Bringing Up the Past

Desktop Confessional

"So...did you sleep with him?" Ever asks, wiggling her thin eyebrows at me and drawing up a chair across from me. She insisted that we take our lunch break in my office. I've been unpacking our delivered Chinese food and carefully setting the containers onto my desk.

I drop into my desk chair and frown at her. "No, I did not, thank you very much," I say irritably. Ever sits down and shrugs skeptically, twisting open her bottle of Perrier. My frown deepens as I flip open my Styrofoam takeout box. "I didn't," I repeat. She still looks unconvinced. "What did you do then?" she asks, digging chopsticks into her shrimp lo mein. I crack open my can of Pepsi, take a sip, and look back at her trying to keep my gaze as steady as possible. "Nothing!" I insist. "Jay bought a bottle of bourbon, we each had one glass, and..." I look down at my desk and twist my hands in my lap. "And I let him walk me home."

I grab an egg roll and look over to see Ever's dark brown eyes widen instantaneously. "You let the Joker walk you home?!" she practically screams.

I give her a stern look. "Must you keep shouting about him?" I demand, lowering my egg roll. Ever squirms uncomfortably. "Sorry." She hesitates a beat then leans forward, whispering excitedly. "You let him find out where you live?!"

I shrug, unconcerned. "Jay knows I'm back in Gotham," I tell her as I dip my egg roll into the little bowl of warm sweet and sour sauce the restaurant sent. "He would've come looking for me eventually once he found out I was back." I take a bite of the egg roll. It's a delicious combination of crispy, chewy, salty, and sweet. The shock in Ever's chocolate eyes fades into confusion. "Hang on, you live three miles from the bar."

"Yeah, so?" Ever sits back, amazement plain on her pretty face. "That's a long walk," she says quietly. I shrug. "It gave me and Jay more time to catch up." Ever cringes dramatically. "Why do you call him 'Jay'?" I roll my eyes. "Because that's his name, Ever," I sigh. "Well, that's as close to a name as he has," I add. Ever pops a shrimp into her mouth and chews it thoughtfully. "How do you even know him?" she asks.

"Our paths crossed one night during the snowstorm in December of 2007. We didn't get together until February the next year."

Ever nods slowly. "How did you get together?"

I frown. "What do you mean?"

She shrugs one shoulder. "Well, like, did he ask you out or was it a one night stand that turned serious?" Ever waves her hands, palms up,through the air like she's physically searching for the right wording. "How did it happen?"

Now it's my turn to shrug. "We ran into each other when I was walking home during the big snowstorm then a couple weeks later we ran into each other again at a party."

"Who's party?"

"A New Year's Eve party at a nightclub downtown."

Ever nods slowly. "Oh...so he crashed the party?"

I take a sip of myPepsi and shake my head as I set down the can. "No..." I sigh. "The party was at his club."

Ever's eyes spring wide. "What were you doing there?" she asks, clearly shocked.

"A friend invited me."

My best friend narrows her eyes at me. "Which friend?"

"Paul Donovan," I say softly, embarrassed.

Ever grimaces. I nod in agreement. "So you met the Joker at a party at his nightclub and you just thought 'Hmm...I gotta get me a piece of that'?"

I laugh and shake my head. "No," I say, grinning. "I went to the bar to get a drink and he came over and we started talking."

Ever's dark eyes narrow again. "Obviously you knew who he was, right?"