Chapter 10

After texting her friend Faye the details of where she’d be and perusing the menu online, Sol meets Franklin for dinner that Thursday at Mesa Mexican Restaurant in a suburban shopping plaza. She figures that even if the date isn’t great, at least she knows the food will be delicious! She arrives straight from work and is wearing a red shirtdress and flowered ballet flats. He also comes straight from work and is wearing khakis and a red polo shirt. She laughs when she realizes they’re matching.

She gives him a quick hug hello and tries to focus her attention on the present moment. She wants to give him a chance, but it would be a stretch to say she’s excited about him right now. She doesn’t have enough information yet, so she’ll see how the night goes. It’s times like this that she wonders if or how things would be different if she were already married. It’s not like she can talk to Franklin about whether her mom is her real mom and what she should do about the email from Shyla when it’s only their second date. She hopes that if she did have a husband, he would provide emotional support and advice in this situation, but she also knows that relationships don’t always go the way you’d think.

Sol and Franklin are seated in a booth next to a round table with a couple and three young children. The children are coloring on their kids’ placemats, and the couple seem at peace, chatting intermittently. Sol had kind of thought that she would have that life by now. She wonders if she’s any closer to it in her thirties than in her twenties. She gives herself credit for being out on a date. She knows she has to meet new men somehow.

The restaurant isn’t overly crowded, but there are enough people there to create a buzz. Sol looks over the menu and tries to find something without beans and that won’t be too messy to eat. Two dates is definitely not long enough to be comfortable having gas around the other person! Even though she had already looked at the menu, she hadn’t narrowed down her choices yet. She looks longingly at the margaritas but thinks it’s probably better to skip the alcohol until she has a better sense of who he is. She decides on chicken enchiladas with the green sauce instead of the red. Franklin goes all in for steak and seafood fajitas with a jalapeño margarita. Sol knows the smell from his sizzling fajita pan will be in her hair before the meal is over.

“So how is your week going?” Sol asks Franklin after they’ve ordered from the waitress.

He loads a chip with salsa, stuffs it in his mouth. “Ugh,” he says. “It was supposed to be my weekend to have the kids, and I had planned to take them to this family party at my parents’ house, but my ex is acting completely psycho and doesn’t want me to take them now. So I’ve been going back and forth with her all week.”

“Oh, that sounds frustrating. Why doesn’t she want you to take them?” Sol asks, careful to sound neutral. This is the first time he’s talking about his ex-wife and children, and she wants to know everything. She wonders what caused their marriage to break up and how that bodes for her possible relationship with him. And could she see herself as a stepmom to his children?

“She says my parents feed them too much sugar, and she wants them to eat this whole all-natural diet. Blah blah,” Franklin says as he eats two more chips. “Anyway, I definitely want to have more kids and can’t wait until I can make all the decisions without having to ask her opinion. Do you want to have kids? Wait, you don’t have any, do you?”

“Um,” Sol is taken aback by the question and is trying not to look at the chip piece that has fallen out of his mouth. “No, I don’t have any yet, but I’ve always wanted—”

“Hey, babe, can I get some more water?” Franklin waves down the waitress who had taken their order. He turns back to Sol. “This jalapeño margarita is hot!”

Sol stares at him in shock. “Did you just call her ‘babe’?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?” Franklin asks, surprised, slurping at his ice.

“Uh, that’s not the right thing to call a grown woman who’s not your wife or girlfriend. Anyway, yes, I would like to have kids.”

“Oh, okay, who knew? Don’t call a woman, ‘babe.’ Haha. So what if you can’t get pregnant?”

“Well, I’ve always thought about adoption. I’m already what they call ‘advanced maternal age,’ so I don’t know what my chances are. What about you—would you want to adopt?”

“No, I don’t want to have someone else’s kids. I want them to look like me. And like my other kids.” He seems completely oblivious to the look on her face.

“Oh.” Sol knows it’s his right to not want to adopt. But she is a little taken aback by his answer, especially since she had just said she has always thought about adopting. But she has heard that same view from others before. Some people do feel strongly about it. She wonders what kind of a father he is. She decides to just dive right in with more uncomfortable questions since things are already a little uncomfortable—for her, at least.

“So do you want to tell me a little about your marriage or what led to your divorce?” she says.

“Haha, I knew that question was coming. All women are the same and want to know that,” he says laughing, then takes a drink of his margarita.

“Well, I wouldn’t say we’re all the same, but it is kind of an important question when we’re getting to know you and thinking about a romantic relationship.” Sol thinks this is obvious but tries to be patient and not get distracted by his offhand comments.

“Sure, I’ll tell you what happened. She thought I was cheating on her. She could never get used to me talking to other women or having female friends.”

“But you weren’t?” Sol has to ask just to be sure.

“No, of course not. I mean, she started talking about emotional affairs or something, and I was just like, no, I don’t even care about them,” he says, waving his margarita in the air for emphasis.

“Oh, and you couldn’t work it out?”

“I’m here, aren’t I?”

Sol is thankful when the food comes, and the bartender turns on the Orioles game in the bar area. Franklin focuses on assembling his fajitas, and they both kind of watch the game as they chat. Sol decides she’s collected enough information for her to ponder for now, and Franklin doesn’t ask very many questions.

As expected, the food is delicious and neither of them has leftovers. Sol confirms in the bathroom that the fajita smell has indeed gotten into her hair. She takes an extra minute to pull herself together, then returns to the table to split the check with him.

In the parking lot, Franklin takes her hand as he walks her to her car. Sol has to admit that it’s nice to hold hands and be out on a date. Sometimes she has to remind herself that she can be a “leading lady,” not just a “supportive friend.”

When Sol gets home, she texts Faye to let her know, then checks her dating app and sets up a coffee date with another guy, Raymond, she’s been messaging with. She doesn’t want to overreact to the conversation with Franklin at dinner, but she’s definitely questioning whether there’s any hope for their relationship.

The phone rings shortly thereafter, and it’s Thea wanting to know about her date. Thea wants her to find a great guy and get married, so she’s always asking about Sol’s dating life and trying to find guys to set her up with. Sol appreciates it, but she has to admit sometimes it’s annoying to be grilled by someone who doesn’t really understand what it’s like to be out on the dating scene in your late thirties, patiently (or impatiently) trying and hoping, over and over again.

“Sooooo???” Thea opens.

“Hi, Thea!”

“Spill the beans, Sol.”

“Well, I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? Did you get to know him any better on this date?”

“I did. I think there are some red flags. We talked about his marriage and kids a little. Um, and one other thing.”

“What, Sol? Why are you beating around the bush?!”

Sol lets out a huge sigh. “He called the waitress ‘babe.’”

“He what?!”

“Yeah. I mean, I corrected him and everything, and he acted like he didn’t know it was inappropriate.”

“Seriously?! This guy is a piece of work.”

“So anyway, I set up a date with another guy from the app.”

“Thank goodness! Sol, I told you it’s a numbers game. The more guys you go out with, the more chances you have to find a good one.”

“Uh-huh.”

“You know I’m right. You’re amazing—you just need to go out with more guys.”

“Thea, you’re not the one who has to go out with all these ‘roughs’ to find the ‘diamond.’”

“I know, I know, haha. But I know what I’m talking about!”

“How do you know? Did you read an article about it? You married your high school boyfriend! You didn’t have to go through all this.”

“I know, but this is how it is these days. I just want you to find someone great!”

Sol decides it’s no use having this conversation right now. “I know, Thea. Okay, I’m tired, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Night, Sun.”

Sol rolls her eyes at Jericho, then grabs his leash to take him out back before they go to bed.