After our pleasantries and a moment of silence where the both of us looked outside at the gentle snow fall she asked me something. Something real. Definitely the first real statement of our conversation.
I'm surprised to learn you're in
Westcity
. I really can't imagine who you would know here these days.
Nobody was the real answer. But I didn't say that. What was there to say? I lied to her. It was a good one.
I have a girlfriend here now. We've only been together a bit but we've known each other awhile. I'm in town to make an appearance at her family's
Christmas Eve
.
Our conversation turned out good. We spent probably 90 minutes at that
cafe
and the two of us laughed a lot. For that I'm grateful to her. As soon as I left the cafe I took a walk around town. I was feeling good striding around until about half an hour in, when I realized that Jean never asked about my girlfriend's name. She just accepted my answer. I wondered if she knew that I was lying.
Knowing Jean she would've asked about such. But maybe that was the old Jean I knew in college. Gossiper. Perhaps these days she cared more about other things.
Still it bugged me, this possibility that she knew I was lying and just let me get away with it by not prying. I don't know why that hit me so. Immediately I tried to think about what was for dinner that night. Some steak at an upscale bistro here.
