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“That’s funny,” Esther said. “I can tell you’re a writer. Did you know Jonathan’s a screenwriter?” she said, turning to Jinny.
“Really?” Jinny said, doing a good job of acting impressed. “That’s cool.”
“It smells really good in here,” Jonathan said. “Are you guys about to eat?”
Esther nodded. “We ordered from Mahalo. It arrived right before you did.”
“Their kettle corn is out of this world.”
“Yeah, it is. You want some?” Esther offered.
Jonathan shook his head, doing a passable job of looking tempted. “Nah, I don’t want to crash your dinner.”
“It’s fine, I always order way too much.” Esther went into the kitchen to get more utensils. “You should have some ribs to go with your corn.”
“Yeah, okay,” Jonathan said. “Thanks.”
“You want a beer?” Esther pulled open the fridge. “You can’t eat ribs without beer.”
“Sure.”
Jinny came into the kitchen. “What are you doing?” she whispered.
“Getting him a beer.”
“But you don’t even like him.”
“Yeah, but you do.” Esther shrugged. “Maybe you were right. Maybe I was too harsh on him before. He’s my neighbor—I should be more neighborly, right?” She thrust the beer and a fork and plate at Jinny. “Take these to him.”
Esther hung out in the kitchen, pretending to tidy up while Jinny went back out to Jonathan.
“Here you go,” she said, handing them to him. “Dig in.”
“Thanks,” he said. “So, uh, do you live near here?”
Nice, Esther thought, eavesdropping on them. That was a perfectly decent conversation starter. Maybe he was getting better at this stuff.
“Not too far,” Jinny said. “Over in Mar Vista.”
“Oh, yeah, it’s nice over there.”
“It’s all right. I like coming over here though. I mean, obviously, since I’m here all the time.”
“So, how do you two know each other?”
“Don’t talk about yourself too much,” Esther had warned him. “Ask her questions, try to get to know her. Make it clear she’s the one you like.”
While Jinny was telling Jonathan the story of how she and Esther had become friends, Esther rejoined them in the dining room. She sipped her beer and ate her food, only jumping into the conversation occasionally, letting the two of them do the majority of the talking.
Ten minutes later, she decided things were proceeding well enough that it was time to move on to the next stage of the plan. “Anyone want another beer?” she asked, going to the fridge.
“I’ll take one,” Jinny called out.
“Thanks, but I’m still working on mine,” Jonathan said.
While she was in the kitchen, Esther set a four-minute timer on her phone. Then she grabbed two beers and took them into the dining room.
When her timer went off, she pretended to be surprised. “Oops, that’s my laundry! Gotta run downstairs and put my clothes in the dryer. Be right back.”
