‘We Didn’t Order For You,’ Dad Said, Sliding Me Bread While My Brother Enjoyed His Steak. His Wife Said, “It’s Nice You Could Make It.” When The Bill Came, Dad Said: “Let’s Split It Fairly.”

I inhaled, exhaled. The menu’s prices looked like phone numbers. Ribeye 48 oz.

A steak with its own gravitational pole. Surf and turf like an Instagram mood board. My eyes landed on the salmon because it was the least offensive to my wallet at $70.

Before I could decide whether my dignity or my rent would suffer, Connor cleared his throat. Actually, he said, a heads up. We’re celebrating my promotion.

sevenf figureure territory. So, we’re ordering for ourselves tonight. Dad added, “We didn’t order for you.” Didn’t want to presume.

The words slid across the table like a receipt. Victoria’s smile turned sympathetic. We thought you’d appreciate the flexibility, she said.

“You can do what’s comfortable.”

It sounded kind. It wasn’t. Do what’s comfortable.

The sentence lodged like a fishbone. The waiter hovered. With a pen that had seen battles, Connor ordered the ribeye with truffle butter and sides upon sides.

Victoria chose filt and lobster, extra lobster, with a kind of velvet entitlement. Dad went New York strip, loaded potato, creamed spinach, the classics of a man who wants to prove he belongs here. When the room looked to me, I closed the menu.

“I’ll have the bread basket,” I said. The waiter blinked. “The bread basket is complimentary, ma’am.”

“Perfect,” I replied.

“That’s what I’ll have.”

Victoria tilted her head like I’d spoken a dialect. “You can’t just eat bread,” she whispered. “I’m not that hungry,” I said.

And because honesty itched, “I’m here for the company.”

Connor coughed a laugh. “If that’s what you want.”

While their plates were being composed in the kitchen like symphonies, Victoria texted, thumb twitching, the screen lighting her cheekbones like a stage. Dad offered anecdotes that were actually Connor advertisements.

I watched a server parade a steak the size of a newborn past us and imagined the check arriving like a dare. Our table filled. Connors ribeye glistened.

Victoria’s surf and turf gleemed as if it knew cameras. Dad’s strip sat like a thesis statement. The bread basket arrived.

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