Page 74 of One for the Road
“Are you?” he urges, lowering his voice. “Please tell me you finally made a move.”
“We—”
I get interrupted by the sight of DeeDee herself emerging from the kitchen and slipping behind the bar with a few empty pitchers in hand. She says something to Renee before throwing her head back to laugh, still grinning ear to ear as she starts stuffing the pitchers onto their shelf.
Her May Flowers crown has made a return. It’s the official theme of the night, and all the staff have flower accessories on. I’ve got a wedding-style boutonniere I picked up from a flower shop tucked into the chest pocket of my flannel, and Renee is wearing a few leis around her neck. Dylan is of course rocking a corsage worn on his wrist like a girl heading off to prom.
DeeDee and her crown still steal the show.
Dylan’s eyes follow my gaze, and he lets out a low whistle.
“Youdidmake a move, didn’t you?”
“What? No,” I deny.
“Dude, I’ve watched you stare at DeeDee like she’s a distant oasis in the Sahara desert for years. Now you look at her like you’ve had your cake and eaten it too.”
I punch him again. “Shut up.”
“Fine, fine. Whatever you say.” He makes a zipper motion over his lips. “But I’m getting the details later.”
I have a few things to take care of, so I leave him to continue distracting Renee as I head over to make sure all the sound equipment is functional. DeeDee’s been so focused on getting the bar set up that she hasn’t noticed me yet, and I don’t interrupt her. We haven’t seen each other outside of work all week, and the longer the distance stretches between us, the more I can’t help feeling like I’m tip-toeing around a bomb. All I want to do is run behind the bar and pull her into my arms before kissing her senseless in front of everyone, but there’s a threat of detonation in the air that stops me from even saying hello.
She’s just busy.
Even my thoughts don’t sound convincing.
Paige needs help tracking down a few cables, but other than that, we’re good to go. That leaves me with a fair amount of time before the meeting, so I head into the kitchen to see if anyone needs help. We’re opening later than usual tonight to get prepped for the event, so the kitchen is fairly quiet, and there’s nothing for me to help with. I turn back to the hall just as DeeDee starts heading down it from the other side. She freezes.
“Oh, hey.” I give her a stupid little wave before letting my hand drop to my side.
“Hey! I didn’t know you were here!”
There’s no way she didn’t notice me before this. I’ve been traipsing around the bar for twenty minutes.
“You seemed busy.” I take a few steps closer. “I like the crown.”
She adjusts it on her head, the tension in her body relaxing a little. “Merci!I’m glad I got to wear it again.”
“You can wear it for me whenever you want.” I get close enough to reach out and brush my fingers along her arm. She tenses up again as soon as I touch her.
“Zach!” she whisper-yells. “We’re at work.”
“I know, I just...You look really pretty.” I let my hand fall away. “I’ve missed you this week.”
Her face softens even as her posture stays rigid. “I’ve missed you too.”
I know it’s not the time or place for this conversation. In fact, I can’t think of a worse time or place, but I can’t stop myself from asking.
“Are we...Are you...okay?”
I don’t miss her sharp intake of breath, even with the din of the bar echoing around us.
“I’m fine.” She forces another smile.
As Paige would say with some withering sarcasm in her voice: convincing.
“You wanna help me get lemons?” she asks.
