“Did you make me pay for something that I won’t-” Mitch sighed and opted to change the subject instead of dwelling on an annoyance. “OK. Anyway, like I was saying, all I can think about recently is ‘Rearviewmirror’, and I don’t wanna be requesting moody shit like that while I internally freak out about my ex. Does that make any sense?”

“Would you prefer to freak out externally? I won’t judge.” Avi’s hands lifted, as if to demonstrate that he was unarmed.

“Fuck no!” Mitch sputtered loudly, then shrunk again. “No, it’s fine, honest.” He ran a hand down his face. “Just play whatever? Uh, 80s pop? You ever see ‘Pretty Woman’? ‘Cause I watched it with Jodie last night, and I never noticed how hard the soundtrack goes.”

“I haven’t, but I’m totally down with 80s music.” Their order was collected by Avi, and he held the door open for Mitch as well. When they got back into the car, Avi requested Calvin’s address, and Mitch recited for hopefully the last time in his life. The auxiliary cable was inserted into its port while Avi typed for a few seconds, and Natalie Cole’s vocals accompanied by trumpets played through the speakers. After taking a bite of his breakfast burrito, he asked, “Hey, so can I be real for a moment?”

“If you want?” The engine was started as Mitch replied, and they were mobile before he could even process what he’d agreed to. A fleeting moment of panic struck him like a bolt of lightening when the idea of Avi getting a little too real had manifested, and he wouldn’t be able to escape the moving vehicle now that it was merging onto the highway.

“I totally thought that you and Jodie were together when we first met,” was how Avi followed up with his question after what must have been the world’s longest pause, and his tone was apologetic.

“You’re not the first person to say that.” Mitch’s nose wrinkled. “It’s fine. We’re super close, but we’re both pretty goddamn gay.”

“Yeah, I picked up on that. The former thing, that is. Oh wow, I’m gonna shut up now.” Avi took a sip of his drink while Mitch uproariously cackled.

“Like I said, it’s fine!” He wiped a few stray tears away and clutched his ribcage as it started to burn from the contracting muscles. “Fuck, you’re not gonna hate crime me, are you?”

“No! Oh my god!” A little bit of Avi’s drink sprayed on the steering wheel due to quickly releasing the straw. “Why would you even say that?” He asked while trying to wipe away the stray iced latte drops with his hand. For a moment, Mitch felt a pang of guilt, until Avi followed up with, “I’m a brown person, dude! I’m not hatecriming anyone! The police would take your word over mine like, so SO fast!”

“Holy shit!” Mitch struggled to catch his breath, and Avi joined in with the laughter.

“I can’t do this right now, I’m driving!” Avi shouted between gulping for air.

“I was so worried for a moment!” Sliding further down in his seat, Mitch nursed his side. “Not about the hate crime thing, but…” The sentence was left hanging, since it would be impossible to finish without getting into some kindred spirit type of garbage that Mitch wasn’t interested in. The other option would be to refer to Avi as sardonic or something in that vein, which could be misinterpreted as an insult when it wasn’t meant to be. Best to keep his mouth shut, he decided.

“How do you think I’ve survived being friends with Victor for all of these years?” Rubbing one of his eyes, Avi let out a deep exhale then readjusted his glasses.

“That’s totally fair. I just…” Mitch decompressed as he mulled the next words over, but came up blank. “Dunno what I thought, honest.”

“It’s cool,” Avi glanced over at him from the corner of his eye. “Whatever you thought.” For some reason, that didn’t make Mitch feel any better. A minute or two passed in silence, neither companionable nor awkward, just the tail end of ‘Fame’ by David Bowie fading out and the slight rumbling and rattling that were standard characteristics of an older vehicle.