We stood and I waved the couple over. “We were just leaving, if you want the bench.”
“Great!” the man said. “Thanks so much.” He sat down, but the woman remained standing.
“Are you here on vacation?” I asked.
The woman looked surprised at my question. “How did you know?”
I shrugged. “La Jolla is a very touristy area.”
She nodded and smiled. “We love it here.” She gestured to me and Lori. “What about you two? A honeymoon?”
Lori and I glanced at each other.
“Us?” I said.
Lori bit her bottom lip. “No, no.”
“We’re just—”
“We work together.”
I hesitated. “Yes. We’re coworkers.”
“Who work together,” Lori said, blushing and looking like she wanted to flee this conversation and quite possible the city or state.
“At work.”
The man looked a little suspicious, his glance bouncing back and forth between me and Lori. “And you’re working right now?”
I shook my head. “No, not now, but earlier yes.”
The woman sat down on the bench and stared back up at us. “You certainly look like a couple to me.”
Lori shook her head, now checking her nails and avoiding eye contact. “Just coworkers.”
“That’s right. In fact, we should get back to work.”
“We should.”
I waved goodbye. “You two enjoy the rest of your stay here.”
We turned and walked back up the path toward the street.
As we headed back up the hill, Lori grabbed me by the arm and stopped me. “You never asked the last question.”
I hit my forehead with my palm. “I totally forgot.” I pulled out my phone and searched Google again. “Okay, let’s see . . .”
“Last question,” Lori said. “Make it a good one.”
“I will do my best.”
“No zombies this time.”
“Got it.”
“Or vampires.”
I chuckled and scrolled through a few questions before settling on one that hit pretty close to home and was much too hard to resist. “Okay—last question. Have you ever vehemently disliked something and then changed your mind later?”