moment.
“Hi guys.” I slip in next to Chris and shrug off my jacket, clasping hands with him. He’s a quiet guy, and when we’re out for drinks alone, we talk incessantly, but not if Cori’s around. She’s always been the louder and more ebullient of the two — night and day. She makes tons of friends wherever she goes, her no-nonsense attitude and common-sense style appealing to just about anyone.
Silence descends on the table, as I tuck my keys in my coat pocket, and, when I look up, they’re all staring at me. “What?”
“You are a completely different person, Lee,” Cori whispers, her eyes wide with shock. She puts her hand to her mouth and squints her blue eyes at me. “I’ve never seen you smile so much after such a long trip. You tend to be beat down and depressed.”
“Really? Well, I’m happy to be home this time.” I grab the menu and start to think hard about what I want. Maybe waffles.
“No, no. Wait.” Cori reaches across the table and pulls the menu down, examining me again. “That date went a lot better than you indicated. Did you…” She glances down at Evie who’s scribbling in a Hello Kitty coloring book. “You know…”
“No, I did not.” I did not sleep with Laura, though I wanted to.
“Did you kiss her?” Cori asks.
This has Evie’s attention. “Lee kissed a girl? ”
“Girls, please leave Lee alone, for Christ’s sake.” Chris doesn’t even look up from his menu, the annoyance clear in his voice, but Cori rolls her eyes at him.
“Yes, I kissed a girl,” I tell Evie and she smiles at me. “And then I put her in a cab and sent her home,” I tell Cori.
“Have you spoken to her since?”
“No, I haven’t.” I pull my iPhone out of my pocket and set it on the table. No messages. “I thought about texting her, but it’s early in New York. Maybe before bed.”
“Tell me all about your date. Right now,” Cori directs.
We order food, and I fill her in on our dinner and coffee, how perfect the conversation was, how attracted I was to Laura (but I leave all the details G-rated for Evie), and how we ended things after our kiss.
“She said, ‘Don’t be a stranger, Lee.’ I think she’s up for something long distance, but I don’t know.” My plate is already empty, the waffles standing no chance against my jet lag and hangover. I gulp down an entire glass of water as Cori stares out the window and thinks.
“Are you up for it?” Chris asks. “Because a long-distance relationship with Sandra didn’t work out.”
“Yes, but Sandra’s a bitch,” Cori says, and Evie gasps.
“Mommy, you said that wasn’t a nice word.”
“You’re right. It’s not. I’m sorry.” Cori mouths, “Total bitch,” to me when Evie goes back to her almost full plate of pancakes. Evie barely eats (she’s so picky). Any meal with her takes forever as she fights over every bite of food that goes into her mouth.
“I’m not sure,” I say, stretching back in my seat. “It’s not like I know her at all except for the conversations we had. But I’m not finding the right woman in Seoul either. I’m almost never here. Unless I marry someone right away, any relationship is going to be long-distance.”
I shrug my shoulders, and Chris and Cori nod in time with each other. “Hazards of our business.” Chris rubs his almost bald head and removes his wire-rimmed glasses to massage his eyes. Chris is in the fortunate position of having met Cori and married her years ago, before moving to Seoul. But my situation is not unique amongst other men and women in our firm. We all travel and many of us are single. International law is a time-consuming business and hard on families. Cori and Evie miss Chris when he’s gone.
“Speaking of which, I’m off to Europe this week. Italy. So if you could spend time with my girls, I’d appreciate it.”
“Of course. Let me get some sleep, and then we can go out Wednesday or Thursday. I need to be in the office Monday
“Hi guys.” I slip in next to Chris and shrug off my jacket, clasping hands with him. He’s a quiet guy, and when we’re out for drinks alone, we talk incessantly, but not if Cori’s around. She’s always been the louder and more ebullient of the two — night and day. She makes tons of friends wherever she goes, her no-nonsense attitude and common-sense style appealing to just about anyone.
Silence descends on the table, as I tuck my keys in my coat pocket, and, when I look up, they’re all staring at me. “What?”
“You are a completely different person, Lee,” Cori whispers, her eyes wide with shock. She puts her hand to her mouth and squints her blue eyes at me. “I’ve never seen you smile so much after such a long trip. You tend to be beat down and depressed.”
“Really? Well, I’m happy to be home this time.” I grab the menu and start to think hard about what I want. Maybe waffles.
“No, no. Wait.” Cori reaches across the table and pulls the menu down, examining me again. “That date went a lot better than you indicated. Did you…” She glances down at Evie who’s scribbling in a Hello Kitty coloring book. “You know…”
“No, I did not.” I did not sleep with Laura, though I wanted to.
“Did you kiss her?” Cori asks.
This has Evie’s attention. “Lee kissed a girl? ”
“Girls, please leave Lee alone, for Christ’s sake.” Chris doesn’t even look up from his menu, the annoyance clear in his voice, but Cori rolls her eyes at him.
“Yes, I kissed a girl,” I tell Evie and she smiles at me. “And then I put her in a cab and sent her home,” I tell Cori.
“Have you spoken to her since?”
“No, I haven’t.” I pull my iPhone out of my pocket and set it on the table. No messages. “I thought about texting her, but it’s early in New York. Maybe before bed.”
“Tell me all about your date. Right now,” Cori directs.
We order food, and I fill her in on our dinner and coffee, how perfect the conversation was, how attracted I was to Laura (but I leave all the details G-rated for Evie), and how we ended things after our kiss.
“She said, ‘Don’t be a stranger, Lee.’ I think she’s up for something long distance, but I don’t know.” My plate is already empty, the waffles standing no chance against my jet lag and hangover. I gulp down an entire glass of water as Cori stares out the window and thinks.
“Are you up for it?” Chris asks. “Because a long-distance relationship with Sandra didn’t work out.”
“Yes, but Sandra’s a bitch,” Cori says, and Evie gasps.
“Mommy, you said that wasn’t a nice word.”
“You’re right. It’s not. I’m sorry.” Cori mouths, “Total bitch,” to me when Evie goes back to her almost full plate of pancakes. Evie barely eats (she’s so picky). Any meal with her takes forever as she fights over every bite of food that goes into her mouth.
“I’m not sure,” I say, stretching back in my seat. “It’s not like I know her at all except for the conversations we had. But I’m not finding the right woman in Seoul either. I’m almost never here. Unless I marry someone right away, any relationship is going to be long-distance.”
I shrug my shoulders, and Chris and Cori nod in time with each other. “Hazards of our business.” Chris rubs his almost bald head and removes his wire-rimmed glasses to massage his eyes. Chris is in the fortunate position of having met Cori and married her years ago, before moving to Seoul. But my situation is not unique amongst other men and women in our firm. We all travel and many of us are single. International law is a time-consuming business and hard on families. Cori and Evie miss Chris when he’s gone.
“Speaking of which, I’m off to Europe this week. Italy. So if you could spend time with my girls, I’d appreciate it.”
“Of course. Let me get some sleep, and then we can go out Wednesday or Thursday. I need to be in the office Monday
Similar Books
