“She did.” Franklin narrowed his eyes at Tide, then Ethel. “I’m sorry that my family dynamics are so ‘bad.’ But they’ve been that way since I was born. I’m not going to change something because Coreline doesn’t like it.”
“I don’t think you quite see the point,” Tide said as he leaned back in the chair. “Not that I like Coreline or anything, but did you ever stop and think that you could’ve gotten your pompous ass up out of the chair at the adult table and gone to sit with her?”
Franklin opened his mouth, and then closed it as if he wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to do or say.
Then he closed his mouth, gritted his teeth, and said, “Who are you, anyway? From what I understand, you’re not very nice to her either.”
“I don’t pretend to be nice, either. There’s a big difference,” Tide replied. “You, on the other hand, have bitched about her, what she’s wearing, where she chose to eat when I clearly heard you tell her you didn’t care where, and then bitched some more the entire night. All about what she’s wearing, what she’s doing, how she’s sitting in your car. Her changing the radio station. Her using a certain brand of body spray when you clearly told her not to use the cheap shit. Should I continue?”
Franklin opened his mouth and then closed it.
“At least if I were to tell her to stop using something, I would make sure to buy her something else that she could use instead.” He shrugged.
He had done that, actually.
Tide had a sensitive nose. Any and all smells had always gotten to him when it came to perfume. I remember a fight we had in college, where he told me that my perfume made him want to vomit.
I’d told him where he could shove that thought, and he’d stolen my body spray from Victoria’s Secret out of my purse. A couple of days later, an expensive bottle of perfume appeared on my doorstep. From that moment on, I used that scent and nothing else when I was by myself.
It wouldn’t do for him to know that I still used that perfume.
Franklin didn’t have anything to say to that.
Luckily, the waitress arrived, taking our orders.
“You shouldn’t have steak,” Franklin murmured.
Tide mimicked. “You shouldn’t have steak.”
I kicked him under the table, or tried to.
I only ended up kicking Franklin because Tide had expected the move and protected himself against the sneak assault.
“Ouch.” Franklin glared at me. “What was that for?”
I blinked innocently at him. “I’m sorry. I was adjusting my foot and it slipped off my knee.”
Franklin looked like he didn’t believe me.
Tide certainly didn’t if his silent laughing behind his menu was anything to go by.
“So Franklin.” Ethel changed the subject. “I heard that you got a promotion at work?”
Franklin’s face flamed, which had me curious.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked curiously. “Did you get a promotion?”
“I got a lateral move,” he disagreed, his face flaming. “Before you ask why, it was because I was being harassed by a woman. I went from an office in town to an office about thirty minutes away.”
Interesting. That would be something that I would think he’d share…
“When are you moving?” I wondered.
Because there was no way in hell he would stay thirty minutes away from his job.
A commute of ten minutes, to him, was too long sometimes.
“I’m… how did you know?” he asked.
I sighed and crossed my leg under the table, before pulling it up and resting my foot flat on the booth, my knee up by my chest. “You’re predictable, dear. There’s no doubt about that.”
Not anything like the man across the table from me, watching the interactions between Franklin and me with avid attention.
I wanted to throw my butter knife at him.
Instead, I clutched the knife with my hand, then reached for the butter so I could butter a roll.
Before I could get the roll out of the basket, Franklin tried to still my hand. “You don’t need that.”
I felt my eyelid twitch.
“Man,” Tide said as he saw the eye twitch. “Usually when her eye starts twitching like that, she gets violent. I would remove your hand and stop telling her what to eat pronto.”
Franklin didn’t move his hand.
I gritted my teeth and said, “Franklin. If you don’t move your hand, I’m going to stab it with my fork.”
Franklin moved it, but only after reaching for the basket of rolls and pulling them out of my reach.
That’s when I snapped.
“If you do not give me a goddamn roll, I will literally cause a scene in which you’ve never seen before!” I shouted. “I’ve had a long ass day. I’m dealing with a man at the table with me that’s done nothing but give me shit for twenty fucking years. And you’re being an asshole that I’ve had to deal with for four months. Give me the GODDAMN ROLL!”