Page 21 of The Plus One
Evie suddenly decided she wanted in on the painting, lunging forward in Indira’s lap to grab a brush. In the process her chubby fist tipped an empty water glass onto a plate, creating a sharp and loud clatter that made everyone jump.
“Oopsie!” Evie yelled, pulling a booming laugh from her mom. Lizzie righted the glass, accidentally banging it against the plate a few more times and creating more noise, before grabbing Evie and cuddling her on her lap.
“Let’s get you painting over here, missy,” Lizzie said, pressing her nose to Evie’s orange hair. Evie shook her fists in excitement.
With the sudden commotion settled, Indira looked back across the table, desperate to soak up more of the Jude she recognized.
But any openness on his face was now sharp lines and a pained expression, his entire body tense like the sound had been a physical blow.
His eyes darted back and forth across the room before he pushed back from the table and hurried away.
Indira shouldn’t follow him. If he was upset, it wasn’t her business. He’d made it very clear he didn’t want her involved in his life. But Indira was Indira, and she had a rather unfortunate and incurable need to help people.
Taking the final sip of her drink, she excused herself from the table and walked out of the party room, scanning the restaurant before making a beeline for the bathrooms down a dark hallway.
Jude was leaning against the wall in the shape of half a heart, head bowed, back curved, and legs stretched in front of him. She cleared her throat gently, drawing his attention so she wouldn’t startle him.
Indira’s eyes traced his profile, his expression one of weary surrender, before walking to him, stopping about a foot away.
“Mmm. Explosive diarrhea.” Indira nodded sagely, looking between Jude and the bathroom door. She couldn’t help herself. Being around Jude turned her into a snarky teenager ready to battle, and after that taste of his laugh, she wanted to pull him back out. Just like old times.
Jude closed his eyes and huffed out an amused breath. “I’m not sure if you meant that as a question, but it certainly sounded like a declarative statement, so don’t let me stop you.” He waved toward the door.
Indira spluttered, unable to think of anything to save face. She stood there, looking at Jude looking at the ground. Her chest ached as she felt the hurt radiating out of him. An odd urge to reach out to him, hug his wiry frame, swamped her, and she had to work to keep her arms pinned to her sides.
She should pull herself away, march into that bathroom, and splash icy water on her face to jolt her out of these bizarre feelings she was probably projecting onto him.
But she’d had one gross cocktail too many, and common sense failed her, so she stepped closer to Jude instead, leaning her back against the wall next to him.
“You know, you don’t have to lurk in the shadows like some creature of the night. Everyone’s been warned you’d be here, and they were given instructions on how to prepare accordingly.”
Jude rolled his neck to look at her. Indira stared straight ahead, pressing her lips together.
“I’m assuming you want me to ask you what those preparations were?” Jude asked dryly, but Indira knew his voice well enough to catch the tiniest hint of amusement in its lilt.
Indira nodded. “I told them you’d likely materialize in a cloud of toxic gas, and they should try to ignore the smell as best as possible. I also explained that one of your coolly appraising glances is liable to make both babies and puppies cry, and that you are deathly allergic to joy and laughter, either of which will make you break out into festering boils.”
“So clever,” Jude deadpanned. “How long did it take you to think of those zingers?”
“Only like, twelve hours,” Indira said, turning to face him. “I couldn’t decide between the cloud-of-toxic-gas bit or a staircase for your ascension from hellfire,” she added in a self-deprecating tonebefore crossing one eye to look at her nose, the other fixed straight ahead, then reversing the whole bizarre thing on the other side.
Jude stared at her for a moment, an almost-smile tugging at the corner of his tense mouth. He shook his head, letting out another small laugh.
Silence fell heavily between them again.
“You okay?” Indira asked. God, why did she care so much? She was annoying herself with how much she was asking.
“Fine,” Jude said, voice cracking on the word. “Just, uh, weird. Being back. Being around so many people again after being gone for so long.”
“Has it been hard?” Indira asked.
Jude looked at her questioningly.
“Your work with the GHCO, I mean. I can’t imagine how jarring it must be to ship off to a totally new country every few months. And in areas of disaster or conflict, no less…”
Jude’s body jerked, his jaw tensing and a muscle ticking like he just remembered he was supposed to keep it shut around her. The air turned chilly, more distance growing between them as they stood there until the chasm felt so much greater than when they’dactuallybeen apart.
Without thinking, Indira reached out for him, wanting to touch him, wanting to take away some of that pain.
