"Well, this guy sounds like he's good with kids, at least. Plus, he has a good name," Linda said, smiling as she took a bite of her salad. Jen rolled her eyes and ate a bite of her chicken. "But, I notice you're leaving something out. How did he look?"
Jen swallowed her bite. "He's... handsome," she said, having to bury the Jon part of herself to even get that much out. "He looked like he either worked out or had a physical job. Muscular but not gross." She knew, of course, that Michael ran a lawn care business, but she wouldn't volunteer that. Not when she wasn't supposed to know that.
"Hmm, so that's what does it for my little sister these days, is it?" Linda asked. "I was beginning to wonder. The few dates you have had in the last few years have been kind of all over the place."
"Well, didn't seem like I was in much of a position to be picky. Once most guys my age learned about Zoe, they tapped out. And the ones who were older were kind of..." She trailed off, her magically imbued memories reminding her of one particular older guy who had made a few comments too many about how excited he had been to meet Zoe. It had seemed nice on the surface, but was a little off.
"I kinda thought it was, you know... the whole Robbie situation."
Jen felt her face twist up, and forced herself to relax it. "I'd rather not talk about him," she said.
"I know, sorry." Linda pushed her now empty plate aside and sighed. "What am I supposed to do about Mike? He needs to know that school is important. There's no guarantee he can get by with just football."
"I think all you can do is lay down a punishment. One that'll actually make him start taking school seriously. Limit his phone time, ability to go out with his friends. You know, the stuff that mom and dad would do to us to really get to us."
"They had different approaches to each of us, you know. A little easier on you, if I remember correctly. The downside of being the older sister. They got all their unfairness out early."
"Right up until I got pregnant with Zoe," Jen said.
"...right."
Both of them sipped their wine. Jon had never had anything alcoholic before, but Jen liked this much, at least. She had gone through her wild days in high school, enjoyed the harder stuff, but now pretty much limited herself to the occasional glass of wine.
"Zoe's doing well though?" Linda asked.
"She is. A little trouble with Biology, but solid in everything else." Even gym, Jen noted. Which the old Zoe had absolutely hated to the point that she avoided it completely sometimes. In the old reality, Linda had yelled at Zoe over her skipping classes on a near weekly basis.
"That's good. She's so smart, and such a good kid. I could see her going far. Is she still thinking about teaching?"
"Last I heard," Jen said. "I wish I had had any idea of what I wanted to do when I was her age."
"Yeah, I'm still not certain I know what I want to be doing now," Linda said with a laugh.
They continued eating and chatting, enjoying a night out and away from their kids, even as the knowledge that she wanted that escape weighed on Jen. Eventually, they settled the check and headed off to home.
