Platonic by Kate Paddington Page B

second it’s out. But all three of them laugh anyway.
    ***
    They get coffee at a little café just around the corner. Daniel seems to know the man behind the counter and speaks quickly to him, securing them a table out in the sun. They order their coffees, and Mark declines when Ben offers to split a slice of chocolate cake with him.
    Mark still can’t stop staring at Daniel. He waits for the reunion to punch him in the gut and leave him sobbing. He remembers having his heart broken when he was barely eighteen years old, and he remembers how many months it took to stop crying at night. He expects it all to come back but instead he just feels awkward, sitting between his ex-high school sweetheart and the man he’s about to move to New York with.
    Picking up on at least some of what is transpiring, Ben laughs and introduces himself, talks for both of them and answers Daniel’s polite questions about what they’re doing in New York.
    Eventually, inevitably, Daniel turns his eyes to Mark. He sips his latte and says, “I thought you were going to work at your dad’s firm?”
    “How did you know that?”
    “Rita,” is all Daniel says, and tilts his head as though that’s explanation enough. It’s true: Everything Mark knows about Daniel has come through his very rare social media interactions with their one remaining mutual friend.
    “Ah,” Mark acknowledges and smiles. He thinks Daniel would be so proud to hear the full story, to see how far Mark has come; it was always a small bone of contention between them, the way Mark let himself be treated by his family. At the time Daniel didn’t get it. He couldn’t empathize when he had things so good at home. But now the story feels complete and Daniel looks older, wiser.
    “A big-time law firm just wasn’t for me,” Mark says.
    “No kidding,” Daniel interrupts with a smile. Ben looks back and forth between them.
    “All the suits and the multibillion-dollar cases and the faceless corporations as clients.” Mark shrugs. “I’m too much of a people person. Working for the state makes more sense. It’s what I want.”
    “You’ll still have to wear suits,” Daniel points out, and Mark shrugs as he smiles. Daniel’s expression turns almost wistful and his fingers flex around his coffee cup. “You sound so sure.”
    “I interned with them last summer, so I kind of am.”
    Ben hears the surprise in Daniel’s voice as he speaks suddenly and a little too loudly: “You were here last summer?”
    “And the summer before, interning at Whitney & Tomlins,” Ben provides. He watches Daniel’s face and sees the disappointment.
    “You should have told me,” Daniel says, not looking away from Mark for even a moment.
    And now this is even more awkward than stories of teenage love and stupidity. Mark takes a long swallow of too-hot coffee and shrugs, then lies: “I wasn’t even sure you were still in New York.”
    There isn’t very much to say to that, and Ben is there, changing the subject and directing the conversation until they’ve drunk their coffees and Daniel looks at his watch.
    They say goodbye and Ben watches; they do not exchange numbers.
    ***
    Mark’s phone buzzes that night while they’re sitting side by side on the hotel bed trying to agree on a movie to watch. It’s a text from Rita—he has no idea how she got this number.
    It’s Rita. I hear you bumped into Daniel today. Shame on you for not telling anyone you were going to be in New York.
    Mark looks toward Ben, who isn’t paying attention, and then sends a quick reply.
    Making the move permanently in a few weeks.
    Another text comes back immediately:
    We should catch up. All three of us, just like old times.
    Mark sighs loudly enough for Ben to look over at him and the phone still lit up in his hands. “What’s up?”
    “You remember I told you I went to school with Rita Sutherland?”
    “Yeah.”
    “She wants to catch up; she’s heard I’m in New York.”
    “That’s awesome.” Ben