Page 70 of Not As Advertised

After a few petulant meows, Mew had been sauntering around my house like he owned the place ever since. Each time Abbie brought him in his cat carrier, he dove out of it as soon as she opened the door. Mew had claimed the most expensive piece of furniture I owned, the custom-made black velvet armchair in my bedroom.

I was now ordering lint rollers off Amazon in bulk to battle the white cat hair that had invaded every corner of my home. Even during the week when Mew was at Abbie’s apartment, I had to spend an extra ten minutes rolling cat fur off my clothes.

Despite how in sync we were, I had started to feel bad that all we did was stay in. I felt like I was cheating Abbie out of the experiences of a real relationship, despite her insistence to the contrary.

By the fourth weekend of us officially being together, I’d devised a plan to take her out to dinner. I wanted to show her that she meant more to me than someone I was trying to keep a secret.

If I was put under oath, I would absolutely deny scanning through the employee files to figure out the safest area outside Amado to take her. I didn’t want to risk seeing anyone from the office.

I thought our best chance for anonymity would be to head to Palo Alto for an evening. After attending several client meetings there, the city felt busy enough to offer us some cover.

Despite my girlfriend practically vibrating in the seat next to me on the hour-long drive to our destination, I still felt good about my choice.

Moving my right hand from the steering wheel over to put my hand on Abbie’s thigh, I enjoyed the warmth of her leg through her jeans. I hoped she would take the hint to intertwine our fingers. Currently, her fingers were twisting and untwisting in her lap as she stewed.

“Hey. It’s going to be okay.” I fully believed that everything would turn out fine.

“Are you sure? I honestly don’t need to go anywhere. I’m happy spending time at your place. Mew is even starting to expect the weekend trip to your house.”

“I’m glad he’s warming up to me. At this rate, we’ll be best friends in two to three… years.” I glanced at her quickly, giving her a wink. “I know you don’t need to go anywhere. But I want to take you out. To show you the only reason we’re keeping it between us is because of work and nothing more.”

The thing I’d learned about Abbie’s anxiety was that sometimes her body communicated it so strongly that it was almost a physical beacon, showing me how wound up she was. Her apprehension was a tidal wave sweeping from one side of the car to the other. I didn’t want her to get so completely swept away by her worry that she would be beyond enjoying herself tonight.

“Listen, there are tons of reasons why we might have run into each other in the city. You have your camera with you, and I’m in Palo Alto monthly for work. Can we just try to enjoy it?” I squeezed her thigh gently with reassurance.

Something in my tone must have gotten through to her because she untwisted her hands from the Gordian knot she was making. She slid her left hand underneath mine to link our fingers together, giving my hand a little squeeze in return.

“Yep. I’m sorry. I can do that. I just don’t want anything to go wrong for you.”

“You have no reason to be sorry. Anyone would be nervous. But if we’re going to keep doing this, we’re going to have to be okay with taking some small risks so we have a little slice of normal.”

I could tell she wasn’t totally convinced, but she seemed more relaxed than before.

The silence that fell between us for the last portion of the drive was comfortable, neither of us feeling the need to fill the space. I appreciated these quiet moments with her too, giving her space to mull things over.

I chose a casual restaurant away from the college campus. Since we’d done the fancy dining thing in LA with clients, I wanted to take her somewhere quieter where she would feel comfortable.

The little Italian bistro I found had about twenty tables and had the air of a quaint, family-run establishment where the food was more important than the decor.

Once we were tucked away in the back corner, I laid my hand on the table and was pleased when she reached across to hold my hand.

“Hi,” I said, as if we hadn’t spent the last hour together.

“Hi.” She smiled.

“So. Do you come here often?” I knew I was being ridiculous, but I wanted to do everything I could to help her enjoy herself.

“You know what? Believe it or not, this is my first time here.” Abbie played along.

The waiter came over to take our drink orders and told them the specials. I tried to pay attention to what the young man was saying, but my gaze kept returning to Abbie’s sweet face as she listened attentively to whatever was being relayed to us.

“What do you think?”

“Hmm? Sorry, about what?” I’d been caught out.

“I said we would share the raw octopus appetizer.” She smiled, blinking innocently.

“Uh.”

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