“All right. Speech writing time. And Cio, I’m going to need you to get out of your thoughts and pay attention,” Beth said.

Cio blinked and pulled himself back to the present. “What?”

“You’ve been staring at the menu without looking for minutes.”

“Oh. Right.” He pushed the menu to the side. “Ok.” He stared at Beth who stared right back. 

She sighed. “All right, spill. We can write the speech later.”

Cio grinned. He launched into the story, only pausing when the waitress came over to take their orders, then came to an end as their food was put in front of them. 

Beth was wide eyed as she sipped on her drink. “So, you and your boss both want to bang each other again. Why haven’t you?”

“No! I mean, yes. I want to bang him, and it seems like he might have some interest in me again, but…” He shrugged. “I don’t know, Beth.”

“All right. Well, he’s already said he’s willing to meet your family?”

“Yeah.”

“And he’s going to be the first boyfriend you bring to the family?”

“Yeah.”

Beth laughed. “Good luck. I’m so glad I’m here to see this.” She picked at her salad. “Really though, this guy just… agreed to come with you so your family would get off your back and you have even a little bit of doubt about him being interested in you? Cio. Come on.”

“He still wears his wedding ring, for one. For two, do I need to remind you how you were when your husband was obviously interested in asking you on a date?” He pitched his voice higher in a mockery of Beth’s. “‘No Cio, he’s just checking in on a former patient.’ ‘He just wants to make sure I’m doing all right, and that’s easier to do in person.’ ‘He kissed me. Do you think he wants to date me?’” Cio dipped a fry in ketchup. “You don’t get to ‘Cio. Come on.’ me.”

Beth laughed. “Fine, fine. Just keep me updated on how things work out. Now, we really need to get to work on a speech because so far we both have nothing.”