Halfway through, Priyanka smiled at Ben across the table.
“Your wife must have been thrilled when you negotiated the Fridays.”
“Fridays?”
I turned and looked at my husband.
And I watched his face do something.
“Hm?” I said, pleasantly, because there were four strangers at that table.
The conversation moved on. It took eleven more minutes.
Outside the Restaurant
I stopped him on the sidewalk.
“What did you negotiate?”
He exhaled.
“One Friday off a month. For me and Olive.”
“Why wasn’t that in the paperwork you handed me?”
“Because I Was Doing What I Always Do”
“Figuring it out alone.”
A pause.
“I was also trying to be home. Both of those are true.”
“Why Fridays?”
He hesitated and I could see him decide whether to say it.
“Olive Said I Always Work on Fun Days”
I stood on that sidewalk and looked at him.
“She said that to you?”
