Page 65 of Quarantined
“Mmm. I am starving. What are you in the mood for?” Raven eyes the menu.
“I like the Southwestern Salads here. What about you?”
“They have the best red velvet cheesecake.”
I fall into a fit of laughter. This girl is so ridiculous. “Rave, are you going to even look at the dinner menu or just order one of each dessert?”
Raven narrows her eyes at me and mumbles, “I will get an appetizer.”
“At this rate, you are going to be really fat by twenty-five and have your first heart attack by thirty, death by thirty-five.”
“Eh. Gotta go some someday. It will be worth it.”
We both burst out laughing. I. Fucking. Missed. Us. Laughing, teasing, so normal, so in sync.
“How about I make you a deal?” Putting an arm around her and pulling her close, I say, “I will live in denial that you are digging yourself to an early grave if you at least eat something healthy and green first. And afterward, you can have all four desserts on the menu. I will just look the other way and pretend that you will still be alive to see Mia graduate college.”
This wins me a laugh. A belly-aching laugh, with her hair falling against my chest.
“Deal. Here, choose something for me, and then I want all the desserts.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Shaking my head, I put our menus down. This is normal. If Raven is not sure about a decision or doesn’t care to make one, she asks me to make it for her.
I order two salads and all four desserts when the waiter comes around. The waiter gives me a quizzical look. He is about to tell me that he will ask about dessert after dinner.
I hold up a hand, to put a stop to that. “I have to order dinner and dessert together; otherwise, the lady won’t be happy,” I motion towards Raven, who flashes all her teeth to the waiter.
Raven insists that dessert be ordered at the same time as dinner. If we don’t do it, Raven refers toThe Incident of 2012.And none of us want a repeat of that.
A couple of years ago all of us went to a fusion restaurant. Raven was really excited to try their extensive dessert menu. But the service was extremely slow. By the time we finished with dinner, no one, other than Raven, was in the mood to wait another forty-five minutes for dessert.
Raven pouted all the way home and kept throwing daggers at us with her eyes. Very little can get that girl down. But the lack of sugar and coffee will do it. For two days, she barely spoke to any of us, freezing the three of us out. It drove all of us crazy.
I shake my head as the waiter grabs the menus and refills our waters.
“How was the party last night?” Raven visibly tenses at my question.
“It was fine,” she says absentmindedly while avoiding eye contact.
I stare at her for a heartbeat. I can already feel her pulling away. This is ridiculous. I didn’t bring her here to interrogate her. I want us to have a good time. I change direction.
“Cool. How are all of your sketches going? Draw anything exciting lately?”
“Yes! I actually started a rough draft today.” Raven’s eyes light up. Much better. She delves into a series of ideas for a new outfit she is working on. She talks animatedly about a reversible dress, so people can have two different outfits for the price of one.
As our dinner comes in, she asks about Columbia and the new app. Some people have a way with words, and some people have listening skills. Raven has both. She listens attentively about the app and our program, interjecting at the right moments to ask great follow up questions.
As we dig into dessert, I see her face turning ghostly pale. Raven immediately jerks out of the arm I have around her.
‘Rave, are you okay?”
Not understanding the turn of her mood, I follow her gaze.
“I go to school with them,” she is looking at a family. Mom, dad, and their two teenage daughters. Twins, I think.
They spot Raven at the same moment. Before I can respond, they walk towards us.
