Page 34 of Just a Heartbeat Away

“Where should we go for drinks?” Via asked in a desperate attempt to change the topic.

“Cider.” Sadie shrugged. “They should be able to seat us, even without a rezzi. There’s only six of us, seven if—hey, Rachel, you wanna join us?”

One of the quieter fifth-grade teachers blushed and nodded shyly, stepping over to join the group. “I wasn’t sure if I was invited, but it sounds fun.”

Via couldn’t help but admire Sadie. Always shouting out her thoughts and inviting people to do things. She wore bright, mismatched clothes, and chewed gum the second the kids were out the door. She just always looked like she was having fun. Via thought back to their lunch together, the ease with which Sadie had talked about the holidays and coming out to her family. Via would have bet a lot of money that Sadie’s aura wasn’t lonely, boring blue.

A few moments later, Sebastian came striding back over, a bright smile on his face. Via looked up for just a second, but her eyes skated away before she could stop them. He slung his bag over his shoulder. “Where are we going?”

THEWALKOVERto the bar, just a few blocks, was boisterous and loose. Honestly, the yoga had relaxed the teachers way more than the Friday night happy hours ever did. Via walked in the front of the group with Grace and Shelly. She oohed and aahed over the grandkid pictures that Shelly was showing.

She liked the two of them. Shelly was sweet and a little shy. Grace was much more outgoing and could be crass. They had a good friendship going and Via liked being around them.

None of them had changed out of their workout clothes, despite the early October chill, and the bartender did a double take when the group filed in to the bar. It wasn’t too busy for a Brooklyn bar on a Monday night, but they had to squeeze to fit into the last table.

A bolt of inspiration hit Via. Something she’d never done before but always wanted to. “First round’s on me,” she told the group.

A series of little cheers and hoots greeted her as each person told her their order. Mostly beers and wine; Grace requested sherry.

Via leaned against the bar, trying to get the bartender’s attention and smiling to herself. She’d never had expendable money before. Not that she really did right now either, but she had enough in her fun fund to drop a hundred bucks at the bar for her friends. It filled her up to be able to do it. She wished, as she so often did, that she could take a snapshot of this moment and message it back through time to the twelve-year-old foster kid who she’d been. She just wanted to tell little Via that she was headed for good things. Adulthood. Stability. The ability to throw a little money around every once in a while.

Via’s phone chirped in her pocket, and she opened up the text from Evan. Her smile instantly dimmed. He was irritated that she’d made other plans. And his job interview this morning had not gone well. The bubbling happiness that had been rising through Via just a second before was hardening, forming into a dull lump in her chest.

What was she thinking? She’d totally forgotten about Evan. She didn’t have the money to buy these drinks now that Evan was unemployed. He hadn’t had to rely on her for anything yet, but they were building a life together, and she should be thinking for two. It shamed her that she’d forgotten his money situation and the potential hard times he was going through when she agreed to go out with her friends. She’d ditched him tonight. In more ways than one.

“What can I get you, beautiful?” the bartender asked, leaning over the bar toward her. He was older, maybe forty-five, and very handsome. He had silver in his hair and tattoos on the backs of his hands.

Via blushed at the endearment, even though she was pretty certain that it was the kind of thing bartenders said to women all the time.

She placed her order and his eyes widened. “Wow, hard day, huh?”

She laughed. “It’s not all for me. I swear.”

He tapped the bar with the flat of his hand. “You got it, gorgeous. I’ll be right back.” A moment later he tossed a tray onto the bar and started loading drinks onto it. “You a yoga teacher?”

She looked down at her apparel. “Nope. I just led a class for my colleagues. We’re teachers at PS 128.”

“No shit? I thought y’all usually came in on Fridays. We’d have held a table for you if we’d known.”

“We got a table just fine. And after the yoga, apparently they all needed a drink.”

“After the yoga, I needed an IV and about a week of vacation,” Sebastian’s voice came from over her shoulder. Via and the bartender laughed.

“I hear that—I used to date a yoga teacher. Went to a class thinking I could impress her. Damn. Big mistake. It was one of them hot yoga classes? I saw spots for a week.”

Via grinned at the bartender, noticing his eyes dancing between her and Sebastian. She took a step toward the bar and signed the bill he passed over to her.

“I’ll carry that for you.” Sebastian batted her hands away from the tray and grabbed the drinks. “It’s why I came over.”

The bartender handed over her copy of the bill and she smiled at him, trailing after Sebastian. The women cheered when he slid the drinks to the middle of the table, and Via found the two of them sliding into the last available seats, right next to one another. Well, fine. That was just fine. She couldn’t avoid him forever just because he looked like a Greek flipping god when he chaturanga-ed.

Via looked down at the receipt in her hand, about to fold it into her pocket. “Oh.”

“He charge you for something wrong?” Sebastian asked beside her, looking over her shoulder.

“No, he, uh, never mind.”

“Ohhhh.” Sebastian grinned at her, leaning over to read the receipt. “Christian the bartender left you his number.”

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