In the Shadows (The Club)

Dinner was a disaster, rapidly devolving into a cluster. Vivian could see it in the set of Zeke's shoulders, his clenched jaw. His obvious dislike of Delilah was understandable; she'd run into similar women before and knew their games. She loved a lot about her town, but the women vying for the titles of Real Housewives of Karim had always rubbed her wrong. No boundaries, no ability to read people. Too narcissistic to notice when they'd offended someone.

Even now, after finishing off the appetizers, the woman was still prying for information about Zeke's time in Syria. Granted, Vivian hadn't talked to him about it, but he'd made it clear he would only discuss the subject on his own terms. Delilah couldn't take the hint. Vivian wondered if somehow she was fishing for more information about John, details that she was too chicken to ask for herself. There wasn’t any other explanation for her curiosity. Meanwhile, poor John tried to play mediator between his friend and his lover and looked more and more miserable by the second.

With Zeke giving Delilah the silent treatment, Vivian decided to try to put John at ease. "So John, what do you do now?"

"I'm finishing up my degree," he said. "One benefit of serving, I guess."

"That's great. What have you been studying?"

He relaxed a little bit, eyes still darting back and forth between Zeke and Delilah, but less often than before. "Massage therapy. It's a little harder because of my injuries, but I'm interested in working with active soldiers and teaching them how to use the techniques when they're in the field."

She didn't have to fake a smile when she heard that. "I think that's an incredible idea. I'm sure you'll become a role model for other men who are struggling to find out how to adapt to civilian life."

John grinned back at her and dug into his pasta. The warm weight of Zeke's hand giving her knee a quick squeeze underneath the table meant that he too had noticed John's reaction. She glanced over at him and caught the warmth in his eyes. For the first time during the dinner, a hint of a smile played over his lips.

They finished the main course in a more comfortable silence. When the dessert menu was brought, Zeke waved it away and asked for the check instead. John didn't protest, clearly aware that prolonging the awkward encounter would be worse than arguing for them to stay for a final course. He and Zeke briefly argued over who would cover the bill, which left Vivian and Delilah sitting across from one another in silence.

Delilah broke it first. "I love your hair."

"Thank you." Damn, she was rusty at playing these games. "Yours is beautiful. I love the cut and the color."

She didn't really. It was almost the same shade as hers, which was far too dark for Delilah's skin, especially with all her make-up, although the cut was enviably chic. Still, she wouldn't have to play nice for much longer before they could leave and she could finally talk to Zeke.

"You own that bakery downtown, don't you?" Delilah asked.

At least this was a subject she was comfortable about. "Yes, Divine Twins is mine."

"I love that place," John said, easing back into the conversation after he'd given Zeke some cash to add to the check holder. "Is that how you two met?"

Zeke added some more cash to the holder and set it aside. "No. I work near there and we pass each other in the mornings. Took her forever to ask me out," he added with a sly grin at her.

"So...you two are together?" Delilah asked. John watched Zeke, an amused expression on his face.

"Well..." Vivian said at the same moment Zeke said firmly, "Yes."

Suddenly it didn't matter that they were sitting in a busy restaurant after the dinner from hell. Vivian's heart tripped a little when she turned to face him and saw the look on his face. "Oh?"

He didn't say anything, just lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Yep.” He glanced back at his friend. “And I’m about to go enjoy that fact. Talk to you later, brother.”

“Course,” John said, rising to give Zeke one final hug.

Vivian accepted a hug from John as well and managed to murmur a quick goodbye to Delilah before Zeke pulled her with him toward the exit. She kept up with him through the door and onto the sidewalk, but when he kept his frenetic pace, she dug in her high heels. At her resistance, he glanced back, confused.

“What?”

She gestured at her feet with her free hand. “Heels. And I didn’t expect to go for a late night jog after dinner.”

He frowned. “Damn. Sorry, Viv.”

He looked so unhappy that she stepped closer and brushed a hand along his cheek. “What’s wrong?”

“John’s important to me. It’s the only reason I agreed to meet tonight. But that woman...” She felt more than saw his shudder. It was quick, brutal, and she wondered what brought on the severity of the reaction.

“She was a little heavy handed, sure,” Vivian agreed. “But why are we running away from her?”

“I’m not running away. I just don’t want to run into her when she and John leave. Besides, there are some other things I'd like to try that we didn't get to this afternoon.”

She ignored his attempt at distraction. “You two didn’t know each other before tonight?”