It should be noted, that of my many talents none were so refined than my ability to lie. Don't take that the wrong way, lying, in my opinion, was an excellent skill if cultivated for good instead of evil. And I was almost never evil.

     So when I pulled into the parking lot of The Miracle Burger I felt no guilt about the amount of manipulation I was about to-you know what, manipulation is an ugly word. It was more like...gentle nudging. Yes! I felt no guilt about gently nudging the situation in a direction that would benefit me.

     I'd gone home and slipped into a simple white cotton dress that made my thin frame look delicate and playful. My curly hair was loose and a little wilder than necessary; a task made easier by the rigid winter air. Imperfections made me look approachable and down to Earth and not at all like someone Henry has ever, would ever, or could ever think about boning.

     That was an important distinction to make tonight.

     Every choice I'd made was on purpose. Even the restaurant. The Miracle Burger was a local joint that served casual American cuisine. The food was good but inexpensive and with enough variety to keep everyone happy. But most importantly there was the cheap booze-not enough to get drunk, but just enough to loosen up some of that tension.

     All variables had been accounted for with the exception of Henry's date-Robin. But, the combination of food, booze, and the charm offensive from yours truly should put an end to any animosity between Manny and Henry once and for all...

    I was confident as I opened the door to my car. I swung out with a pep in my step and immediately felt a chill run up my legs. Winters in Florida could be...tricky. Sometimes hot, sometimes cold. Often, just a little brisk. Still, it wasn't enough to bother so I strode as quick as I could toward the front door. When I was halfway across the street I saw Manny coming from around the bed of his pickup.

     "Were you waiting in your truck?" I asked with a shiver after he took his time walking over to me.

     "Uh, no. I just got here." Liar. Probably didn't want to risk being alone with Henry. "Why aren't you wearing a jacket?"

     "I am." I fingered the thin yellow cardigan I'd layered over the dress. "This is kind of like a jacket."

     "Well, you look kind of cold-"

     "But do I look cute though?"

     His smile was kind. "You know you do. But it's still cold." He started shrugging out of his coat but I gestured for him to stop.

     "We'll be inside in, like, three seconds. And it's not even cold out here."

     He stopped and wrapped an arm around me. "You're such a Floridian. Didn't I catch you wearing short shorts in forty-degree weather the other day?"

     "It was forty-eight," I quipped. "Fifty-two when the sun finally came out. That's shorts weather."

     He didn't respond, just held open the door to The Miracle Burger and gestured for me to walk through first. I spotted Henry sitting on one of the benches with a woman wearing an embellished bomber jacket over dark skinny jeans. They stood when they saw us.

     "Hey!," I said with perfected ease. "You weren't waiting long?"

     "No," Henry was careful to keep a respectful distance between us.

     "You must be Robin," I said to the woman beside him.

     "Yeah. Evie, right?" Her voice was sultrier than expected. Her smile was warm and eager.

     "Yeah. He told me so much about you." A lie, yes. But a polite one.

     "Yeah me too. Henry never stops talking about you." This lie came from Robin. She was also invested in keeping the peace. Why, I didn't know. She turned her hazel eyes to Manny. "Hi."

     "Hey."

     After the introductions we were seated in a booth (per my choosing) and given menus by a waitress who was far too eager to serve. "What can I get y'all to drink?" she said with an artificial perk.

     I ordered water and looked through the menu as I vaguely listened to the others order varying degrees of liquid courage. I already knew what I wanted but decided to played with the menu anyway.

     "What about appetizers to get you started?" said the plucky waitress.

     Our table took about twenty seconds to settle on appetizers and then our waitress, Amy, left us to grab our drink .

     "I've never been to this place before," Robin said as Amy sat down our drinks and ran off.

     I smiled and said, "Oh, me neither." I saw Henry's eyes flicker my way for about one-point-three seconds. Not only had I been here before, I'd often come with him. "I heard the food's good, though."

     "I've been really into eating at local restaurants lately," she said.

     "I love when people support local businesses," I thumbed between the lunch and dinner offerings. "Keeps me in business."

     "You own a restaurant?"

     "I own a café."

     Robin's eyes widened in delight. "No fucking way! That's the coolest."

     "I think so."

     She turned her gaze toward Manny. "And you're a cop?"

     "Detective," he declared with just an undercurrent of pride.

     "Yes," I chimed in. "He's very particular about that title."

     "Hey! I earned it."

     I ignored him and smirked at Robin. "You know, when we first met, he insisted I call him 'Detective'."

     "Kinky."

     "I thought so." I stopped playing with my menu and sat it down. "So, what do you do?"

     "I basically do the background clerical work at St. Theresa's. All the stuff patients don't see. Insurance, quality control, filing-that sort of stuff." She took a liberal sip of her margarita. "It's boring compared to you three. A café owner, a police detective, and an author."

     "You write books?" It was the first time Manny had addressed Henry without me having to push.

     "I wrote a book. The rest of the time I'm a freelance journalist," Henry wished that came off as humbly as it sounded in his head, but like Manny the fact that he took pride in his work was all too apparent in the tone.

     "But you wrote a book? It's published?"

     "Yeah."

     "Genre?"

     "Science fiction."

     Manny had put his menu down and picked up his beer. "Maybe I'll read it."

     I dared to interrupt their moment of bonding, "It's on my shelf. I'll let you borrow it."

     Henry's head shook with vigor. "Please. Buy, don't borrow. I'm trying to pay off a mortgage."

     As hard as he tried to prevent it, Manny chuckled. I'm not sure if he found that legitimately funny or if it's just the alcohol kicking in-but I'll take it.

     "They have so many burgers here." Robin said after a few seconds of slightly awkward silence. "Have you ever been to Toasty's?"

     "No, but I've met the prick who owns it." The other three stared at me in surprise. I guess I should explain. "We got in a brief disagreement once about how similar the names of our restaurants were."

     Robin smiled. She had a great, toothy grin that was wide but alluring. "That's hilarious."

     "Adventures in small business ownership." I took a sip of my water.

     "What about that Chinese place on Normandy?" she said. "Henry's always talking about it."

     "The buffet?"

     "Pretty great." Henry was trying extra hard tonight not to look my way. "It's not far up the street from our parents' houses."

     "Oh. So it's special for you two?" Manny looked at Henry coldly but kept his tone nice enough.

     "I wouldn't call it 'special'. Evie'll eat there with other people. Her mom, Alice, Dante."

     "Who's Dante?" Manny asked like he'd already deduced the answer.

     I kept my voice casual. "An ex-boyfriend."

     There was a grin in his eye as he said, "You never mentioned him."

     "It was so long ago. I don't even really think about him anymore."

     "How did he feel about your friendship?"

     "He was fine with it." Mostly because at the time Henry was far, far away at the University of Miami. "Anyway, the only reason we go is because Henry has a crush on the hostess."

     "You'd have to see her. She's always wearing those body dress things and high heeled boots. I can't not look." He finished off the last drop of his jack and coke then got a devious look in his eye. "You can't throw stones, Evie. You're always staring at that little Hispanic man that replaces the trays."

     That traitor! Right in front of the boyfriend. "I-I wouldn't say stare!"

     "Oh, yes you do! And he's so short too. He barely comes up past her shoulders. Probably no more than five feet tall."

     Men so often misunderstood their own attractiveness. Everything was about height and money in their minds. "He's short but very well proportioned." Robin smiled when I said that. She knew exactly what I was talking about.

     Manny gave my hand a squeeze under the table then said, "She has a horrible wandering eye."

     "Hey! We're dating but I'm not blind."

     "Every time we go to the Art Walk I catch her checking out the Samoan who runs the Eat Vegan booth."

     Robin squealed. "Oh my God! I've seen that guy. He is soo hot!"

     I laughed. "See? She gets it."

     "I don't have much of a problem with looking," Manny was still eyeballing Henry, but his gaze had softened a little. "So this Dante guy was cool with your friendship?"

     I answered a little too eagerly. "Absolutely."

     "I don't get it."

     Robin grinned from behind her second margarita. "I think it's refreshing."

     Manny glanced at Robin with an incredulous raise of his eyebrows. "Really?"

     "Yeah, man. I mean, I think we really should reevaluate the way we think of male and female friendships," she brushed a strand of her long black hair behind her ear as she enthralled us with her tipsy philosophy. "Like, the concept of friendship is really limited. Why shouldn't they be friends? Because society thinks it's weird. That's bullshit."

     "So you have male friends then?"

     "I have many."

     "I bet every one of them wants to have sex with you."

     "That's not my problem."

     "So, you put men in the friendzone?"

     "There's no such thing," She said with a vigorous shake of the head. "Either you're a friend or you're not."

     "Exactly." I said. "We had to deal with this as far back as middle school."

     "That's true. It's like they think we live inside a romantic comedy or something," Henry forgot for a moment to be on guard and smiled at me. "Like one day we'll turn around and realize we've been in love for twenty goddamn years. Doesn't work like that."

     "Right?" I agreed.

     "That would be twenty years of putting up with her in the hopes that I get sex in return. Her jokes aren't that funny."

     Manny nodded his head in agreement. "You're right. She's not that funny."

     "Okay. Fuck you both."

     The waitress came back, flushed and nearly out of breath. "Here we go," she sat our plates in front of us with steady hands. "Can I get anything else?"

     "No, this is fine." Somebody said. By that point my senses were busy mentally devouring the plate in front of me. The smell of garlic and parmesan made my mouth water. The sight of spinach and shrimp made me dizzy. My empty stomach called out.

     I unrolled the cloth napkin and smoothed it across my lap. My hands gripped the silverware, ready to stuff my face, but before I could get that first orgasmic bite I felt a tell-tale vibrating from my purse. Everyone else was distracted by the feast on the table. I slid my hand into my purse and checked the caller I.D. It was from Trudy Bergman.

     What could she possibly want so late in the evening?

     "Excuse me," I said to everyone else. "Just let me use the ladies room real quick."

     I slid from the booth, purse and all, and got a waiter to point me in the right direction. At the back of the dining area near a side door that led to the parking lot I walked into a cramped women's bathroom. The phone had already stopped ringing by the time I pulled it from my purse, so I quickly redialed.

     She answered on the first ring. "Hello? Ms. Harper. This is Trudy Bergman."

     "Yes?"

     "I just wanted to call to let you know that I'm very satisfied with your work."

     "Um, okay." This couldn't wait until tomorrow?

     "Peter called me. We've decided we want to meet."

     I mindlessly paced in front of three empty stalls. "Oh. Okay, great."

     "I understand you'd like to be present."

     So hungry..."Yes-"

     "To get your check. We're thinking this Friday."

     "That's fine." My stomach was dangerously close to collapsing in on itself.

     "We want to meet around two-thirty. I hope you can make it, but if you can't that's fine. We can meet without you."

     "No! No. Two-thirty is fine. It's perfect."

     "...Great. I'll email you the directions." She hung-up without a goodbye.

     I shrugged and washed my hands. I was just about to push open the bathroom door when my phone rang again. It was Peter Daugherty.

     "Hello?" I answered with a sigh.

     "Hey. It's Peter...Daugherty."

     "Yes. I just got a call from your mother-"

     "She's not my mother," he said curtly.

     "Okay. I got a call from Trudy saying she wants to meet Friday at two-thirty."

     "That's right." He went silent for a moment. He did that a lot. "I just wanted to call and thank you for getting the ball rolling on this thing."

     "Oh, okay." My stomach growled like a staving ravenous beast. I pressed my free hand into it as I half-listened to Peter and half thought about the food calling for me.

     "I'm in consultation with my lawyer."

     That got my attention. "...Why?"

     "I intend to sue for custody of my son...after a paternity test."

     "Isn't that a little drastic? You just found out about him today."

     "I don't want to waste any more time." He waited like he expected me to argue and continued when I remained silent. "I've got to go. But to be clear you're still coming?"

     "Of course."

     "Good." He hung up without a goodbye. Like mother, like son.

     I shrugged and went back to our table just in time to catch the tail-end of a conversation.

     "So, yeah I'm good," Henry was saying. "But Evie's better."

     "Evie's better at what?" I slid next to Manny.

     "Devil May Cry three."

     "Yeah. I am." I finally took a bite of my pasta and melted from pleasure. Food was so good it made me want to French kiss the chef.

     "She'll kick your ass at Mario Kart too. Or at least she used too."

     "Hey!" I mumbled through my food. "I have a job now. I'm an adult. It's not like when we were teenagers."

     "No, it's not," Henry looked at Manny. "You game?"

     "When I have time."

     "What do you play?"

     "Call of Duty, Smash Bros, Grand Theft Auto. Used to love Tomb Raider as a kid."

     "You play Grand Theft Auto? But you're a cop."

     "So? I can separate fiction and reality."

     "You know what the greatest game of all time is?" I said with enough energy to power the grid for the whole city.

     "What?"

     "The Sims!"

     Manny gave me a dismissive sigh. "That's a girl's game."

     "...And the greatest game of all time."

     "Beg to differ." He lovingly squeezed my upper thigh under the table.

     "By all means. What game on Earth could top it?"

     Manny took a bite of his burger, his brow knitting in thought. "Um, GTA! Fallout, Madden, NBA Live-"

     "What? No. All those sports games are the same!"

     "And all those Sims games aren't?"

     "No!...Well..."

     "Exactly!"

     Robin laughed through her third margarita, "I play this game on my phone-"

     "No!"

     The banter stayed light and spirited as we all argued about what was the greatest video game ever invented. Which, to be clear is The Sims-duh...and maybe a little bit Legend of Zelda, I'm still on the fence about it.

     The conversation moved forward with an effortless comfort that almost relaxed me. Even better Manny and Henry were relaxed. There were no cutting glances or uncomfortable silences. It was nice.

     "I was actually born in Delaware," Robin was saying. "We moved here when I was fourteen."

     "I was born out of state too. We moved here from Illinois when I was nine."

     My cell started vibrating again. I peeped down at the screen. It was a text from Trudy. There was no info in the text. Only a plea to please call her back. I should ignore it. Whatever it is it can wait. But then, things were going well enough. Surely I could step away for two minutes.

     As I started to scoot from the booth Manny placed a hand on my knee. "Bathroom." I said in response.

     "Didn't you go before?" He looked so deeply into my eyes I almost cracked on the spot.

     "Yes...But that was only to wash my hands."

     "Okay."

     I excused myself again. In the bathroom, I called Trudy. As the phone rang I reminded myself to keep my growing attitude in check.

     She answered and got straight to business, "Ah! Ms. Harper. I've decided to reschedule our little meeting for tomorrow instead of Friday."

     I stood to the side as another woman exited a stall and strode toward the sink. "I...wait-"

     "It's perfectly understandable if you can't make it on such short notice." She spoke with a strange confidence.

     "I can still make it, I just think this is a little fast." The woman at the sink played with her hair before finally leaving.

     "It's been fifteen years. It can't happen fast enough." Trudy's laugh was a bit too forced.

     "It's just that you two have a lot of history and it's a lot to take in. I really think you two should slow down and catch your-"

     "Nonsense. Never put off what you can do today-so the saying goes." Another disingenuous chuckle came through the phone. "So you'll be there then?"

     "Yeah, sure."

      "Great."

     "Don't forget to email me the directions!"

     "...Of course." She hung up abruptly. No goodbye.

      I took a deep breath. This night wasn't about indecisive crazy women ringing my phone every five minutes. And I wasn't going to let her put me in a bad mood when things were otherwise going so well. Whatever was going on with Trudy and Peter could wait until tomorrow.

     Or at least it would have if Peter hadn't called me at exactly that moment.

     I rolled my eyes and said a prayer. Dear Baby Jesus, grant me half the patience you, your mother, and your...stepdad had when y'all didn't go off on that triflin' innkeeper who let you be born in a barn. You kept it classy and I admire that. I mean I would have asked to speak to a manager and possible raised hell, but that's me. Anyway, if I could get just a fraction of the tolerance you had for other people's bullshit I know I could get through this night without cussing anybody out...but I'm struggling. Silver lining: My boyfriend's happy. My best friend's happy. My hair's on point and I look cute as fuck in this dress. So yeah, I got this...forever and ever, Amen.

     "Yes?" I said when I answered.

     Peter Daugherty shrank back from the venomous roar that came from me. "Ms. Harper?"

     Whoops. Let me soften that up a bit. "Yeah?" I said with a smile in my voice.

     "We decided to meet tomorrow."

     "I heard." That time I sounded real chill, like a weed smoking DEA agent that's two hours from retirement or someone else who similarly doesn't give a fuck anymore.

     "That won't give me much time as far as the lawyer but at least I can get it over with."

     "Where is it happening?"

     "She didn't tell you?"

     "Not yet."

     "Right. Of course she didn't," he muttered his words with disgust. "We're meeting at her house."

     "What? No! I can't recommend that at all." And there went my chill.

     "She insisted."

     "So-" the phone beeped in my ear. It was Trudy's number again. "That's my other line."

     "It's fine. I just wanted to keep you updated." He hung up before I had a chance to stop him.

     I answered with unrestrained agitation. "Hello."

     Trudy sensed my impatience but remained pleasant. "Ms. Harper! We've decided on four o clock tomorrow at my home. It's in Ponte Vista."

     "Four o clock? I can't make that. I have to work." She knew that...

     "Oh? That's too bad, dear. Well, why don't you just come by after work so you can pick up your money."

     "Uh-okay."

     She hung up before I could argue with her-not that I planned to. My tolerance for bullshit was just about gone. Instead I dialed Peter to try and talk some sense into him.

     "Peter," my tone was as commanding as it was when I dealt with my own employees. "It's Evie Harper."

     "We decided to do it-"

     "I know. You don't have to meet on her terms if you don't want to. Reschedule."

      He was quiet for a moment before he whimpered a defeated, "I can't."

      "Why not?"

     "I just-" he hesitated. "...I can't say no to her..."

      I sighed. "I won't be able to be there with you."

     "That's okay. I think...I think I want to do it alone anyway."

     "It's your choice. Are you sure?"

     "...Yes."

     "Fine." I hung up with an apprehension I couldn't place. But they're adults. Call me Pontius Pilate, I officially wash my hands of this shit. And I wasn't going to have a stress-induced aneurysm over people I didn't even know. Aneurysm causing privileges were strictly reserved for one or both parents.

     As I turned to leave I almost ran right into Robin. She stood in front of me with a lazy smile as I tried to think of what to say. "Sorry..."

     "No problem. Work?"

     "Uh..." Ah. She meant on the phone. "Yeah. I try to keep it during business hours but sometimes I can't."

     "I get it. You own a business. That's a lot of work."

     "Please tell my boyfriend that." Perfect! Now's my opportunity to see where Robin stands on everything. "So you're really okay with our friendship?"

     "Yeah. You two don't bother me at all," she shrugged. "But then, he and I are casual." Doubt flickered across her face. She was lying.

     "He mentioned that."

     "I'm sure he did."

     "And you're okay with that?"

     "He's cute and he's fun. I've done worse." Fair enough.

     I left her and went back toward our table. Why was Trudy Bergman so hell bent on making sure I wasn't at their reunion tomorrow? And why the annoying and manipulative verbal gymnastics? If they didn't want me there, they could have just said so in the first place.

     I pondered this as I slid back into the booth next to Manny.

     "It's not like t.v., you know. I love my job, but eighty percent of it is me sitting behind a desk."

     "I know what you mean. People imagine me out in the field, badgering people for information. But so much of that is me on the phone or at a desk. Writing, writing, writing."

     Great, they're talking shop. Let me contain my excitement.

     "The hardest part of my job is the bureaucracy."

     "Yes!"

     "The office politics. Favoritism. Social pressure-and don't get me started on the pensions."

     Yes. Let's not get him starte-"What about the pensions?" Goddamn it Henry! Now we're never going to hear the end of it.

     "A decade or so ago the city borrowed money from the police and fire pensions for investments. When the recession happened they lost all the money. They can't pay it back."

     "That's why I never wanted to work for the government. Too much bullshit."

     "That's not even the worst part-"

     "You know the best part about being the boss," I cut in with a theatrical flair. "Not having a boss." I didn't think it was possible, but the two of them gave me the exact same scowl at the exact same time. So weird.

     Our waitress flew by and dropped off a couple of takeout boxes and the receipt. "Pay this when you're ready."

     "Okay, so I'll pay for myself and her obviously, but what about the appetizers? And the tip?"

     "Maybe it would be easier to just half the whole thing..."

     While Henry and Manny negotiated the bill, I spooned the last two-third of my pasta, and the leftover appetizers into a carryout box. Why was Trudy being so deceitful? What was the angle? Clearly she and Peter weren't on the best of terms...but why? You know what? Don't care. It's not my problem.

     The men paid the bill, we waited for Robin, and then we said our goodbyes. In the parking lot, Manny walked me to my car in silence.

     "So," I said as I hugged my arms together against the cool air. "What did you think?"

     "Fuck that guy."

     I sat my food on the roof of the car and unlocked the door. "I thought everything went okay."

     "It wasn't. We had words while you were in the bathroom."

     I turned back to him with a look of complete dismay. "Oh my god. I was gone for five minutes!"

     "I didn't need that long."

     "I don't understand-"

     "He's arrogant. Bad-tempered. Full of himself... Um, too tall-"

     "What?"

     His smile was so warm I barely felt the chill anymore. "I'm fuckin with you, Evie."

     "...What?"

     "He was cooler than I thought he'd be. I could see why you like him. You have very similar senses of humor."

     He opened the door to my car but I didn't get in. "So, you like him?"

     "I'm not escorting him to the cotillion anytime soon but, yeah, we're cool."

     I smirked. "Then everything went perfect. Thanks to me."

     "No. When you and Robin were gone we had a chance to talk man to man without you micromanaging."

     "I wasn't-"

     "Yeah, you were. I asked him straight up if there was anything between you. He said no."

     I gave him an indignant purse of my lips. "Okay, so what I want to know, is how come I can say that same shit a thousand times, but you don't believe me until he says it. Is it because he's a man?"

     "I-"

     "Ain't that some sexist shit?"

     "Be quiet." He was all smiles as he clasped a hand over my mouth and drew me tighter into his embrace. I struggled against him. Not enough to break away but just enough to tease him. We stood in the jam of my door play-fighting until I let him win.

     "Stop!" I yelped between laughs. "People are gonna think you're my pimp!"

     He was unconcerned as he leaned down and fixed a kiss on my lips that made all my worries disappear. When we broke apart his whole demeanor had changed from playful to salacious. "Come back to my place," he breathed the words against my mouth with the kind of hunger that couldn't be satisfied by dinner.

     "I can't. I have to work tomorrow."

     "I'll make it quick."

     "I'm sure-"

     "Don't you dare say 'I'm sure you will'!" Just like that the smile returned.

     "And what am I supposed to wear tomorrow?" I teased.

     "Just follow me home. I'll put the dress in the washing machine. Problem solved."

     "And what if I don't want to-"

     "Then we'll go to my place and we'll watch t.v and I'll get annoyed while you talk through everything we try to watch."

     "My commentary is hilarious and on point."

     "We don't have to have sex. I just want to be with you." He meant that, but he was a very physical man. I doubted very much that we could lay on his bed without his hands reaching for me at some point. In fact, I'd give it ten minutes or less.

     "What the hell." It was only nine after all. "But we're not having sex." Another lie of course. But he knew it was a lie. We both seemed to enjoy this game we played.

     He closed the distance between us and gave me another kiss. Longer, deeper, and with the promise of what was waiting for me at his place, up the stairs, and in his bed.

     When he stopped I was anticipating words of seduction but instead out of nowhere he said, "Who was on the phone?"

     "What?" I was still in a warm daze of lust, otherwise I would have been ready. Had he done that on purpose?

     "When you went to the bathroom. Your cellphone was vibrating." All his smiles were gone, but his face remained neutral.

     "It was my mother." I said carefully. "You know how mothers are."

     His head cocked only slightly. He knew I was lying. He just wasn't sure what about. Suddenly I thought of all the lies I'd told tonight. Some for a purpose, some just for hyperbole. But how many lies had he seen through?

     For a moment I thought he might say something, but the smile returned. He could call me out and we could do this now in a drafty parking lot. Or he could wait a while and get sex out of it. "Okay," he said with a smirk.

     He was not going to forget about this anytime soon. But his desire, or should I say his dick, won out over his instinct to find the truth.

     I'm not sure whether I should be afraid of that fact or turned on.

____________________________

*Edit: In previous chapters I gave Trudy's family name as both Bergman and Daniels by mistake. As of chapter 5 the character will be known as Trudy Bergman.

Also apologies for the late chapter. This one was really tough for some reason. And I'm still not completely happy with it but the plot marches on, right?