There's a difference. I'm not sure there is, Marcus said. Look at this table, Daniel said. Look at the two of you. Are you honestly going to sit here and tell me the outcome was bad?
He refilled his wine glass. I accept your gratitude. They stayed until 10:30. On the way out, Daniel pulled Marcus aside at the door while Olivia went to the truck just for a moment. "Hey," Daniel said quietly.
The serenity was gone. "This was the real thing." "Hey," Marcus said. She's happy, Daniel said. Whatever you're doing, keep doing it. I haven't seen her like this in years.
She laughs different. Yeah. Marcus said, "It's real." Daniel said the laughing. It used to be she'd laugh because she thought she should. Now it just happens.
He paused. You did that. Marcus looked at his friend. We did it together, he said. Daniel nodded.
Then he put his hand on Marcus's shoulder, the same grip from the diner, firm and brief, and let go. Good night, man. Daniel said. Good night, Marcus said. He walked to his truck.
Olivia was in the passenger seat. He got in. He started the engine. She leaned her head back against the seat and looked at him with soft eyes and a quiet expression that had the warmth of a woman who had just spent an evening feeling completely simply ordinarily loved. He set us up, she said.
He absolutely set us up, Marcus confirmed. And you're not angry. I'm going to be annoyed about it for exactly the length of this drive, Marcus said. Then I'm going to be grateful. She smiled.
Fair. He drove. She didn't turn on music. She just sat there and he just drove. And the city went by outside and it was the particular kind comfortable silence that only exists between people who have stopped trying to fill the space and start in space inhabiting it.
When he pulled up to her building, she didn't move right away. I was thinking, she said, "Yeah, about what you said. The plan, a family that got built the hard way." She turned and looked at him. I want Maya at the table. He looked at her.