‘It didn’t make sense to drag it out.’
Sophia looked at him again.
‘Drag what out? You never even spoke to me.’
Ryan’s mouth tightened.
‘I was trying to avoid embarrassing you.’
James finally moved.
He placed one hand on the back of the empty chair, but his voice remained controlled.
‘You thought making her sit alone for forty-five minutes was less embarrassing?’
Ryan turned toward him.
‘This is between me and her.’
‘Then answer her.’
A nearby table had gone quiet.
The waiter who had checked on Sophia several times stood a few steps away pretending to rearrange glasses he had already straightened.
Ryan noticed the attention and grew defensive.
‘I don’t owe anybody a relationship because we exchanged messages for two weeks.’
Sophia surprised herself by answering calmly.
‘No.
You don’t.’
Ryan seemed relieved.
Then she continued.
‘You owed me basic decency.’
The relief vanished.
Sophia’s hands were trembling, so she pressed her fingertips against the edge of the table.
‘You chose this restaurant.
You chose the time.
You told me you wanted to meet me.
Then you sat ten feet away and watched me wonder whether I’d done something wrong.’
Ryan looked toward James again.
‘I saw her pull up,’ he said.
‘I saw the whole situation and realized this wasn’t going to work.’
Sophia understood immediately.
Her old car.
The inexpensive dress.
The purse she had owned for years.
Ryan had not discovered anything about her personality.
He had decided what she was worth before saying hello.
‘What situation?’ she asked.
He should have stopped.
Instead, embarrassment made him crueler.
‘Come on, Sophia.
Look around.
Dinner here costs real money.
I didn’t want to spend two hundred dollars pretending we had something in common when we obviously don’t.’
James’s expression hardened.
But Sophia lifted one hand toward him.
It was a small gesture.
Don’t.
James understood.
This belonged to her.
Sophia opened her purse.
Ryan’s eyes dropped toward it.
She removed the five dollars and placed the bills on the table.
‘I have five dollars until I get paid again,’ she said.
Ryan blinked.
Several people nearby were openly listening now.
Sophia continued before shame could stop her.
