It was this whole awkward exchange that drove Dustin to excuse himself to the bathroom in the first place. On his way there, he stopped to talk to a few guys he knew from school. Since it was a table of four teenage boys, they had noticed who Dustin was with and demanded details. Nerds like them didn’t have hot chocolate with gorgeous girls on the Hot List, unless she was a blood relative or needed to copy homework. Dustin knew he could have told these guys any story he wanted, but that was not his way. He told them the truth, which was that he had no fucking clue what was going on. His brutal honesty was lauded with laughter all around.
As Dustin approached the table after the bathroom, he saw that Kimmie had a smile on her face and looked lost in thought. God, she’s so beautiful, he thought. I wonder if she’s thinking about me? “What are you thinking about?” he asked, taking his seat across from her.
“Nothing much,” Kimmie lied, looking down at her hands. “I guess I was wondering what was happening across the park with Lolly and Steven.” Upon hearing herself, she realized there was truth to her statement as well. Lolly was her sister, so of course she was wondering if she was okay.
“Do you think they’ll work it out?” Dustin asked. The whole situation was causing him much consternation. Whether he liked it or not, he was personally invested, especially now that he was benefitting from it. Even though he believed that Lolly should break up with Steven for what he did to her, it was obvious how much Lolly adored Steven. And there was a small part of him that hoped they would make it because he’d be lying if he hadn’t thought about the four of them hanging out together. Perhaps Anna could help smooth things over.
“I don’t know,” Kimmie said. “But if I were her, I’d dump his ass.”
“Just so you know, even though I’m friends with Steven, I think he’s one hundred percent in the wrong,” Dustin said. “And if you could, please tell Lolly I’m sorry she’s had to deal with all of this.”
Kimmie studied Dustin’s serious face and could tell he meant everything he’d just said. His honesty shone through, which was why she felt so safe and secure in his presence.
After the check arrived, Dustin convinced Kimmie to let him pay by reminding her that one of the cornerstone tenets of feminism was a woman’s right to choose, and if she chose to let him pay for her dessert, then she was still a feminist in good standing. She laughed, agreeing to his logic, which pleased him because it made their outing if not a real date, then at least date-like, which gave him the confidence to ask if he could walk her home, to which she said yes.
“I believe you say what you mean, Dustin. And I like it,” she told him as they strolled across Park Avenue.
“I say what I mean, I do what I say.”
“What’s that from?” Kimmie asked.
“It’s a quote from one of my favorite movies. Heat with Al Pacino.”
“Al Pacino wasn’t in Heat. That was Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy.”
“They were in The Heat. I’m talking about the movie from the nineties with Pacino and De Niro. Written and directed by Michael Mann. One of my dad’s ex-girlfriends who lived with us when I was younger loved it and was always telling me about it. Eventually my dad let me watch it with her. It was only my second R-rated movie. It’s a cat-and-mouse bank heist movie with one of the most famous shoot-’em-up scenes of all time.”
They were now only a block and a half from her father’s brownstone off Madison Avenue, standing at the corner, waiting for the walk signal to change. Their time together was almost done.
“That’s a weird movie for a woman to like,” Kimmie said, unaware she was being sexist.
“I thought so, too, but she was much cooler than my dad. And even though it was this high-octane action movie it was also a love story. All the men in it loved the women in their lives, which she found romantic.” Speaking of romantic, the two of them were now standing in front of her house in the middle of a snowstorm. If Dustin had the ability to freeze time right then he would’ve rushed to the nearest electronic store, bought a drone with a 4K camera and night vision, and recorded this moment in time. If he could get a fish-eye lens on the camera, he was sure he could create a snow globe effect, with the twirl and dazzle of snowflakes in the night air and this beautiful girl he was with, cinematic proof that this night actually happened.
“Did you find it romantic when you saw it?” Kimmie asked.
“Not when I was twelve. But I watched it again last year and I understood what she meant. Though to me, Heat is more a movie about honor. Honoring your friends, honoring your job even if you’re a thief, honoring your commitment to justice if you’re a cop. Most of all it’s about honoring the code you choose to live by, whatever that code may be. But even though the men in the movie loved their women, they couldn’t do right by them. Sometimes people can’t help but make poor choices and hurt the ones they love, I guess.” Dustin suddenly felt foolish going on and on about a movie she had never seen. “Sorry, I’m a hopeless film nerd.”
Kimmie grabbed his arm and looked him squarely in the eyes. “Stop. You don’t sound like a nerd at all. You sound passionate, which is a wonderful thing. If anything, you’re making me want to watch the movie right this second, but more for the romance aspect. Call me a cynic, but with all the shit going on with Lolly and Steven I’m not feeling so big on the honor of men…” She paused, knowing that Dustin may be perhaps the first man of honor she’d met in New York so far. Last year, she would have put Gabe, her ice dancing partner, into this category, but he’d proved to be a disappointment as of late, barely calling her anymore now that he had just paired up with some Swedish skater named Maja.
“Don’t. I mean, you can, of course. I’m not trying to tell you what you can and can’t do,” Dustin fumbled. “But maybe we could watch it sometime … together? The two of us or with others.” God, I’m a babbling fool around her.
“Perhaps. But not tonight. It’s late and I should go.” Kimmie smiled and ran up the steps to her front door. Once at the top of her stoop, she turned around to face him. “Thank you for the frozen hot chocolate and the walk home,” she said, followed by a little curtsy.
Dustin answered her curtsy with a deep bow. “The honor, my fair Kimmie, was all mine.”
Kimmie entered the front door and hurried to the living room window to watch Dustin walk off into the snowy dark night. Did she detect a little spring in his step? Yes, she most certainly did.
XII
Anna and Lolly had grown tired of talking and took a mental break to watch Beyoncé’s Lemonade videos. This was Lolly’s idea, her rationale being that Queen Bey had been cheated on by her man, and this album was how she worked her way through the experience. Anna wasn’t sure if this was a good idea or not, but she was getting desperate to reach some sort of resolution and was willing to try anything. They watched the whole thing in total silence, and afterward Anna turned off the TV and faced her friend. “Okay, it’s your turn to face the music. Lolly, are you ready? Do. You. Love. Steven?”
The first time Anna asked Lolly this same question hours ago, Lolly’s reply was that she didn’t love him and in fact wanted him dead. Then it was, “Maybe I love him, but I know I shouldn’t because he’s a lying cheat monster.” Then it was, “Okay, I love him, but I still want him dead. I’m fine with wearing black for a year.” Then it was, “I love him, but I hate him, too.” Then it was, “I love him, I guess, but clearly he doesn’t love me.” (Anna never let this statement go as she reassured Lolly a hundred times that she knew Steven absolutely loved her, and that his cheating on her didn’t mean he didn’t love her, it just meant he was a pathetic, idiotic teenage boy.)