She shrugged. "I do what I have to do."
"You don't have to do this. I can increase your pay. Cover whatever you'd lose from the bar."
"Xavier…"
"Please, let me help you."
Kim was quiet for a long moment. I watched her profile in the passing streetlights, the tension in her jaw, the way her hands twisted in her lap.
"Fine, I'll quit."
"Really?"
"Don't make me change my mind."
I pulled up in front of Rosie's. Kim got out, and I watched her walk inside. Twenty minutes later, she emerged with her bag over her shoulder. It was then that I realized I’d half-expected her to grab an apron and start working.
She climbed back into the car. "It's done."
"How do you feel?"
"Terrified." She buckled her seatbelt. "Also relieved. Is that weird?"
"No." I pulled away from the curb.
"So," I said as we crossed into Brooklyn, "now that you're not working two jobs, what are you going to do with all your free time?"
"Sleep," she said immediately. "So much sleep."
"That's it? No secret passions?"
"Sleep is my passion."
We pulled up to her building. I parked, but neither of us moved to get out. The car felt warm, intimate, a bubble separate from the rest of the world.
My phone rang. I glanced at the screen. Grandmother.
"I should take this," I said to Kim. I answered. "Hello?"
"Xavier, darling." My grandmother's voice filtered in. "I hope I'm not interrupting."
"Not at all. What's up?"
"I was hoping to get Kim's number. I'd like to invite her to dinner. Just the two of us."
I glanced at Kim. "She's actually right here. Want to talk to her?"
"Even better. Put her on."
I handed the phone to Kim. "My grandmother."
Kim's eyes widened slightly. She took the phone, pressing it to her ear. "Hello, Mrs. Dubois."
I couldn't hear my grandmother's side of the conversation, only Kim's responses. "Yes, ma'am." A pause. "That's very kind of you." Another pause.
Kim covered the phone with her hand and mouthed,She wants to have a private dinner with me.
I nodded. Why not? This was the point, after all. Convince my grandmother. Win her approval.