[Dawn]
She says it again, and I still can’t process her words.
“What?” I repeat.
“I know about you and Aldo in the pantry.” Sophie is practically beside herself giggling. She’s been driving the van at a snail’s pace since getting off the highway, laughing herself stupid.
I turn red, and I suppose there’s no way to cover it up or lie.
“Well, yeah, we were screwing around in the pantry. But how do you know? We couldn’t see anyone…”
Sophie shakes her head and laughs. “At least that pantry is getting some use. Those snacks have been in there for years.”
I’m beside myself. I don’t know why I feel embarrassed. Maybe it’s because we’re laughing at my future burning up.
“Look, it’ll be alright,” she says. She takes the van off to a side street and shoots out on another back road between houses and apartments. I sip at my coffee and nibble on the donut we picked up on the way. We’ve had a right morning of shipping out. We had breakfast on the road. We had toilet stops on the road. We made it three miles from Luca’s warehouse before taking our first break…
Now Sophie says she needs another one. She’s reading street signs.
“Where are we going?” I ask, trying to change the subject.
“You’ll find out,” Sophie says, leaning forward and reading another one. “Aren’t you a little curious?”
“I just asked where are we going?”
“Nooooo,” Sophie croons. “How do I know about you two hooking up?”
I sigh and roll my eyes. “Fine, how do you know?”
Sophie bites her lip; she’s about to break into laughter. She holds onto the steering wheel for dear life as she takes the turn. Her cheeks have reddened at the thought.
“Honestly, it’s horrible, but it was little Michael that saw you.” She cracks, and laughter peels from her.
I can only sink further into the comfy van seat. “Oh, I’ve scarred him for life.”
She’s clutching at the wheel still and rubbing the tears from her eyes. “He asked me the next day. He was all quiet and really serious, and for a few moments I thought he had broken something or-” she wipes the tears away and pulls over to the front of a random apartment block.
“He whispers really quietly yours and Aldo’s names. He said you were wrestling.”
The giggles win out, and she is gone for a few minutes while I sit there watching her. I want to see the humor in it. I want to see the laughter as something funny. But I can’t.
“This is just cruel,” I say. “You’re literally laughing at my dating life going up in smoke.”
Sophie gives me a look that says otherwise. Her laughter slowly stalls. “You of all people have never had a bad dating life.”
“You know what I mean,” I hiss, sipping my coffee. Trying not to enjoy the cinnamon vanilla flavor. “You know I’ve liked him for ages.”
“And I still think it’s possible,” Sophie says. “Look, I know Aldo is probably not the best communicator. And I understand the whole brother angle. I think you guys just need some time. Which is why I’ve organized this.”
“Organized what?” I blurt. Only now am I looking around, trying to gauge my surroundings. I saw that we were getting off at Hialeah, but I didn’t gauge what that meant.
Sophie wags a finger and makes a call. I hear the unmistakable sound of Aldo’s voice.
She’s woken him.
They chat, and he says that he’s coming out…
“What have you done?” I ask, horrified. “What is this? You said no tricks!”
“Just a little one.” She pinches her finger and thumb together. “Just a little bit of meddling to force you two to spend some time together.”
I look at her like she’s insane. “But my brother lives with Aldo! He’s probably going to come out now and see me. He’s probably-”
“He was meant to be driving this van up with Aldo,” Sophie admits; her grin is purely diabolical. “He and Aldo were meant to be making this delivery. But once I figured out you two had been in the pantry. And I knew that Luca had already planned to have Aldo make this trip anyway, I just did a bit of my work.” She waves her hand like a wand.
“You’re evil,” I mutter. My face is burning, and now I can see Aldo jogging over to us. His face is one of confusion and curiosity.