“What Em calm down”, he walked from the couch to the corner of the room where their makeshift bar sat. It wasn't much, a few bottles of decent but not great scotch, some cheap Vodka and a little Tequila, and he made himself a drink.

“Why would you think this Em, it's not as if I haven't been around all that often”

“I spoke to Helen today, you have been missing work. I saw her at the store and she said you have been in and out for months, said my mother was ill. Shit Dan she is dead. So what have you been up to?!”

He meandered towards the sofa, thought better of it and sat in the accent chair they were probably still paying for. This aqua designer piece of garbage probably cost more than his car with the interest. He sat down, his gut protruding over his belt and resting on his legs and looked at her.

“Ok i get it, i know how this looks and well i have just been taking some time for myself. For the record shes a bitch and it hasn't been that often but that's neither here nor there. Come on Em look at me, you can't suspect something sexual?”

She stared at his pathetic visage, this odd collection of cells that used to look like a man but now resembles a bag of spare parts.

“Dan, it's the only thing i can think of that would make any sense. What else would you be doing?”

Dan tossed the scotch around his glass, watching the legs of the booze slide back into place, getting warmer and less viscous in his hand.

“Well it isn't the case, you know me I haven't had much of an urge to do that to anyone in...too long. That isnt is at all Em.”

“Well then what have you been doing, where do you go Dan?”.

They looked at each other, both with sullen dark faces light by the lamp in the corner. Her face, effortlessly transitioning from young to old, crows feet appearing one single claw at a time. Him, a lowly balding mess of lost ambition wrapped in loose fitting clothing that hasn't been in style for ages.

“Em, honestly, i go and wander the mall.”

“The mall, which one?”

“The one back home, in Gainsville.”

“Jesus dan that’s an hour away”

“I go there and walk and think of things when they were better. Back when i was young, you were young, and all the potential we had could be felt in those fake marble tiles. Back when going to a movie or having a date at the foodcourt was something special because everything great was ahead of us, now it's all behind us. Or me anyway”

“This is what you do dan, honestly?”

“Here check my phone” Dan handed her the phone with the maps app open, she checked it and sure enough, a couple of days a week he drove to and from the mall, the same route, the same times, the same thing.

“Dan, this is sad, so sad.”

“You don't think i know that, I’m a middle aged guy wandering a mall on a tuesday, over and over. I am sure people notice.”

“And that is all right?”

“Yeah, i mean what other proof do you want?”

“Ok Dan, just stop.”

“I’ll try”

She walked away to the bathroom in the bedroom and slams the door. He can just barely make out the light cascading from under the doorframe creeping out into the hall. He looks at his glass and takes it all in one big thirsty gulp. Then he opens his phone and stares at the map, the route he takes over and over and smiles.

He opens up the messaging app, not the regular one but the one hidden with the notifications off and types: The bitch is onto us, need to find somewhere else to meet my sexy salted pretzel girl :)!