I look back over at Lukas to find him walking right toward our table. Uh oh. Something tells me this may not be good.
He stops next to our table and smiles down at me. “Hey,” he says. “What a surprise to see you here.”
I smile back. “Likewise. Tim, this is Lukas. Lukas, this is Tim. We work together.”
Lukas shakes Tim’s hand. “Nice to meet you, man,” he says, but I can see his jaw clenching. He doesn’t hide his feelings well at all.
I want to kiss the waitress for showing up with our dinner at that exact moment and saving me from further awkwardness. “Well, I’ll let you two eat,” Lukas says. “It was nice to see you again.”
“You too. Enjoy your night,” I say back. He nods to Tim and walks slowly back to his date at the bar.
“Who was that?” Tim asks.
“Just a friend.”
Tim cuts his steak and makes a surprised face at me. “Him? He doesn’t look like someone you’d be friends with.”
“Why is that?” I inquire, offended by his remark.
“That hair and all those tattoos? What the fuck? How does someone like that even get a job? You’re in HR, Ivy. Would you hire someone that looks like that?”
I slowly chew my ravioli. “I guess it depends what the job was, Tim. He’s a tattoo artist, so the way he looks goes with his career choice. He’s not a criminal.”
“Well, he looks like one.”
And you look like an asshole.
My phone beeps in my purse, and I reach down to pull it out in case it’s one of the kids.
It’s a text from an unknown number.
Meet me by the restrooms please.
I look up quickly to see Lukas heading to the back of the restaurant.
“Tim, excuse me for just a moment. I have to go call my daughter.”