Willow Moon's Arc

Chapter 5 of 6

Dinner went better than Willow hoped. Jess laughed at her jokes. He told her about the last chapter of the book they both loved. She forgot Scarlett's red bow two tables away. But then the waiter cleared their plates. The check came and went. Jess set his card back in his wallet, and the table fell quiet. Willow's mind went blank. She had planned the dress, the walk, the dinner. She had planned nothing after this. The silence stretched. Jess looked at the stained glass above them, then at his hands. Willow searched for a question and found none. This was the gap Scarlett had promised. New wears off. Willow felt the spark start to cool, right here, with nothing to say and nowhere to go. Scarlett saw it too. She lowered her menu an inch and smiled, like she already knew how the night would end. Willow made herself speak. "So what do you want to do now?" Jess didn't answer with words. He leaned across the small table. He cupped her jaw with one hand, the way you'd hold something you didn't want to drop. Then he kissed her. Willow froze for one second. The colored light from the tall windows fell across them both. Then she kissed him back. Her hand found the front of his suit and held on. When they broke apart, Jess stayed close. "Been wanting to do that," he said. "Not gonna lie." Willow's face went hot. "Yeah," she said. "Me too." Across the room, a chair scraped hard against the floor. Willow looked up. Scarlett was standing. The red bow trembled as she snatched her bag off the table. Her face had gone tight and white. She had come to watch the date fizzle. Instead she'd watched it deepen. She turned and walked fast toward the door, heels loud on the stone. But she stopped beside their table. She looked down at Willow, and her voice came out low and even. "Enjoy tonight," Scarlett said. "He kissed you in the dress. Wait till Monday. Wait till you're back in that blazer and he can't tell you apart from anyone else." Then she was gone, out through the arched doors. Jess frowned after her. "What was that about?" Willow didn't answer him. Her fingers were still curled in his suit, but the warm feeling had cracked. Scarlett had named the exact thing Willow feared. Tonight she was the girl in the green dress. Monday she would button the wool over her waist and hips again. She would sit at lunch as the quiet one he'd almost walked past. The kiss was real. She held onto that. But the question hung over the table now, sharp and cold. Could Jess want the girl in the blazer as much as he wanted the girl tonight?