The food might not look impressive, by my god, this isn’t your grocery store coleslaw or buns! Everything is so fresh and loaded with flavor, it’s an effort not to just start cramming it in my face. I can taste just a slight tang of fresh dill in the potato salad and ground white pepper on the slaw. My taste buds are in heaven. I’m so sucked in by the food that I forget about carrying on a conversation. I stuff my face without making any small talk for about five minutes. My mama gives me a little cuff from above, reminding me of my manners.
“Thank you for setting this up. The food is delicious.”
“No need to thank me, it’s my pleasure. Speaking of, what is it you usually do for fun Kendra? Have any hobbies?”
Fun? I turn the word over in my mind like I’m translating from another language. I can’t think of the last time I had fun, I’ve been so busy with school and work for as long as I can remember. “Oh, you know, just hang out with friends mostly. Nothing too exciting,” I lie. My only real friend is Brianna, and she would be the first to rat me out about barely ever spending time with her outside of work. “Let me guess, you spend your free time skydiving over live volcanoes or surfing in shark infested waters,” I tease.
“Is that my reputation now?” He laughs easily.
“No, I mean the first time we went out you took me on a helicopter ride and then this time you were driving like we were on a race track. I’ve put it together that you might be a bit of an adrenaline junkie,” I laugh.
“You got me there. I guess when you spend as much time in board rooms as I do, you have to do something to get the blood pumping again.”
I probably spend just as much time in classrooms, and I’ve never once craved that kind of rush. Well, not until now. Matthew Blackwell definitely gets my blood pumping. “Makes sense.” I lean back on my hand, lazily eating what’s left of my picnic lunch and notice for the first time that people are taking pictures of us and pointing in our direction. “What the hell?”
“Oh that,” he answers flatly. “Just ignore it, you get used to it.”
The gawkers shuffle away from my angry glare, leaving us in peace again. “I don’t know how you can put up with that. Don’t you ever just wish you had a normal life?”
“More than you know.” He stares off for a moment, but shakes himself back to the present quickly. “There’s no point in wishing for things you can’t change though, right? We can only make the best of right now.” He smiles, and the rest of the world and whatever assholes taking our pictures in it all evaporate.
He’s stopped smiling, but I’m still staring. I pull my reluctant eyes off his face and try to fill up the awkward silence growing. “Well, I guess I’d put up with my picture being taken if it meant living like you do. Your parents must be proud of you for building the career that you have.”
“I wouldn’t say that, no.”
“Yeah right! I bet your mom is bragging to all her friends…”
“I don’t really talk to my mother, Kendra. And I don’t think she’s all that impressed since I inherited the family business from my father when he passed away.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I know what it’s like to lose a parent. I’ve lost both of mine now.”
“Don’t be sorry, he wasn’t a good guy. He was good at what he did, and he didn’t let humanity get in his way,” he says in a low, cold tone that gives me a chill. I remember when Marjorie set him off at the fundraiser by mentioning his “daddy issues.” I think I’m getting a peek behind the curtain on what she meant.
Matthew pushes a tense smile across his face and starts clearing the picnic. “Anyway, enough about all that. It’s getting late, how about we go for a walk?”
“Sure.” I breathe a sigh of relief. For a second, I thought he was going to cut the date short. I jump up a little too enthusiastically, happy that I haven’t soured the date. I have no idea where the time went, but the sun is getting lower in the sky. I don’t understand how the last hour of my shifts at the diner can drag by like a slug traveling over broken glass, but this felt like minutes passing by. I’m just happy to see where the nightfall will take us.
“Are you serious? Come on, you’re joking.”
“No, I’m serious. I’ve never seen it.”
We’re surrounded by the buzz of the Stone Rose Pub, and I’m about 2 and 3/4 pints into some light beer that’s hitting me like a steel bat.