Lucy and I walk to work together on Tuesday. She looks like she’s wearing a rainbow sheep—her second-hand wool coat is a multitude of colours. We chat about the show. I pull my coat around me to keep out the cool drizzle. I’m wearing one earbud and listening to “Werewolves of London” while we walk, drifting into my own thoughts in that comfortable way that happens between good friends.
Lucy twinkles at me. “So, you and Reid?”
“What?” Then I laugh. “Me and Reid? Come on, Lucy. That’s ridiculous.”
“You told me he asked you on a date at practice that one time.”
I push open the door to D’Lish. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure that was as friends.”
She gives me a funny smile. “If you say so.”
We’re enveloped in warmth and noise and the smell of coffee. “I say so.” I take off my coat and pass a cluster of people having a lively meeting.
As we enter the kitchen, she puts on her black apron. I hang my coat up, grab my apron and knot my hair into a braid.
Our manager glares at us. “Hurry up. I need someone on the counter.”
When her back is turned, I pull a face.
Lucy whispers, “You and Reid are totally making out.”
“I’m going to help at the front,” I say, shimmying past her. “You get the clear-up duties.”
She sticks her tongue out at me.
Nifty comes to meet us when we finish work. It’s almost midnight. He presses his face against the window like a puppy. When we open the door, he almost falls inside the café.
“Give me warmth,” he moans. He’s wearing super-skinny pants and a ripped tee with only a linen jacket. He vapes and dances foot to foot.
“Put some clothes on,” I say. “And get out of here with that. No smoking.” I close the door and lock it. “Seriously, Nifty, you need to wear more.”
Lucy, who is snuggled into her sheep coat, bleats, “Like me-e-e-e-e.”
“Indeed. Look at this fine example of warmth and fashion.” I gesture at her.
Nifty laughs.
“This, you poor fools, isn’t about fashion. It’s about respect for the planet. I’m reusing. Recycling,” Lucy says.
Nifty laughs. “You are most definitely doing that.”
He puts an arm around her, and we stroll out into the freezing night.
As the three of us walk toward my house, I say, “So, Nifty, what’s going on with you and Cole? I haven’t heard anything since your supper.”
“Did she give you advice?” Lucy asks. “Never, ever listen to her advice.”
Nifty says, “His parents loved me.”
“Really?’
“Well, they didn’t hate me. Cole and I are, perhaps, working on it.” He pumps his pelvis.
“Good,” I say. “I think.”
“Oh, it’s gooooood,” says Nifty.
“I get it, thanks. Is he coming to the show?” I ask.
Nifty shrugs and looks at Lucy. In the streetlight, I make out his expression. It’s half eye-roll, half smile. “She’s obsessed. The show, the show, the show.”
“Aren’t you?” I ask.
We arrive at my house and go up the back steps. The lights are out. I panic—there’s no way Dad is well enough to be out anywhere. I text him five times.
Dad:
Just went for a walk.
Relax. I’m okay.
I follow the others to the den. Nifty picks a movie. About half an hour into it, Dad sticks his head around the door. “You kids okay?”
“Where were you?”
He doesn’t answer. “Lucy, is that magnificent beast in the mud room something to do with you?”
She beams. “That, Vince, is my coat.”
“Fantastic,” he says. “I was out, my lovely Lark.”
“Dad, have you been drinking? You said you went for a walk.”
He winks. “Maybe a glass or two. Now, enough questions. This old man needs to go to bed.”
“What about your heart?”
“Really, it was only a glass and a half. Don’t worry, baby. I’m just”—he grins again—“in a good mood. Night.” And with that, he’s gone back upstairs.
I look at my friends. “What was that about?”
“I might not be the only one having a gooood time,” Nifty says.
I throw a pillow at him. “Ew. He’s only just got out of hospital. He’s not having sex, Nifty. Gross.”
We turn our attention back to the movie, and I realize I haven’t thought about anything except the present moment for hours.