Run Away Baby

“You don’t know if he’s an asshole, or you don’t know why he’s an asshole?”

“He had a rough childhood, I guess.” Abby didn’t like making excuses for Randall. A lot of people had rough childhoods. They didn’t all end up like him.

“Didn’t we all,” said Charlie.

“Exactly. Tell me about you,” she said. “What do you like to do when you’re not a mailman?”

“As you know, I like to hunt. I like the outdoors a lot. It’s a passion of mine, going way back. I teach survivalist classes as a side job. How to start a fire, how to build a shelter.”

“Interesting.” She wanted to mention that she’d been at Outdoor World earlier in the day, but couldn’t think of any way to work it in.

“You should take one of my classes sometime.”

Abby laughed a little. “I don’t know if I’m really the outdoorsy type.”

“That’s exactly the reason you should take my classes. It’s like self-defense classes. Who needs self-defense classes the most?”

“I don’t know.”

“People who aren’t already strong, who actually need to defend themselves. My classes are like that.”

“I doubt I’ll ever need to start a fire with sticks, or however it is you start a fire without matches.”

“Well, still. You should consider it.”

“I don’t really think it would go over well if I took classes like that.”

“Go over well with who?”

“My husband. He would think it was pretty weird if I signed up for something like that.”

“He could come too.”

Abby scrutinized Charlie’s face, trying to tell if he was serious. Why would he want her husband along? “He wouldn’t want to take classes like that,” she said.

“So it will be just you,” said Charlie. “I give private lessons.” He smiled at her. Being this close to him, she noticed things she’d never seen before. A couple of silver hairs in his stubble, although he looked like he couldn’t be more than thirty. A slightly crooked front tooth, just enough to give him an appearance that wasn’t too perfect. If anything, his flaws made him more attractive.

“You’re a troublemaker, aren’t you?” she said.

“You could say that.”

She took a sip of her iced tea. Her throat was suddenly very dry. She considered whether all the Northface and Patagonia socks and underwear she’d purchased may have convinced Randall that she truly cared about becoming outdoorsy.

“Maybe I’ll ask him whether he’ll let me,” she said.

“You’ll ask him if he’ll let you?”

“I didn’t mean I need permission. I meant, you know, I mean, we’re married. Married people run stuff by each other.”

“Sure, I get it.”

Just then her cellphone rang. It was Krissa. “Can you excuse me for a minute while I take this?” she asked Charlie. He nodded.

“Hello?” Abby said, getting up and heading toward the women’s restroom.

“Hi,” said Krissa. “Hey, I hate to be a pain, but have you been at a place called the Bigger Burger for two hours? A debit card purchase popped up a while ago, but your phone tracker hasn’t moved at all.”

“Well, not exactly. I’ve been downtown, and I was having lunch, then I left and was walking around and I realized I left my phone there, so I had to run back and get it. I just got back here and luckily it’s right where I left it, so you caught me picking it up and now I’m about to do a little more shopping and head home.”