Page 77 of Give Me a Shot

“Okay, I’m hanging up the phone now,” Mo said.

“No, no, wait, this is a historic moment; I gotta write this down!” he laughed.

“Good night, Khalil,” Mo said.

“Night, night, sleep tight,” Khalil sing-songed.

Mo could hear the smile in his voice. He grunted again.

—

Late the next morning, Mo returned to the reception area of his shop and picked up the client orders that were sitting on Beverly’s desk. She turned in her chair a little to face him and folded her hands in her lap.

“Mo,” she said slowly. “Are you all right?”

“Um…yes, Bev,” he said, confused. If anything, he was better than he’d been in a long time.

She tilted her head to one side and squinted at him.

“How’s Maddie?” she asked.

“She’s great,” he said.

“Any new awards or achievements or anything? She’s such a smart kid.”

He did appreciate Bev asking about Maddie. She was kind and patient with her when she came into the shop. Bev always had a friendlier smile for Maddie than anyone else.

“No,” he said. “Nothing new.”

“Hmm…You’ve had a lot of pep in your step this morning,” Bev said.

Mo wasn’t sure what to do. His ears were beginning to burn, and his throat was dry.

“Have I?” he croaked.

Bev nodded slowly.

“Mmhmm…” she said. “It’s been quite some time since I’ve seen you look so…happy.”

Great. I said the word and now people can see it.

“Oh, um…that’s good, I guess?”

“It’s very good,” she said. “But if it’s not Maddie…I wonder, does it have something to do with that young lady who was in the other day when her engine wouldn’t start? The one whose car you stayed late to finish?” He realized that she was fighting to keep her lips from spreading into a smile. He could cover up and say that it was something else, but Bev didn’t miss a single thing that happened in his shop. She’d know that he was lying.

“Uh, yes,” he said.

Bev’s face lit up, and she gave him the smile she usually reserved for Maddie.

“That’s excellent news, Mo. I’m very happy for you,” she said.

His cheeks got warm, and he took a quick look around. There were only two people waiting on their cars. A very old man reading a newspaper and a young woman wearing headphones as she watched something on her phone. They were in the farthest seats from Bev’s desk.

“Um, thanks,” he said.

“Of course, Mo,” she said. “Don’t worry. That’s all I’m going to say about that.” She turned her chair back to her desk and resumed working on the forms in front of her. Mo walked back to his office, passing through the shop floor. He’d been tucking away thoughts of Jess as soon as they cropped up. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to think about her. He felt like his feelings were too big for him to concentrate on anything if he paid attention to them. He thought he’d done a good job of hiding what was going on inside, but evidently not.

Although Bev is always perceptive. She even notices if I’m getting sick before I realize it.

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