2 Any Meat In That Soup? by Jerilyn Dufresne

you.”
    “Talk about nervous…‌I was scared to death. But once we sat in the booth and I got the courage to hold your hand, the fear went away.”
    “I agree,” my smile widened. “Everything was pretty good that night.”
    “Pretty good? It was perfect.”
    George was a popular guy in high school. Still was. Everyone liked him. However, we’d been friends ever since kindergarten, when we were both enthusiastic about being in school and being big kids. Even though we didn’t date until junior year, we spent many hours together through our school years. If the debacle on prom night hadn’t happened I probably would have stayed in Quincy and married him. And I wouldn’t be the person I was. My kids wouldn’t be around either. I guess things turned out the way they were supposed to.
    I quickly turned off those thoughts and paid attention to the menu. As usual there weren’t many things for vegetarians, so I ordered the same thing I ordered back in high school. “A grilled cheese with tomatoes on it, french fries, and water. Wait, make that a chocolate shake.”
    George seemed surprised, “That’s exactly what you ordered when we first ate here.” He beamed. “So I’ll do the same thing.” He looked up at the waitress and said, “Double cheeseburger, french fries, chocolate shake, and we’ll order dessert later.”
    Dessert? I was full just talking about all this food.
    While we waited for our food, I called the vet again. I began with an apology but that was dismissed by the answering service, “No need to apologize. That’s what we’re here for. I just got a call from Dr. Bob’s office. The tech said Clancy was doing so much better. They have her out of the run, and she is allowed to roam around the place. She’ll definitely be ready to go home tomorrow morning.” She took a breath. “Do you have any questions?”
    “Nope.” I was amazed at how much info she could give me without me asking anything. “Thanks and I’ll be there early tomorrow.”
    George saw my face and must have known I was pleased with the news. He asked, “So everything is good?”
    I relayed the message and he picked up my hand again.
    His hand shook when he began talking, “Sam, there’s been something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. Since…”
    The food arrived right at that moment, stopping whatever George was going to say. I wondered what it was, but quickly put it out of my mind as the joys of Joe’s chocolate shake overtook all my senses.
    George let go of my hand so we could pick up our sandwiches. I was surprised that I was more interested in his hand than I was in my grilled cheese and fries. I thought my life was pretty good—I had two jobs that I enjoyed, a house I loved, my family was close, my dog was healthy, and I was sitting in a booth with my high school boyfriend.
    Then it happened—the door opened and in walked Michael. With a girl. And damn if the hostess didn’t put them at a table close to us. What was this? The lovers’ corner?
    He saw us. Of course it would have been odd for him not to talk to us, so he did. “Hi, Sam. Hello, George.” We returned his greeting. Then he half turned to indicate the beautiful redhead beside him. “Samantha, George, this is Jane Gordon. Jane, these are my friends Sam and George.”
    She extended a beautifully maintained hand with shiny red lacquer on the nails. “How do you do?” Her voice sounded like Marilyn Monroe’s when Marilyn was trying to sound really smart but came off sounding really sexy.
    I took her hand first and then George did. I glanced at him and noticed he was looking at Michael and not the girl. George hit a home run with that one.
    I couldn’t resist, “Michael, I’ll need to talk to you about the case tomorrow. Will you be in the office?”
    “In and out,” he replied. “Text or call to see if I’m there.”
    All four of us exchanged more pleasantries and then they went to their table. The encounter was much less