“You did?” I was trying not to sound surprised.
“Well… I was supposed to have one. He stood me up.”
supposed I looked up from the plate I’d loaded with delicately cut sandwiches and a generous serving of pastries. The sudden fluttering in my stomach had come and gone somewhere in the beats between her first statement and her acknowledgement that the date hadn’t happened. All around, the background noise of the Gallery café continued unabated; the sound of plates and cutlery being stacked bounced off the walls behind us.
“Who did?” I could feel a sense of passive umbrage churning inside me, like I was offended on her behalf. I was silently praying that none of it showed.
She rolled her eyes, this time in mock despair. “Honestly, boys. I told you about him, remember, when we went shoppin
