Page 14 of Aperture

I hear giggles and see two little brunette heads bop by our booth.

“Hey, you two, slow down,” a male voice calls after them. I know that voice. It’s Theo. What are the chances? He walks by our booth toward me, and to my surprise, he stops in front of us. I smile apologetically, even though I’m doing nothing wrong by being with Wyatt.

“Hi, Millie,” he says.

I grab my napkin and wipe my mouth. “Theo, how are you?”

“I’m good,” he says. “Just got back into town, and the first order of business was a family dinner.” He looks back and forth between Wyatt and me, clearly surprised.

“How nice,” I reply. I’m feeling incredibly awkward, unaware that it's about to get worse.

“Wyatt,” Theo says flatly, looking directly at my date. “It’s been a long time. It’s good to see you.”

Wyatt stares up intensely at Theo and replies coldly, “Can’t say the same.”

I’m pretty sure my eyebrows shoot up to my hairline. The moment is ripe with tension.

Theo looks momentarily irritated but then quickly recovers and plays it cool.

“OK, well, it was great to see you, Millie. I was planning to text you back as soon as dinner was over to get together,” he says. “So, hopefully, I will see you soon,” he says as he smiles and walks away.

My gaze swings back to Wyatt, and I notice he’s gripping his wine glass like he wants to break it in two. I wish Theo hadn’t mentioned us getting together. It’s changed the entire mood around us.

“I’m sorry about the interruption,” I say.

Wyatt softens and replies,” No apology necessary. Let’s talk about you some more.” He smiles and takes a sip of wine.

The tension in the room seems to be dissipating, which I’m thankful for, but I can’t help but wonder how those two know each other. There’s obviously a contentious past between them. Ultimately, I decide it's none of my business unless Wyatt decides to share it with me. It’s just a very strange coincidence.

We finish our meals and make small talk about photography, college, and hobbies, but we never quite get back to our relaxed, easy conversation.

At the end of the evening, Wyatt walks me to my car, and we exchange the obligatory post-date thank yous, hug and peck on the cheek rather platonically, and go our separate ways.

I drive away, feeling frustrated. It’s as if Theo’s mere presence completely eclipsed our connection.

Chapter 9

Gwen: Then what happened?

Millie: Nothing. We talked some more about photography and college. He went to Princeton.

Gwen: Well, hello, smarty pants.

Millie: Right?

Gwen: Did you get inside his smarty pants?

Millie: No, you giant pervert. We finished dinner, he walked me to my car, hugged me, and made sure I was driving away before he drove away himself.

Gwen: HOT!

Millie: Things seemed different after we ran into Theo. You don’t think that’s weird?

Gwen: I mean, kind of. But hot dudes know each other. It’s like a club.

Gwen: The first rule of hot guy club is that you don’t talk about hot guy club.

Millie: They really didn’t seem to like each other.