Meeting up with Brad

Romano’s - Sunday evening

The girls took an Uber to meet up with Brad at a small place called Romano’s. It was a little tucked away from the main roads but seemed to be a nice enough looking place. It was well lit and seemed to be quite clean from what Traci could tell. She and Kelly made their way inside and let the hostess know they were there for Brad’s table.

The hostess paused and quickly looked Kelly up and down. Maybe it was the short black skirt that caught her attention. Or the caked on makeup. “Right this way,” she finally said in a cheerful voice and led the two of them into the dining area.

“Judgmental much?” Kelly whispered to Traci as they followed the hostess.

Brad stood and smiled warmly as the girls approached. He had been seated in a curved booth and was now gesturing for the girls to join him.

“Glad you could make it,” he said with a slight nod of his head. He turned to Traci. “I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight, but I’m glad you’re here.”

“You weren’t kidding,” Kelly said with excitement as she slid into the booth, pulling Traci along with her. “This is a nice place!” And it really was quite nice inside. It was definitely on the fancier side, compared to the places that Traci normally ate, but not so fancy or stuffy that she felt she didn’t belong. It was warm and cozy with clean décor and nice, high ceilings. Cream colored walls were accented tastefully in dark wood.

The girls scooched their way into the booth and Brad slid in next to Kelly. He whispered something into Kelly’s ear that Traci couldn’t hear but it made Kelly giggle and whisper back a playful, “staaaahhp!”

A server appeared and placed a bottle of wine at the table along with glasses, and returned with a coke which she placed in front of Traci.

Brad nodded in the direction of Traci’s drink. “I figured you wouldn’t want to have any wine, so I ordered you a coke.”

“Oh, thank you,” Traci replied softly. It was unexpectedly thoughtful of him. But her eyes drifted over to the wine glasses. The server had placed down four glasses. “Did she give us too many wine glasses?”

“Keith and Charlie will be joining us in a bit.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Don’t worry,” Kelly said as she began pouring some wine for Brad, then herself, “it’ll be a nice chill time.”

Brad nodded and took a glass in his hand, swirling it around and giving it a sniff. “Right, just relax and let’s all get to know each other properly. What do you say, Traci?”

Traci took a sip of her coke before answering. “Sure, I guess.”

“Awesome!” Brad gave a big smile and toasted with his wine. He and Kelly clinked their wine glasses together and Brad quickly darted in to give her a playful peck on the cheek.

“Oh looks like the party’s already started!” Keith clapped his hands excitedly as he approached the table. Behind him Charlie was giving a thumbs up with a big grin.

The two of them slid into the booth. Now she was trapped. She had Keith and Charlie on one side of her, and Brad and Kelly on the other.

Traci buried herself in the menu, hoping no one would try to talk to her and make things more awkward than they already felt.