Page 25 of October
“Do you have to cancel?”
“No. Why?”
“No reason,” Molly replied with a forced smile.
They walked out together until they got to the parking lot, where Gwen had left her car. She and Juliet got in, and Rusty and Emily kept going in that direction to get to their owncar. Finley had taken the bus while Molly had driven, so when Molly offered to drive them to the bar, Finley had no objection. They talked a little on their way there, but Molly seemed a bit distracted, and Finley didn’t know why, so she left her alone to sort through whatever had entered her mind. When they found a spot down the street from the bar, Finley watched Molly parallel park with ease and laughed.
“What?” Molly asked.
“Nothing. You’re just a pro at this parking thing. I still can’t do it, even after living here for a while now. I grew up in a small town where you never have to parallel park, so we don’t learn it. I had to figure it out on my own, and I still suck at it.”
“Well, I grew up here, where it’s a requirement if you don’t want to walk ten miles. I can teach you sometime, if you want. It’s not that hard.”
“Oh, I don’t want you to hate me.”
They got out of the car, and Molly locked it with her key fob.
“Why would I hate you?”
“I can get upset with myself sometimes. Like, when I can’t figure out why something isn’t working, it drives me nuts. There are expletives, and sometimes, I toss screws or cables. Notatpeople, but still. It’s better that I just keep sucking at parking.”
“Would you throw a screw or cableina car?”
“No, I don’t think I’d have either on hand. Well, in my car, I do have cables, usually in the back seat, but I’d have to reach for one just to throw it, and–”
“Fin?”
“Yeah?”
“If you want me to teach you, let me know. If not, that’s okay,” Molly told her. “It would be one day, and I think you’d get it after a few tries.”
Finley smiled at her as they walked toward the bar.
“So, this isthebar? The one where all the friends go?”
“Yes, but I don’t know if anyone will be here tonight, and I only sort of know Logan and Rory a little bit.”
“Low-key. Cool,” she said, mostly to herself.
“Yeah, it’s just good bar food,” Molly replied simply, not understanding that Finley meant that she wasn’t exactly looking forward to a group hang with Molly’s sort-of-friends tonight.
She wanted them to get to know each other a little outside of work if they could. The grand plan was game fun, followed by a friendly dinner and maybe drinks, and then, if all that went well, she’d ask Molly out on a date and, hopefully, Molly would say yes.
They walked in, and Finley looked around, spotting one open booth off to the side.
“Is here okay?”
“Sure,” Molly said with a nod.
They sat down, and Finley grabbed them both the menus stowed behind the napkin holder.
“So, what’s good here?”
“I’ve really only had the burger, but I think everything is good.”
“Hi there. What can I get for you?” a woman asked as she approached the table.
“Oh, I don’t know yet,” Finley replied. “I guess I’ll start with a water while I figure out what I want to drink, and we’re going to eat, too.”
