“Blind date?” She snorts. “Well, that’s stupid. Aria and Henry don’t even know your type.”
I snap my head towards her, confused. “What?”
“They don’t! Margie even agrees.” She sits on my bed.
“You and my mother gang up on me for everything, I swear to fuck.”
“It’s because she likes me better.”
“I’m aware.” I glare at her before crossing my arms and cocking my head to the side. “But back to the first thing, what makes you such an expert on my type?”
She shrugs and plays with her hands in her lap. “I’ve got eyes.”
“Okay, and what do they see?”
She purses her lips and shakes her head, a sad smile finding her lips. “You need to figure that out yourself, I think.”
“So ominous.” I let my hands drop. “I gotta take a shower. Do you mind?” I point at my door and she sighs and stands up.
“Have fun on your date or whatever.” I don’t have time to question her attitude because my phone starts ringing in my pocket. I put the phone to my ear just as I hear Aria’s blaring warning to not be late, motherfucker.
I move down the steps, pulling my suit jacket over my button up and look at the young girl seated on my couch having changed into her pajamas. “You’re really not going out?” I ask her.
“I’m really not.” She affirms.
“Alright, I’m calling Peters.” She doesn’t even argue with me, knowing that it’s not an argument she can win.
“Or you could just…not go.” She shrugs and I narrow my gaze at her, wondering where that’s coming from.
“Why?”
She bites her bottom lip and takes a moment to stare at the television before turning to me. “Because I don’t want you to?”
Under normal circumstances, I would take time to unpack that statement. Try to dig to the root of her issue with me going out, but this morning coupled with Aria’s advice that I need to start putting myself out there makes me ignore that feeling in my gut that tells me to talk to Maddie.
“Maddie…”
She scrunches her nose, and if I didn’t know any better, I would say that she’s trying to prevent herself from crying. “You look nice,” she says softly before she moves off the couch and up the stairs without another word.
I pull up to the restaurant across town, having just checked in with Peters for the second time since I left about whether everything is okay. He’d promptly told me to relax, have fun, and fuck off before hanging up the phone.
The waiting area is large and dimly lit by lanterns that line the ceiling. The waitstaff is walking around taking orders for cocktails when I immediately spot Aria and Henry, the main focal point of the room, as everyone’s attention is drawn to them, like always. Aria and Henry look like a superstar couple when they go anywhere. Heads turn when they walk by like they belong in a Ralph Lauren catalogue under “perfectly dressed couple.”
Of course, their relationship looks much different from the inside.
Aria jumps up, her champagne almost spilling over the side, and waves me over. “Yay! You’re here! And on time!” She twirls her finger in a circle. “Turn for me.”
Henry nods at me and rolls his eyes, as if to say, she does this shit to me too. “Baby bro,” he says with a jerk of his chin. I nod back, even though a part of me is slightly irritated that he’d signed off on this charade. My older brother is a few inches taller than me but with significantly less muscle. His hair is darker and his eyes are more reminiscent of our father’s, a dark blue, unlike the brown of mine and my mother’s.
I spin around and look back at Aria. “Do you approve?”
Her bright red lips quirk up in a bright smile. “You look great. Proud of ya, champ.”
“You act like I can’t dress myself.”
“You can’t. Did Maddie okay this?”
A lump forms in my throat hearing her name and I immediately turn my head for a waiter with any kind of alcohol to loosen the knot. “Nah, she wasn’t really around when I left.”