Chapter 12
Molly continued talking in the car about everything, ranging from how great her milkshake was, her shopping trip was, how much she wanted Sarah to meet a girl named Liza, to a new book she was reading. Sarah listened while growing more nervous the closer the car got to her apartment. She couldn’t remember the state of her apartment before she left and worse, she knew her apartment would be about the size one of Danny’s bathrooms. He was loaded and she knew he lived in a posh area of the city. She wasn’t just putting her insecurities on him either. He was driving a gorgeous Audi and she was a starving student just finishing nursing school, living on savings from a waitressing job and a small monthly allowance from her parents. Sure her place was fine but it was definitely nothing fancy.
Sarah climbed out of the car and looked around, trying to see it through Danny or Molly’s eyes. The outside of the apartment was clean though bare. There was nothing decorative. Everything was function. Cement sidewalks, tan apartment walls outlined in chrome and a glass door that only opened with a code. She walked forward without talking, her feet feeling heavier with every step she took towards her door. In the elevator, Molly asked if she could push the button.
“Sure,” Sarah said with a smile. “I live on the third floor.”
The elevator dinged loudly, alerting them they were on the third floor and Sarah unlocked the door to her apartment, peeking into her space quickly before opening the door all the way.
“Well, this is it,” she said.
Danny didn’t comment as he followed her inside, which furthered her insecurity. She wanted to know what he was thinking.
“This is cute,” Molly said, walking around the perimeter, taking everything in. “I love it.” Molly peeked out of the window that barely had a view of the sidewalk beneath them and the apartment building across from them. “Can I see your room?”
Sarah was seriously being tested with this fireball of a seven-year-old. Even though she asked, Molly was already in Sarah’s bedroom, walking through the open door, and Sarah followed her, silently thanking God she remembered to make the bed that morning. Mortified, she ran to grab the few lace bras she left out to dry and shoved them in the first drawer she could open, which happened to be her nightstand drawer. Sarah could feel her face turning red and she decided to take control. She couldn’t believe how her day was ending.
“Come on, let me give you a tour of the kitchen,” she said.
Together, Sarah and Molly walked back out to the main room where the kitchen and the living room were. Danny was standing by the small TV, looking at the pictures of her standing side by side with her sisters and their parents.
“Daddy, I’m hungry,” Molly said, walking towards him to stare at the picture as well.
“Me too, kiddo, we will grab some supper soon,” he said.
They hadn’t ordered food at Bobby Jo’s since at the time Sarah was still full of sushi and Molly only wanted a milkshake.
“Can we order in?” Molly asked.
It was Danny’s turn to look unsure and, not wanting to kick them out since she was actually having a good time, Sarah considered letting them stay.
“Do you mind?” he mouthed and she nodded no, even though she just ate sushi and a giant milkshake.
Molly jumped up and down with excitement. “Pizza! Pizza!”
“Pizza it is,” he said. “Are you okay with a meat lovers?” He directed the question to Sarah.
“Sure,” Sarah said.
He walked out of earshot to order the pizza on the phone as Molly turned on the TV.
“Can I watch cartoons, Sarah?” Molly asked.
“Sure, I think that’s channel 10.”
Once sure Molly was on a channel with children-friendly cartoons, Sarah went to the kitchen where Danny was finishing up their order. “I hope you like cheese-stuffed crust,” he said, slipping the phone in his pocket and leaning back against the kitchen counter.
“I hope you ordered a lot, because I can crush a whole pizza,” she said, winking at him before leaning against the counter opposite of him.
He looked shocked. “I somehow doubt that.”
She giggled. “I might surprise you,” she said.
He smirked and in the companionable silence she felt more comfortable than when they’d first arrived.
“Can I get you anything? Soda? Beer?” Sarah asked.
“I’ll take a beer,” Danny said. She pulled a six pack of craft beer out and held it outstretched to him to pull one out while he smiled at her choice.
“Grab two,” she said and he smiled again.
Sarah watched Danny, taking in his face and his smile. She never imagined her night would end with cartoons playing in the background and a hot man standing in her kitchen.
“So this was all… very unexpected,” Danny said in between sips of beer.
Sarah laughed. “Sure is. Today has been very interesting,” she said.
“Really?” Danny shifted to get more comfortable. “What were you up to before you ran into us?” he asked.
Following his lead, Sarah started with the details. “First, I went to yoga and that was good. I go every Saturday. Well, I try to. After that I was meeting my sisters at a sushi spot.”
“I saw in your family photos and that you have sisters. There are a lot of you!”
She summarized her impression of them: Corrine the mother hen, Jess the hippie, and Eva the family “bad-ass.” Danny acted genuinely interested, asking for additional information about each. They sipped their beers as they chatted and when they were done opened more.
“Are you closest to Eva because you are near her age?” Danny asked.
Sarah shrugged. “Not really, but sort of, kind of. We're close in age so we used to argue about everything. We overlapped in school by a year, so I was coming in and getting interested in things as she was growing out of it. She used to—well, she still picks on me and when I was younger she complained I was spoiled because I was the baby.”
“Were you spoiled?” Danny asked, tilting his head as if he couldn’t believe Sarah wasn’t spoiled.
Her forehead creased. “I don’t think so. I told you about my little brother, Josh. He passed when I was little so technically I wasn’t really the baby. He was. I think after he died my parents tapped out for a little bit. They were so tired and sad. No parent should have to bury a child,” Sarah said, looking down, “but they did. Corrine really stepped up then but after a few years, they came around.”
“So, four girls. I bet you guys shared everything,” Danny said.
“Are you kidding?” Sarah exclaimed. “Even if we could wear the same sizes, no—we’d never share. Thankfully, we didn’t have to deal with it. It wasn’t too bad because Jess had her own style and no one wanted to dress like her and Eva was so thin she was almost two sizes smaller than Corrine and me. By the time I was old enough to wear things Corrine liked, she was out of the house and in college.”
“I can just imagine life in a house with 4 girls! I can barely survive one.”
Sarah giggled. “Yeah. It was busy. Consider yourself lucky you don’t have three sisters.”
“I know what it’s like in a small dose. My sister Alyssa was a handful,” Danny said.
“What’s she like?” Sarah asked.
“She’s a mix of Corrine and Eva is sounds like. She's always looked out for me. No matter what I do, she’s there for me but she’s also no pushover. She’s fiery and sassy. She doesn’t let anybody tell her what to do and is so brave.”
“Is she older or younger?”
“Older by one year, but you would think she was ten years older than me the way she tries to boss me around,” Danny said, rolling his eyes.
“You guys sound really close,” Sarah said, giggling.
Danny sighed and smiled. “We are, actually. She’s a bit bossy but she’s my hero. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be in life. She’s all I have left,” Danny said as sadness clouded his features.
The doorbell rang before Sarah could ask him about it. His sad face cleared in a millisecond and he smiled. “I’ll get that. You don’t get to pay for this either,” he said and winked.