The Dead and the Dreamer

"You ever been married?"

John was surprised at the question.

"I can ask you things, can't I?' "Sure," he said as he cut open the tiny potato on his place. He offered her one and she pulled it from his fork onto her plate. "And no. Came close."

Tammy laughed in a way that relaxed John. It was the first time he had really seen her show any happiness. She quickly covered her mouth. "Sorry. Poor thing. You just looked so helpless when you admitted that."

"Helpless," John said with a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Well, tell me more. I need to know. What happened to the came close?"

"The usual," John said casually.

"Was it money, another lover in the picture, or was it you two just grew apart?"

She liked being the one asking the questions, he noticed. The guarded silence of two days ago was gone. She was enjoying her own line of questioning and how he reacted to them. "You got it right. We grew apart."

"Usually, one grows away from the other. Is that what happened? Be honest."

John thought about putting a stop to all this, but he didn't want to drive wedge between them. If he wanted her to be open with him then he had to be open with her. "She grew away from me if you want to get technical," he said.

"I'm getting too personal."

"No. Ask away. But remember, I'll get my turn to ask the questions," he reminded her.

Tammy smiled and then readjusted herself on the booth. The sound of the crowd was a hum of commotion. John liked the background noise. It was comforting to hear. He felt like just a fixture in the mix and that's what he wanted to be.

"Let me guess," Tammy started again. "You were a cop then, out all the time. Am I right?"

John just looked at her with a blank expression.

"Up late. Big bad police man always on the go and no time for the family thing. It was up to you to save the world," she said.

They both laughed, looking at each other across the table. Their waiter came and they calmed down enough to take their plates of food. John took the chicken and Tammy took something that looked Italian.

"Something like that. I was also heavily into my music at the time," John said as he started on his chicken.