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“Yeah, thanks man. I was lost in thought there for a minute.”
“You thinking about her?” he asks, sounding more cooperative than before.
“Yeah. I was thinkin about…her.” Jose doesn’t need to know anything more than that.
The memory of Mamma’s long, honey-colored hair drains out of my mind and fuses into an image of what Fiona might look like. I know it’s a wing and a prayer, but I keep gettin omens out on the farm. Every time I think of Fiona, somethin tells me I’m on the right track. I just can’t wait to meet that woman.
“Aren’t you nervous at all man? To meet someone blind like this, like a blind date?”
I take some time to think about that. “You know Jose, I oughtta be nervous. You’d be dead right about that. But for some reason, I’m just not. Maybe it’s cause it’s not a blind date. I mean hell, she probably hasn’t got the faintest idea I’m even gonna be there.”
“Wait man…you mean…you didn’t tell your lady?”
“Naw bro. She’s only a client anyway. What the hell would she even care?”
“Hey, that’s my point in the first place man. If she’s only a client, why would she want to meet you?”
“Just trust me on this one bro. I have a feelin, alright?” I fist-bump Jose and rise to excuse myself for the night.
“Hey Bo,” Jose calls out as I turn to go, “not to sound weird or anything man, but you know what? You’re a good looking guy Bo. I’m pretty sure any woman would be happy to meet you man. I believe in you man.”
I tip my hat to Jose and saunter out to my truck.
Chapter 7
Fiona
From the almost entirely glass-paned dining room, I watch as Holly parks and strides up to the Noodle House in a short, ruffly, bright fuschia dress that is way too beautiful for our selected venue. We hug and coo over each other as we file through the line toward the lunch counter, then order our selections and find a corner table for two.
Holly gets quiet as she props her elbows on the table, rests her chin on her hands, and looks at me with the expectant eyes of a puppy. I smile to myself, knowing she’s waiting to hear more about my mystery flower dealer, but I have nothing to say on the subject.
Finally conceding, I break the silence with a vaguely related topic. “Well, I got a commitment from Maxine to attend AFA with me. She’s gonna compete.”
“Great, I’m excited for you. Do you really think she can place in it?”
“Tell you the truth Holly, I don’t see why not. She exhibits a level of creativity I’ve rarely seen anywhere, and you know I’ve been in this business for fifteen years.”
“Yeah, wow…that’s great you found her,” Holly responds as the owner brings out our giant bowls of udon noodle soup and fried rice. “Done any more business with the flower guy lately?” she asks between blows onto a spoonful of blazing hot soup.
“Nope. Probably won’t between now and the conference.”
Holly looks at me with disappointment. “Couldn’t you come up with some excuse? Just order an extra batch of something—”
“Why would I do that Holly? Why?”
“I don’t know…to get to know him more before the conference?”
“Holly, he’s just an invisible vendor I have a convoluted long distance crush on. There’s nothing to know. I’ll go up to his booth and introduce myself at the conference. If he looks like a warthog, I’ll awkwardly flirt with him for a minute anyway because that’s what we do on the phone, then walk away and go about my business.”
“And…what if he doesn’t look like a warthog?” she asks, giggling over my cynical nature.
“Then I’ll flirt with him a whole extra minute before walking away and going about my business. Satisfied?”
“Woo! Sounds like some big exciting plans,” Holly replies with friendly sarcasm.
“Yep, that’s me,” I say as I focus on the fine art of eating rice with chopsticks.
We fervently slurp away at our noodles and rice for some time before Holly begins her probes again. “Quade behaving himself normally by now?”
