“So,” Cody said, stabbing a meatball with her fork, “how was your day?”
Lexi glared at her over a wineglass.
“What?” Cody asked, her mouth full.
“First of all,” Lexi said, twirling pasta around her fork, “don’t talk with your mouth full. It’s gross. And second,” she continued, ignoring Cody’s grin, “I thought we agreed not to talk about work over dinner?”
“Work?” Cody asked, a sly smile crossing her face. “Who said anything about work? I was wondering about a certain someone we both know.”
“What do you mean?” Lexi asked, keeping her voice light.
“Lex,” Cody said, rolling her eyes. “This is the third time this week you’ve picked up food from Beppi’s. And we both know there’s more to Beppi’s than good Italian food.”
Lexi sighed, taking a sip of wine. “Still don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Okay, let me know if this sounds familiar. Six foot, dark hair, dreamy eyes, great smile, looks great in a cummerbund and named Alonzo?”
Cody yelped as a piece of garlic bread hit her forehead.
“I get it, Cody. You think I have a crush on the Beppi’s guy.”
Popping the piece of garlic bread in her mouth, Cody smirked. “Oh, I don’t think. I know. We’ve been coworkers for three years, and I like to think friends for most of that. And I’ve never seen you as… giddy, as when you bring back Beppi’s.”
“Let’s say that I do have a fondness for Beppi’s that goes beyond their spaghetti aglio e olio. What makes you think it’s Alonzo?”
Cody’s expression was a mix of pride and glee. “Because,” she said, grabbing the receipt off the table with a flourish, “he gave you his number. And signed it.”
Cody laughed as Lexi lunged for the slip of paper, waving it away. “So, how long has this been going on?”
“Nothing is going on,” Lexi grunted, leaning back in her chair, arms crossed.
“Well, Alonzo certainly thinks so,” Cody said, grinning.
Lexi sighed, her expression suddenly sad. “It could never work, anyway.”
Cody’s eyes widened with the sudden mood change. “Why not?”
“What am I supposed to say I do for a living, Cody?” Lexi shot back. “It has to come up eventually. ‘Oh, yeah, I’m an assassin who specializes in revenge killings for crimes against women. So, where do you see yourself in five years?’ That’ll go well.”
“That does make things a little more complicated,” Cody sighed. “I didn’t think that part through.”
“Of course you didn’t,” Lexi snapped. “You spend all your time here, holed up behind your computer, spending more time hacking people than interacting with them. Why would you think about the real-world consequences of our work?”
Cody just stared at her, mouth slightly open.
Lexi deflated. “Cody, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that…”
“Yeah, you did,” Cody replied. “And it’s true. I do spend more time behind the keys than talking to people. But Lex, at least I still think about having normal relationships with people.”
“I don’t think that’s possible for me, not anymore.”
Cody sniffed slightly, rubbing her face. “Lexi, you gotta stop with this. There’s nothing wrong with-”
“Nothing wrong with me? I kill people, Cody.”
“And I steal their deepest, darkest secrets, and their money on top of that!” Cody cried, throwing her hands up. “We’re still human beings, Lex. We still want to connect, to love. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Yeah, well, I think I put that behind me a long time ago,” Lexi said, bitterly. “I’m not hungry anymore.” She rose from the table, picking up her plate and vanishing into the kitchen.
Cody stared after her, absently biting into another meatball. She knew Lexi had been dealing with a lot lately, but she hadn’t suspected such an identity crisis. She hadn’t realized just how hard Lexi’s job was on her. Lexi had always been, well, Lexi: confident, determined, good at what she did, and so sure of herself, of her purpose in life. It was a little scary to see her stoic friend so rattled, and Cody’s heart broke for what Lexi was feeling, said and unsaid.
A brilliant idea crossed her mind. Cody grinned to herself, reaching across the table and grabbing Lexi’s abandoned cell phone. She held up the receipt, and wrote a quick text, hitting “send” before she could second-guess herself.
Lexi might kill her for this (literally), but if it got her friend to see that her work didn’t define her, that she should be happy, too, then so be it. Maybe Lexi just needed a little more Italian in her life, and Cody didn’t mean the pasta.
Inspired by a writing prompt from Writing Prompt Generator.
© The Lightning Tower, 2020