Jack yells, “Hi, Dad,” while Michael just waves.
“Who’s winning?” I ask them.
“It’s a tie,” Denise says, laughing. “Jack just tied it up.”
My mother turns the phone around and then turns to walk back into the kitchen where she starts whispering.
“He asked to borrow my phone to call his friend this afternoon after you left. I thought he was playing pretend. Instead, he called Dr. Denise.”
I laugh. “He asked her for her number last night at dinner, but I never thought he would call it.” I smile, thinking of my boy. He is slowly coming out of his shell. It’s almost as if New York has been his home forever.
“I was in shock when he passed me the phone, and she was on the other line. She is lovely,” my mother says, looking at me. “I’ve never seen him so taken with a woman before.”
“She’s his doctor,” I tell her. “The best there is.”
“It’s more than that,” my mother says. “If she sits down, he sits on her lap, the whole time twirling her hair in his fingers.”
“I know,” I say, smiling as I think of his habit.
She dabs her eyes as if tears are going to come out. “I have a good feeling.”
“So do I, Mom,” I say, though I’m not sure if we are talking about the same feeling.
The knock on the door has me turning my head. “Okay, Mom, I have to go. I’ll call you guys when I get back from dinner.”
“Okay, love,” she says. “Speak to you soon.”
I hang up the phone and walk to the door, opening it and meeting Matthew in the hallway, who is on his phone typing. “I’m pretty sure my sisters are going to give my father an aneurysm,” he says, looking up. “I have twin sisters who are twenty-one and …” he says, shaking his head.
“My sister just sent out this tweet,” he says, handing me the phone so I can see.
Zara Stone @ZaraStone
When your ex-boyfriend gets engaged, you ask his idol @EvanRichards to be your date to crash his wedding. What do I say? Wanna be my date?
#myexhasapencildick
I laugh out loud, and then I gasp. “Holy shit, he answered her.” He grabs the phone from me, no doubt reading what I just read.
Sounds like a plan. DM me.
“What the fuck does DM me mean?” He looks at me. “Is that sex talk?”
I laugh when the elevator arrives and opens, and Max is there. “Did you see what your sister-in-law just did?” he asks him, and Max just shakes his head.
“Which one?”
“Zara,” I tell him, and Matthew turns his phone to him, so he can see.
“You need to call Evan and lay the smackdown,” Max says, “and what the fuck is a DM?”
“I’m googling this shit right now,” Matthew says, and Anthony, one of the rookies, steps in with him in workout gear and a pre-workout shake.
“DM means direct message.” He turns to Matthew and Max. “See that little box up in the corner that looks like a mailbox? You press that to direct message her.” He looks at them. “You have 3478 direct messages.”
“Who the fuck is sending me these messages?” He looks at us, and I can’t help but laugh out loud.
We walk out of the elevator while Matthew gets on his phone, calling his father. “Are we waiting for Phil?” I ask. Max just nods his head, and Phil joins us a second later.
“Dude, did you see the tweet from Zara?” Phil laughs, slapping Max on the shoulder. “I bet you it’s on SportsCenter by the end of the night.”
Max shakes his head, and we walk outside where Matthew groans and hangs up his phone. “What did your father say?” Max asks him.
“I couldn’t understand with the groaning and then my mother laughing in the background. It didn’t help that Zara was calling the ex a pencil dick.”
We walk around the corner, getting a table right away. We sit down, and they throw their phones on the table. I open the menu, and we place our orders.
“Michael is at your house?” Max turns and looks at me.
“Yeah,” I answer. “My mom just told me when I FaceTimed her.”
“He’s a good kid,” Max says and then gets up. “I need to wash my hands.” Phil gets up and goes with him.
“So,” Matthew says, looking at me from across the table as I pick up my water and take a sip. “How long you think it’s going to take him to realize that you’re falling for his sister?”
I choke on the swallow and cough. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the fact that you couldn’t stop looking at her when you were at my house. I’m talking about the fact that she’s at your house with your son while you’re away. I’m talking about you glaring at the kid when he joked about taking her as his date.”