Van Gogh

“Welcome to Flemings,” a well-groomed host greeted Molly and me as we walked inside the high-end steakhouse. “Table for two?”

“Yes please,” I replied and placed my hand on the small of Molly’s back. Molly and I always kept a duffel bag of clothes in our cars in case we had to unexpected make a run for it. Luckily, we had clothes that would be considered appropriate for the steakhouse inside them.

Once we got to our table, I sat down across from Molly and picked up my menu. I could feel how tense she was and being big brother of the year, I let her sit there and think of the worst possible scenarios. “Can I get you two something to drink?” A different man asked a few minutes later. Like the host, he was well-groomed and had a sophisticated aura about him.

“I’ll have a glass of Avalon,” I said thoughtfully as I glanced at the wine menu. Both the waiter and I looked at Molly and I could see her subtly fidget under our gaze.

“I’ll have a glass of Ruffino please, she said softly. I smirked. Molly only drank white wine when she was anxious or looking over a blueprint for a steal. Considering we had agreed to stay low for a while, I knew it wasn’t the former.

The waiter nodded and wordlessly took his leave. Simultaneously Molly and I closed our wine menus and placed them off to the side. Molly was trying to act casual as she looked over h the food menu but she kept tucking her hair behind her left ear. A nervous tick.

As I looked through my menu I still hadn’t said anything. I was waiting for Molly to bring it up. I could feel her feet brush against my leg every once in while which told me she was swinging her legs. Another nervous habit. It wouldn’t be long before she cracked.

“Okay what do we need to talk about?” She asked hurriedly.

“Wow, I think that’s a new record. Usually you break a lot sooner than that,” I replied sarcastically.

“Can you be serious for once Carter.” I could tell she wanted to say more but the waiter came back with our glasses of wine and caused Molly to look down at her menu once more.

“Are you ready to order or do you need another minute?” He asked with a polite smile.

“Give us another minute please,” I replied and returned the smile. Once he was out of earshot I propped my elbows on the table and rested my chin on my hands. “You need to get your shit together Molly,” I informed her. I think the fact that I was so calm and causal about it threw her off.

“E-excuse me?” She questioned. The longer what I said set in the more she glared at me.

“Do you remember why we’re in Maryland?” I asked. I didn’t give her time to answer though. “We’re here because people are looking for us. We’re here because we had to leave our life behind and go into hiding. We’re here so they don’t have as good a chance at finding us. We’re here so we don’t end up in prison for the rest of our lives.”

“Just get to the point Carter,” Molly mumbled.

“Be honest with me Molly. Do you think you could see someone, even if it’s casually, without them finding out who you are? Do think you could have a relationship with someone without them finding out that Molly Markee doesn’t even exist?” But Molly wasn’t honest with me. She didn’t say anything at all and her silence was the answer I needed. “Shut him down Molly.”

“You’re an asshole Carter,” Molly informed me. But she had told me that so many times that it no longer phased me. I knew I was an asshole but my being an asshole has kept her out of prison.

“Have you decided?” Our waiter chirped. Molly must not have seen him because she jumped at his sudden question.

“I’ll have the sea bass,” Molly told him then closed her menu and handed it to him.

“I’ll have the filet mignon and diablo shrimp,” I decided. I glanced over at Molly quickly before adding to my order, “and bring a glass of Red Diamond for her as well please.” Nodding the waiter left with our menus to put in our order. A minute or so later he returned with Molly’s wine. With a smile, I raised my glass and Molly mimicked my gesture. “Here’s to living another day in freedom.”

“To freedom.” Molly wasn’t as joyful in her toast, but I knew she was just trying to humor me.






I held the door open for Molly then followed her inside. Normally we’d watch something on Netflix and fill ourselves with junk food before going to bed, but Molly went straight upstairs. A moment later I heard her bedroom door shut. Shrugging, I went up to my office and left the door open a crack. For background noise, I turned the TV on. Usually while I worked the TV helped me concentrate. But tonight, it grabbed my attention.

“Detective Bailey, do you have any ideas as to where the Graham siblings could be hiding?” A reporter asked with a bit too much enthusiasm. Must’ve been her first big story.

“So far we have no definite leads. Phillip and Katrina Graham don’t have a criminal background we can use to help us find them. However, we have been looking at their family history and are very confident that they could be hiding in the southern regions, Texas and Louisiana to be specific,” the detective replied. His expression was overly serious.

“Idiot.” While they had good reason to believe that we would be in that region they were way off, but it worked in Molly’s and my favor. But if they knew what Louisiana truly meant to Molly and I they would either be smart and think we would steer clear of that place or be stupid and think we were like all criminals who went back to places that had a large impact on them.

Settling for music instead, I turned off the TV and pulled up Pandora on my desktop. I decided the best for me to do was get my work done and worry about law enforcement at a later date.

Notes