Life, Love & A Little Coffee

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Judgement & Wine

Tom opened the front door to his apartment and saw Liz standing there with a smile on her face. She held a bottle of wine in one hand and a potted plant propped between her other hand and her body as she struggled to balance it just right.

It wasn't surprising in the least. Liz never went to someone's place without bringing something, which annoyed him when the hosts of the gathering flat out told her not to bring anything.

But it was how her parent's raised her, and he knew better than to argue with that. At least the plant was tough looking, not that he was a tough guy. According to Ada's family, he was a pansy.

It took him a moment to pry his eyes away from the plant and notice her. Liz's long dark brown hair was perfectly groomed, cascading down her shoulders in waves. By the silky red blouse she wore and the push-up bra underneath it, Tom could tell she put more effort than usual into her appearance.

Tom hoped she had other plans for tonight because if this was all for him, it would have been a waste of her time.

"You look nice," he commented when he realized that approach was more tactful than the other options.

Liz's red lips smiled. "Thank you. Megan keeps setting me up on all these blind dates with the lawyers in her firm. They always start off on a good note, but halfway through they end up talking about how expensive their cars are and their trips to Aspen at premier resorts. This guy isn't so bad though," she said with a slight shrug. "I went out with him last week and he was nice. I'm meeting up with him in about an hour."

Knowing that her appearance wasn't for him filled Tom with relief, and he let out a soft chuckle. "Better than Marianne setting you up."

Her blue eyes squinted and nose crinkled like she'd just tasted something sour. "Oh, she did. At least with Megan's friends I get a full stomach. Marianne's friends kept taking me to vegan restaraunts and talking to me about slaughter houses and how eating vegan makes your bowels regular. I didn't even have to fake sick by the end."

Fucking hipster's.

At least she was putting herself out there. Liz was a beautiful woman, inside and out. She deserved love and deserved a family if that was still something she wanted. They hadn't talked about it for a year or two, so he couldn't be sure.

When Tom noticed Liz struggle to balance the plant, he grabbed it from between her hand and body and set it down on the nearest table. "What is this thing?"

"A spider plant. Helps purify the air," Liz explained.

Tom crouched down and inspected the plant. It would fit with his apartment, but that wasn't the problem. "This isn't one of those plants that requires water, is it?"

Liz let out a light laugh. "Only every few days."

"You might stand a chance," he said to the plant as he tapped a leaf with his fingertip.

"Don't worry, Tom. I know you well enough to not give you a daily chore."

Tom stood and turned to face Liz and her bottle of wine. "You don't know me as well as you think."

Liz cocked her head and narrowed her blue eyes at him, brushing her bangs to the side. "What makes you say that?"

"I don't like wine," Tom admitted.

"You love wine."

Tom just shook his head. "When we were twenty, you had me take a sip of your wine and I told you it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, even though it was so much worse. From then on you've been convinced I like wine. You've been feeding that shit to me for almost fifteen years and now that we're getting divorced I can tell you it tastes like piss soaked dirt."