"So, what do you like about her? Beyond the blonde hair and long legs."
This was the next day, back on the blue line headed east in the tunnel under Nice. Frank had his back against the tram window, his arms relaxing on the seat backs on either side of him. Cal sat opposite and ignored Frank's probing for information. He tapped a good-morning text to MJ on his phone.
Headed into the city for some more sightseeing. Frank is already bored of the beach! Tell Ryder I love him.
Their destination was Le Port de Nice, or simply the Port, the same marina they had spied from the tram window on Cal's very first day in Nice.
Frank hated boats. Which made his desire to visit the Port highly suspicious.
"Enough about Eeva," Cal said, "Let's talk about your ex."
"Lilith?"
Frank's eyes were wide in surprise.
"She texted me this morning."
Frank looked genuinely at a loss for words. Cal waited patiently as his friend tried and failed to say something clever.
"What did she want?" he finally asked.
"She wanted to check on me; to see how the big move went. She said you've been feeding her updates."
"Updates? I told her the plan, that's all. I wasn't going to move to France without telling her, right?"
Cal rolled his eyes. "Sure, bud."
Frank ignored his sarcasm.
"Did she ask about me?" he asked instead.
"You've asked me that about Eeva, too."
"I guess I just want to be seen," Frank smiled.
Cal laughed, "What I see is a house of mirrors, Frank. I can't ever tell what you're thinking. After all these years, even."
Frank groaned and leaned against the tram window and the lights of the underground tunnel zipped behind him in a steady pattern. "That's bullshit. Come on, man. You know me better than anyone, Lilith aside. Go ahead and tell me what you think I'm thinking about Lilith. I bet you're not far off."
"I think you're still in love with your ex-wife."
Frank winced before recovering with a sheepish smile.
"Goddamn, Cal. You don't pull any punches, do you?"
They rode in silence for a moment, save for the hum of the tram and the rhythmic chuck-chuck, chuck-chuck of metal wheels bouncing over the tiny gaps between sections of track. For all of Frank's bravado and excitement for life, his mood could turn sullen when the wine was gone and dawn came creeping through the shades. Cal had scored a point by bringing up Frank's ex, but the haunted look on Frank's face left Cal feeling like it was a hollow victory.
"Fine . . ." Cal said eventually, "Let's talk about Eeva. She was an athlete and can shoot a rifle."
Frank perked up at that, and Cal recounted what Eeva had shared about her biathlon career and how skied cross-country with a rifle over her shoulder in competitions all across Europe.
"So, she's tall, blonde, and deadly with a rifle?" Frank asked before whistling in admiration.
"More than just for sport. She joined the Estonian Defense Force after college," Cal said and then added with a grin, "She was a soldier like you."
Frank grunted in approval.
"Was this before or after the Soviets left Estonia?" he asked.
"Huh?"
Frank tried to clarify. "Was she a Soviet soldier or an Estonian?"
"Fuck if I know, Frank! Jesus, does it matter?"
"It might," Frank said.
Leave it to Frank to find some weird detail to fixate on. Cal shook his head in disbelief.
"The point is, Frank, she reminds me a lot of you."
"I have drop-dead legs?" Frank asked through a smile.
Cal ignored him and said, "She seems smart and independent. She joined the armed forces and then worked a government job, just like you. She called it something boring like data analysis, but now she's retired and soaking up the sunshine in Nice—just like us."
"But is she better looking than me?" Frank teased.
"Abso-fucking-lutely!"
The tram finally shot out of the underground tunnel into the sunshine and came to a halt at Le Port de Nice, just as it had on Cal's first day, and this time, Cal and Frank left the tram and walked down to the marina. The scent of seawater washed over Cal, bringing memories of family trips with Molly and MJ to the coast. Cal had practically grown up on the lakes and rivers of Central Florida, but either coast was just far enough away to turn it into an all-day activity. Molly preferred the warm water of the Gulf beaches whereas Cal liked Cocoa Beach on the Atlantic for its larger waves and the daydream of walking into the Ron Jon Surf Shop and walking out with a surfboard under his arm. Cal wasn't a surfer, but he could have been.
"So, when are you asking her out?" Frank asked as they walked from the tram station down to the pier.
"Eeva? I guess I could. It's just . . . this is a lot." Cal waved his arms in a wide circle indicating everything. "And I'm here to spend time with you, Frank. I'm not about to run off with the first woman I meet."
"I can share," Frank joked as he punched Cal lightly in the arm. "I did with Moll'."
"Well, you don't have to share," Cal said before adding flatly, "And Eeva's not Molly."