two of entertainment.”
“That sounds like fun, but…where was your mom?” he asked carefully.
I took a ginormous bite that made it almost impossible to speak, but of course I tried. “Drunk or high or just not home.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. We had way more fun without her back then. It’s too bad she missed out, ’cause my mom is a blast. She would have loved a space-alien pizza adventure,” I said with a laugh.
“You said she’s an interior designer. She must have her life together now…even a little?”
The hopeful note in his voice made me smile. Maybe we didn’t know a lot about each other, but I could tell Braden liked happy endings.
“She does. Mostly. She went to rehab, got clean, and started over. But ‘interior designer’ is the title she gives herself. Just like her name. She works at a home goods store on Second Street. To her, titles are silly semantics, and everything is free game for a new interpretation. Sometimes, I admire her way of thinking. It gives her a lot of freedom, so she doesn’t get tied down by responsibilities. I swear, I’m not bitter. I had an unconventional childhood. And hey, not many people can claim that they survived Karma.”
“I guess that’s true.” Braden chuckled, then his gaze softened almost imperceptibly.
“What’s she like now? Do you get along with her?”
“Yeah. She’s a trip, but she’s all I know. My dad wasn’t in the picture, but my grandparents were. Everyone was at a loss where Mom was concerned. My grandma wanted us to live with them in the Valley, but Mom needed us to look after her too. We sort of raised each other. Or maybe Jess raised us. I was the clueless kid brother who told jokes and provided entertainment when life got tense. I guess I still do. But we’re older now. All grown up and oh, so serious,” I chirped brightly.
“Are you still close to your sister?”
I nodded and took a swig of beer. “Mmmhmm. Jess is finishing law school at Pepperdine. She’s like you. She’s neat and tidy and she has her shit together.”
“She sounds amazing,” he enthused with a Cheshire cat grin.
I rolled my eyes. Then I swiped his crust out of his hand, licked it, and handed it back to him. Gross, I know. But I couldn’t help it. I didn’t want to talk about myself anymore and to be honest, I wasn’t sure how I’d ended up yammering away for so long anyway. I was usually better about getting other people to loosen up and share stuff.
Braden eyed the pizza crust warily and dropped it on my plate. “You’re nasty.”
“I know. What’s your family like? I know your mom makes fudge and worries about germs. What about your dad?”
“He works for a commercial real estate firm and plays a lot of golf.”
“Not volleyball?”
“Nope. Volleyball was my idea. I was decent in high school and I had a big growth spurt before college started and boom…I got better. Well, not overnight. But the extra height gave me confidence. I was a pretty shy kid.”
I waggled my eyebrows. “I wasn’t.”
“I didn’t think so. I studied a lot in high school. Too much, really. And I was hard on myself if I didn’t do well. My therapist recommended trying extracurricular activities to get me out of my head, so I signed up for volleyball and the school play. I’ll never make the Olympic team or get cast in a Broadway show, but they both changed my life in different ways. It’s good to be part of something bigger than yourself. And you should see me now…I’m the best assistant in charge of coffee runs.”