cereal - five
our lovers have... maybe three fifths of an honest conversation
“Please let me take you out to dinner to apologize,” Ty asks for the third time. Ester wishes he’d stop, mostly because she’s about to consider taking him up on it. Jason and Arthur have also come in, at separate times, to apologize. She’s less inclined to get dinner with either of them, honestly. Maybe they can try getting dinner with each other.
“It’s fine,” Ester tells Ty. “I’m not mad.” Strangely, that’s true. She can’t say ‘it’s not your fault who comes in here,’ because it seems increasingly unlikely that Ty genuinely has nothing to do with the whole thing. But somehow, she’s not mad.
“You sounded pretty mad in your voicemail,” Ty smirks. Ester’s face heats up. It’s been a whole week, she’d honestly kind of appreciate it if they could leave the whole thing behind them. “I mean, I totally get it. That was… an oversight on my part. You were right to be mad.”
“I think I might have had some steam that needed letting off,” she confesses. But then she catches on what Ty just said. “What do you mean, oversight?”
Ty’s face falls a bit. “Oh, I…” And then he closes off.
Ester raises an eyebrow. “What, you can’t tell me unless I go to dinner with you?”
Ty’s eyes go wide, and he shakes his head frantically. “No, it’s not like that, I…” He looks around the room, which, as usual, is full of ripped dudes with laptops, newspapers, and snacks they’ve brought in from outside. “I can’t tell you right now,” he says in a low voice. “I can tell you later. And you absolutely do not need to go anywhere or eat anything with me if you don’t want to. I’m sorry if I implied otherwise.”
“Chillax,” Ester smiles. “It was just kind of, um, intense. But you didn’t really imply anything, I was kidding.” Ty smiles again. That fucking smile. “What if we, you know, ate here?”
“Good idea,” Ty agrees. “There’s this great Chinese takeaway a couple of blocks away. You like dumplings?” Ester stares at him. “What?” He whispers.
“You said takeaway,” Ester points out. “It’s takeout.”
Ty refrains from rolling his eyes, a kindness Ester may not deserve. In fact, it might be the most pedantic comment Ester’s ever made. And Ester Markman is no stranger to pedantry. “Ah, right.”
“They don’t say takeaway here,” Ester continues, unable to stop herself. She really has a problem. Maybe that’s why no one has ever hired her before.
“Ah,” Ty repeats, nodding. “I have family in Europe. I must have gotten it from them.”
“Is that where you’re from?” Ester presses. “Europe?” He doesn’t look or sound particularly European, but Ester could see him being the kind of person to go to great lengths to conceal his national origins. Learning a new accent, maybe even a new language, to such an instinctive level that it sits in his bones. It doesn’t seem outside the realm of possibility at all.
Ty breaks out into an incredulous smile. “Europe? Am I from Europe?” So maybe it was a stupid question after all. “Afraid not. Just Connecticut.”
Ester can’t stop her nose from wrinkling up. “Ew.” Rude. Ty’s eyebrows hit his hairline. “Sorry,” Ester apologizes, “it’s just… I’m from Jersey.”
Ty sticks his lower lip out in a display of mock sympathy. “I’m sorry about that, too.”
A laugh bubbles out of Ester’s chest. “We’ll just have to find some way to forgive each other, then.”
“I’m sure we’ll manage,” Ty grins. “So, does seven work for tonight?” Ester nods just as the front door chimes. Ty slides behind the counter with her, loudly greeting the man who just entered. He walks the slightly confused man through the script of ordering a prepackaged protein bar and a square of millionaire’s shortbread, but no actual money is exchanged. Privately, Ester wonders why Ty is still bothering to put on the act.
~~~
At seven, the last “customer” clears out without needing to be told. Ester might be imagining things, but it seems like the guy shoots Ty a wink before he goes. Is this whole building some goddamn theater? Is Ester the butt of the joke?
The man passes a delivery driver, already here with the food, in the doorway. Ester rolls her eyes. Of course Ty ordered without talking to her. At least he realizes his mistake once she gives him a look. “Oh shit, are you allergic to anything? Vegetarian? Vegan?”
“No, luckily,” she smiles. She takes the first container out of the bag. It has PORK written in big letters across the top. Ester quite enjoys pork dumplings. She’s not sharing. It’s a good thing Ty clearly wouldn’t dream of asking her to. “Okay, let’s get down to business,” she says around a mouthful of dumpling. “What the fuck is this place?”
Ty wrinkles his nose after a slurp of soup. “Okay, so, like, I KNOW I said I’d tell you…”
Ester rolls her eyes. “Well, you can’t back out now. I’m all excited. I’ve already missed my bus home.”
Ty looks stricken. “Oh, shit. Do you need a ride? I can get you a ride. I mean, you know, after.”
Ester rolls her eyes. “I’m kidding. There are other buses. That’s kind of the whole point. But don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet. I won’t be able to bear it.” If she has to feign being a Victorian maiden in need of a fainting couch, she’ll do it.
Ty hangs his head. “I just need to make sure you’re not, like, related to any cops.”
None that have talked to me since I transitioned, Ester thinks but doesn’t say. She almost wants to laugh. Ty is clearly waiting for her to shake her head, so she does.
“Okay, good,” Ty takes a breath. “This isn’t… exactly… legal.”
“The cafe in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Manhattan that pays thirty dollars an hour despite bringing in no revenue isn’t legal?” Ester gasps. “Really?”
Ty cocks an eyebrow. “Are you trying to negotiate a raise right now?”
Ester juts her chin out. “I don’t know. Is it the kind of illegal that’s going to put me in danger?”
“No,” Ty says firmly. “Everyone gets strict instructions to leave you alone.”
Something about the finality with which he says it makes heat rise in Ester’s chest. And probably also face. God, if she’s blushing right now, she’s fucked. “Why?” She whispers. “What am I, spoken for?”
Ty rolls his eyes. “It’s not like that. It’s that you make this whole thing possible. They’re not even supposed to stare. They don’t stare, do they?”
Ester thinks about it for a second. “No,” she realizes, “they don’t.”