Out of Time by April Sadowski

Simon
asked, whispering in Sasha’s right ear.
    “You think she’d believe me?” she whispered
back.
    “Not sure.”
    “What are you two talking about?” Mandy
inquired, frustrated. Their private conversation was rude and
disrespectful. If they wanted to talk in private they should have
done so apart from their table.
    “What we are eating.” Simon said, blatantly
lying. “I’m getting the grilled pork. Sasha is thinking about
changing careers.” He wasn’t just lying, he was covering for her.
Apparently he didn’t think Mandy would believe Sasha’s story. Of
course, he didn’t believe it was a story, especially after spending
the past year “starting over” with her.
    “Really?” Mandy asked surprised. “To
what?”
    “Photography.” Sasha stated.
    “How will you make any money on that? Doesn’t
an architect bank it?” Mandy thought, considering in her head how
the salaries could compare with one another.
    “Not everything is all about the money,
Mandy.” Sasha said, a little put off by the harshness in her
friend’s voice. “Actually I was thinking about doing weddings and
corporate events. If I charge per day I can really make a ton.”
    “That’s interesting.” Mandy announced, dully.
“So who is going to do your wedding? Have you thought about
it?”
    “We haven’t put too much in the details yet.
I was thinking about that Jenna Grimes — she graduated a year
before us from high school. She’s doing really well for herself.
She’s got like three employees already and that’s saying a lot for
her age.” Sasha noted. She took out her cell phone to check her
messages and then pocketed it. Then she grabbed the sanitary gel
from her purse and cleaned her hands with it. It was a force of
habit before eating.
    “Do you think you’ll get to be that
successful?” Mandy asked.
    “I don’t think it will be hard.” Sasha
commented. Mandy just shrugged as James returned with a tray
littered with glasses and plates for another table.
    “Here are your drinks.” he said, taking one
off at a time from the tray and laying them down in front of each
person. “A water, diet coke, and a Long Island iced tea.”
    When they had all received their drinks, the
waiter asked if they were ready to order and Sasha began. “I think
so. I’ll have the spinach and feta cheese salad with Caesar
dressing. Can you take off the bacon pieces?”
    “We can do that, yes. For you, ma’am?” the
waiter asked Mandy who was still scanning the menu until her eyes
stopped on an enticing dish.
    “I’ll have the roasted chicken with maple
glaze.”
    “And your two sides?” James asked, making
notes on his paper.
    Mandy skimmed over the menu, trying to find
where the sides were located. “Green beans and mashed potatoes,
please.”
    “Sir?” James asked, turning to Simon.
    “I’ll have the grilled pork with green beans
and the cheddar potato soup.” Simon answered. The waiter collected
their menus and went off to put their orders in with the kitchen.
Simon used the time to talk to Mandy. “Sasha’s got a good eye for
photography, I think. Her composition is excellent. I’ve actually
thought about referring her to the paper as a photo
journalist.”
    “But you know I don’t like the editorial
stuff.” Sasha said. In truth, taking photos was something that came
naturally to her and it was the first thing she thought of in terms
of profession since she phased in. She didn’t have to learn much of
anything.
    “Hey, money is money, right?” Simon chuckled,
referencing Mandy’s previous comment.
    “I guess so.” Sasha muttered, not realizing
the joke.
    “You weren’t concerned about making the big
bucks anyway.” Simon told her and Sasha finally got where he was
going.
    “Can we talk about something else? Something
happy? Money is a tiresome subject.” Mandy said, stifling a fake
yawn.
    “Like the wedding?” Sasha asked, cracking a
smile.
    “Yea, that’ll work.” Mandy said, smiling
back.