Reservations for Six by Lindsey Palmer

Author:Lindsey Palmer [Palmer, Lindsey J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781954332324
Publisher: Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing
Published: 2021-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 29

Mateo

Did Mateo want to meet Nathan for a drink? No. Did he want to catch up? No. Did he want to hear all the ways Nathan had screwed up his life, rattled off in a self-pitying monologue as if Nathan himself hadn’t been the agent of the screw-up? No. But Mateo had agreed to meet Nathan out of a vague principle of enduring friendship and brotherhood. And now Nathan was late—unbelievable. Mateo had left the office promptly at seven to meet his buddy, as a favor; meanwhile, Nathan had no job and no excuse.

When Nathan finally walked in at eight, he looked even more disheveled than usual. He clapped Mateo on the back in greeting—no apology—and ordered an IPA. Mateo didn’t know if Nathan knew that he already knew what had happened. He waited for Nathan to bring it up. But instead, his buddy started shooting the shit about the Red Sox and their slow start, and whether or not their bats were going to wake up. “We should get out to a game this spring. Remember how we used to do that?”

“Yeah, man,” said Mateo. “It’s been a long time.”

“Bleachers or die.” Nathan raised a fist.

Mateo surprised himself at his nostalgia. “Back when we were writing our dissertations, it was the only way I could get you to shower and leave your reeking hovel of a room. I’d wave those Sox tickets in front of your face, and you’d bolt up. Worked like a charm. Meanwhile I was looking for any excuse to escape my work.”

“Well, Matty, I was a harder worker than you.” Nathan said it like a joke, but it had been true once upon a time. Back in grad school, Nathan had been more committed and disciplined. Ironically, the reward for all that hard work had been a decade of collecting pennies as an adjunct. Whereas Mateo, who’d abandoned academia out of restlessness, had found work that earned him a small fortune. Now he worked sixty-hour weeks, and Nathan not at all.

“Anyway,” said Nathan, “I’m free whenever. Name a date and I’ll grab us tickets. You can thank me with beer.”

“Sure.” Mateo thought this would be Nathan’s opening: his schedule was now open and he hoped to be treated to beer, and Mateo braced himself for the woe-is-me saga to start. But Nathan didn’t go there. He stayed in reminiscence mode, taking them back to their days of T.A.-ing and cramming for exams. What were clearly sharp memories for Nathan all felt a bit fuzzy around the edges for Mateo. The carefree vibe Nathan was describing didn’t sound familiar; Mateo had had a newborn at the time, but the joy of the period came back to him in a powerful rush.

“We should do this more often,” Mateo found himself saying. He’d been dreading the evening beforehand, but his worries turned out to be unfounded. He was having a good time, in the way he and Nathan used to before Nathan had blown up his life, forcing everyone else to deal with the repercussions.

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