Something Old, Something New
Carisi sat at a small table with his girlfriend chomping away on some raw Portobello fries. Everything was raw at Body Food by Valerie, and those fries were the best thing there. But if he were to admit it to himself, "best" really only meant decent. He frowned a little at the thought.
"You okay?" she asked him.
"Sure," he replied jovially. The frown wasn't for her. "Just getting used to it all."
"It's good to try new things."
"Sure," he said and smiled. She had been really pushing him out of his comfort zone lately, out of his routines. His sisters said it was good for him, but he wasn't so sure . . .
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted her on the street. Her medium-cropped, straight blonde hair was unmistakable – and she was pushing a stroller. He looked out the window longingly. I bet Amanda's heading over to that burger joint across the street. The one we would go to when . . .
But then the light changed and the woman on the street turned her head, her profile coming into plain view. It wasn't Amanda. He should have known – the stroller was nothing like Jesse's. He realized he was just hoping and sighed.
His girlfriend followed his gaze. "What's that?"
"Oh, just something old."
She looked puzzled.
"Something old and familiar." Something kinda nice, he thought.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, that burger joint over there." He pointed out the window and she wrinkled her nose.
Carisi wasn't really referring to the burger place. But she didn't have to know that.