Page 24 of October
“It’s an extra charge,” the woman replied.
“That’s okay. Oh, and two bottles of water. Actually, make that four. I think Jules and Gwen need water. They’re a little tipsy.” She turned to Finley. “Rusty and Emily have some, right?”
“Yeah, they do,” she said, smiling at how Molly thought of others.
Maybe it was her human resources background. Her job was literally to think about other humans all the time. Finley’s was more about computers and solving tech problems that impacted humans, but it wasn’t the same. She hadn’t seen much of Molly working, despite the fact that they’d worked together for a long time now. Her job kept her in the server room or had her bouncing from desk to desk and floor to floor to fix things, which meant she’d only see her through the glass in a conference room or at her desk, reading something on her computer or typing. Because Molly was in HR, Finley hadn’t felt like she could ask many questions about what she did. She knew Molly would respect confidentiality, but she just wasn’t sure what to ask.
“So, dinner?” she chanced again.
“Um…” Molly grabbed the garlic fries that the woman passed to her and added, “Yeah. Sure. I can do that.”
She handed Finley the garlic fries and took the bottles of water, stuffing two of them into her bag for easier carrying. Then, they walked back to the condiment bar.
“Ketchup?”
“Tons of it,” Molly replied. “Like, more ketchup on fries than the cheese we had on nachos earlier.”
Finley laughed, put the fries under the hand pump for the bulk ketchup dispenser, and pressed down.
“Again,” Molly said.
Finley coated the fries in more ketchup and laughed again when Molly pointed and told her that she had missed a spot. Finley wasn’t sure where the fries had disappeared to when they were done, but Molly grabbed two white plastic forks and shoved them into the fries.
“All set,” she said.
The rest of the game was pretty intense. Two big injuries; one player had to be carted off the field. Finley watched Molly’s reaction, and she could see concern spelled out across her face, possibly thinking about the paperwork she would have had to fill out if this were someone who worked with them. Molly had surprised her today. Juliet must have given her hours of instruction on football because in the second half, Molly had used the terms ‘holding,’ ‘scrimmage,’ ‘linebacker,’ and even knew that the punter held the football when he kicked, but the field goals were held by someone else. Finley wondered why she had gone through all of the effort just to attend one game, but it also made her smile because maybe Molly had done that for her.
“So, we’re heading back to Juliet’s,” Gwen said when the game was over, and the Saints had won by three points.
“I figured,” Molly replied. “Have fun,” she added with a wink at Gwen.
“What are you up to?” Juliet asked her.
“Uh… Finley and I are going to grab dinner, I think.”
“Oh, I could eat,” Rusty said and turned to his wife. “I know your team just lost, but do you want–”
Finley cleared her throat in Rusty’s direction, and when he met her eyes, she glared at him.
“I think I’d rather we go home and order something in, babe,” Emily replied, catching Finley’s meaning when her husband was clearly oblivious.
“Great,” Finley said. “Should we go, Molls? We can pick the place along the way.”
“We could go to Candace’s. It’s chill, good food, and we’ll get served faster,” Molly suggested.
“Yeah. That sounds good,” Finley agreed.
“Have fun!” Gwen said in a singsong voice directed at Molly.
“Enjoy the sex,” Molly teased. “And the packing. But mostly, the sex.” She then pulled Juliet into a hug and added, “I’ll see you when you get back.”
Juliet whispered something to her, but Finley couldn’t hear it, so she pulled out her phone and pretended to check her messages. Unfortunately, though, she actuallyhadmessages: two of them, and both were from India.
India Sheridan: When can we talk? I’m free tonight.
India Sheridan: I think you’re at the game. Call me later?
She put her phone away, deciding she would respond to her ex-girlfriend later, and looked up just in time to see Molly watching her.
