Super quick one here. Bit of a palate cleanser.
Russell ran his fingers through his graying hair before impatiently checking his watch. He was certainly overdue for a haircut, he thought to himself. Getting a bit mullet-y in the back. If he knew he'd be seeing her tonight, he would've made a point of getting it taken care of.
He stopped fidgeting and risked a look over at her. She was wildly underdressed, a red and white baseball shirt under her red and blue plaid coat. She tapped the pen against her chin, thinking of what to write. She lifted her eyes and stole a glance at Nick, standing to her right, he himself deep in thought. Russell noted that her hair was a bit more unkempt than normal, her bangs a little longer than he was used to seeing. As she rolled her eyes away from Nick, she briefly stared past Russell into the distance. He held his breath a bit as he couldn't help but find himself admiring those large, blue eyes. He thought back to earlier times, back when they were together. He smirked as he reflected on how easy it would be to fall into that old habit.
After a moment, he forced himself to look away. He didn't know how long he'd been looking at her, but he didn't want to get caught staring. Not by Jess, and not by his date for the evening. He offered the perfectly lovely (and calmingly dull) blond to his left a quick smile and a roll of the eyes before he turned his attention to Nick. The perpetually scruffy, aimless bartender actually cleaned up pretty well, Russell thought to himself. Truth was, he kind of liked Nick. Saw a bit of himself in him. Just a tiny bit, but a bit all the same.
Nick repeatedly tapped his pen on the valet card Russell had handed him when he posed his little challenge. A challenge Russell already regretted. He had been slightly taken aback to see Jess when he walked in the restaurant, but he wasn't particularly surprised when he saw who she was with. After all, Russell himself had said he was glad to see that they were 'finally happening'. It wasn't entirely true, of course. Part of him would've been perfectly content if Jess never moved on. Especially if that meant her potentially reevaluating her relationship with Russell. Wishful thinking...
But the bigger point remained. There was something about the lovely teacher and her somewhat lost but good natured roommate that just seemed to make sense. And after observing their antics that evening, Russell could see that Jess had found the 'passion' that she was looking for. He shook his head, and again regretted posing his challenge. These two were clearly nuts about each other, but they appeared to be at an odd stage in their relationship. It didn't seem they knew exactly what they were yet, but that in itself didn't have to be a problem.
Russell cleared his throat and turned to his date.
"Come on, let's just go, Brandy," he said, gently grabbing her arm.
"No, no, no, no, no. I got it," Jess said, scribbling on her card.
"Me too," Nick followed.
They each handed their cards over to Russell, and he took them apprehensively. He watched them exchange nervous, hopeful glances with each other and he, yet again, regretted involving himself in their situation. He took a breath and looked down at Nick's card. He didn't have the foggiest idea of what it said. Nick, it seemed, had penmanship that would make a second grader blush. It didn't really matter, though. Russell had been in Nick's shoes, and he was pretty sure Nick was no more resistant to Jess' charms than he himself had been. He felt pretty secure assuming she meant everything to him. Russell quickly flipped over to Jess' card and wasn't surprised to find it far more legible.
'He means more to me than I can say on this dumb card' it read.
Russell felt his face fall as the realization that Jess had, indeed, moved on settled in. Not that he was surprised. He then realized he needed to find a way out of this situation. The pair clearly had some important things they needed to talk about. And they needed to talk about it privately. Russell had no business being their moderator. He numbly slipped the cards into his back pocket.
"You know, maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Maybe just forget I thought of it. We're just gonna go," he said, attempting to usher his date towards his car. He heard Nick and Jess behind him as he walked away.
"What did you write?"
"What did you write?"
Russell waited for the light to change as he listened to the protestations of Nick and Jess. Not wanting them to catch up with him, he stepped into the street before the light changed. He was actually a little relieved with the police officer's lights flashed and the siren bleeped.