My answers seem to appease him since he turns his attention to the folder. He opens it and thumbs through the pages, nodding and saying “uh huh” every so often. As I sit here, I feel like I’m facing a teacher with a final test, my fate in his hands. Do I pass or fail? Story of my life when I was in high school.
He sets the file on my desk and sighs. “You’re going to be hard to replace.”
“Thank you. That means a lot.”
“I’m going to conduct some interviews today and would like for you to sit in on them, maybe tell the applicants about how you handle everything. Do you think of any of the current staff would make a good manager?”
I shake my head slowly. It’s not that I don’t love my staff, I do, but every single one of them has something going on and they’re always missing work for some reason or the other. No one is committed beside the head chef and he only wants to cook.
“Yeah, I didn’t think so when none of them applied for your job.” We stand at the same time and he waits for me to walk out of the office. He follows behind until we enter the kitchen and he heads off in another direction. Out front, the crowd is light and even though I know Ajay won’t be here until tomorrow, I can’t help but scan the faces for his. Tomorrow we’re going to withdraw the petition for our divorce. He offered to have his lawyer do it, but I thought it would mean more if we ripped the papers up together. It’s unnecessary but ceremonial… a life changing event.
As soon as I see Fletcher walk in, I pull the tap for his beer. He sits down and sighs. We haven’t spoken much about me moving, but I gather the news isn’t sitting well with him. I set his pint down in front of him and rest my hands on the edge of the bar. “Where’s Dhara?”
“Dunno, she had some meeting tonight.”
“Is she meeting you later?”
“Didn’t ask.”
“Don’t lie to me, Fletch. I know you, you asked.”
He shrugs, picks up his glass and takes a drink. “She’s out of sorts since you told us you’ve decided to move. I think she’s been trying to process the fact that she’s losing her best friend.”
I lean forward and tilt my head slightly so he’s looking into my eyes. “You can’t give me a guilt trip here, Fletch. I’m doing exactly what you would do if Dhara decided to move. You’d follow her and you wouldn’t think twice about it.”
“She hasn’t hurt me the way he hurt you.”
“We grow from hurt. If I thought Ajay was going to do it again, I’d run the other way, but he won’t.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because, Fletcher… I’ve known him most of my life. I’ve seen him at his worst and now at his best, and he’s seen me at mine. We’re the not the same eighteen-year-old’s that don’t have a clue about being adults. We needed to grow up. It’s easy for me to see that now and to admit that getting married so young was a mistake.”
“Aren’t you supposed to follow your heart and all that?”
“Oh, Fletch. Are you following your heart? Have you told Dhara how you feel? Asked her out? You had the perfect opportunity while in Los Angeles, but you didn’t take it. Why not?”
He shakes his head and turns his attention to his beer. I feel like a shit for bringing up Dhara, but he’s in the same boat as I used to be.
“She doesn’t feel the same way.” He sets his empty pint glass down and pushes it toward me. I leave him there, with those words lingering in the air, while I pour him another and help a couple that just sat down.
In the few minutes that I’m gone, I’m hoping life has smacked him in the head. “Have you asked her?”
“Nope,” he says, drinking from his new glass.
“So how do you know she doesn’t feel the same way?”
He shrugs. “Has she said anything to you?”
“We don’t sit around like school girls, giggling about boys. Those days went out the window after I had Evelyn. But it’s clear that she cares about you. She hasn’t dated anyone in a long time. She spends most of her free time with you if she isn’t with me. I would think that there’s something there. Tell me, where did you sleep last night?”
“On her couch.”
I shake my head and go check on my other patrons. They tie me up with a food order and a group of guys sit down at the bar, asking if I’ll put the baseball game on for them.
When I finally get back to my friend, I ask him, “Do you want to order?”
“My usual.” I put his order in and try to keep myself busy. Word is spreading that I’m leaving so people are asking questions and giving me words of encouragement. Of course, there are those few who are snubbing their noses up at me, but it doesn’t matter. People like Jolene Johnson-Johnson will always find a way to be negative about a situation when it’s a good thing for someone else. She was this way in high school and hasn’t changed much during adulthood. I’m not going to let people get me down. My happiness — and Evelyn’s — is far too important to me.