“Wha-who else have you set me up with?” I look up at him skeptically feeling a jagged shard of deceit wedge itself under my ribs. With each inhale it pokes at my lungs reminding me that I’m not being totally honest with Dominic. He assumes I’m just looking for a partner, a boyfriend, not finding test subjects for an experiment. A pang of worry hits me at the idea of him finding out and judging me for this, but I shake it off. He might just understand. Everything with him feels…familiar. It’s not so clinical in how he’s gotten to know me and I find myself drawn towards him. But I can’t do that. He’s the matchmaker, not the match. His comment on my legs rings in my ears and I fear I’ve crossed a line. I try not to let it show but a flash of cold sweat beads at my brow sending a shiver from my hairline to my chest where it settles, cold and disquieted. The feeling gives me so much unease I have to remind myself that this is all for the bigger picture: Medical school. Get in, learn everything, save lives. It’ll all be worth it, even if I have to be deceitful to get there.
I only then realize Dominic has pulled out his phone and is holding it out for me to read a text conversation.
GLM
Hey Dominic, thank you for letting me know about Celeste. I’ll give her a shot, please pass on my number - George Lincoln McKinley
“Did he really sign his full name in a text?” I ask, a little worried for a secondary catastrophe, unwanted variables spinning tangents in my brain.
“I think his family is in politics or something. Based on your list he has many goals—mostly political—but seems smart and has loyalty to his family, as far as I could tell.” He shrugs impassively. I mimic him with my own shrug though feelinganything but passive, then forward the contact information to myself from his phone. A new swirl of anxiety burns in my gut with every step we take. I try to banish away thoughts of my application deadline, the experiment that seems to be running away from me, and the lies that are becoming more tangled by the minute.
I hold up his phone with calculated cheeriness, “Okay, you need a better picture of me than this owl that I put. Here,” I swipe open the camera and hold it up high to fit both our faces in the frame. I wink one eye and stick out my tongue and accidentally take at least a dozen pictures. I swipe through the photos and assign one to my contact. In the photo, Dominic sports his typical one sided smile with his head tilted in, his chin almost resting on top of my head. Something warm washes over me and I feel a renewed sense of calm take hold. I peer up. In real life, Dominic stands patiently with his hands in his jean pockets as I hold his phone.
“Aren’t you nervous?” I ask, playfully wiggling his phone in my hand.
“That you’ll drop it because you’re accident prone? Yes.”
“Very funny.” I roll my eyes. “No, I mean me holding your phone. Aren’t you worried I could see a nude or something?” I ask, handing his phone back to him. As soon as I say it, my stomach somersaults inside itself. The thought of Dominic having naked pictures of anyone suddenly makes me feel uncomfortable. My relief is delivered swiftly in a bark of a laugh as Dominic throws his head back. The joy is so boyish, so uncharacteristically earnest that I pause, committing that smile that reached his eyes to memory.
“No, Hoot. There are no nudes on my phone.” I can tell he’s shaking his head in amusement but I can’t meet his eye. We turn a corner and the little ice cream shoppe’s interior lighting makesthe small space glow in the surrounding dim light just ahead of us. A beacon for cool treats.
“Well maybe we should change that,” I say offhand, before realizing how it sounds. I look over quickly to see Dominic’s eyes widen and his lips part slightly.
“No…I meant…other…you’ve setmeup on dates, so you—” I physically cover my mouth with my hands, close my eyes and shake my head.
Wonderful. He thinks I’m nuts AND that I want to send him nudes.
When I open my eyes again, hoping I’ve woken up from this embarrassing nightmare, I find Dominic suppressing a laugh, his lips pinched together in jest, but his eyes won’t meet mine and his cheeks have the slightest tinge of pink to them.
“So this is the ice cream?—”
“Yup—”
We both awkwardly talk over each other, and even more awkwardly both walk through the door at the same time. This results in my head getting squished into his hard chest. I get a hint of fresh peppermint emanating from him.
Like a piece of gum I just want between my teeth?—
“Dominico!” a friendly voice booms. A plump woman clad in a checkered apron has popped out from the back, hands in the air and excitement written all over her round features at our sudden presence.
Before she can make it to us at the front of the shoppe I turn my head to Dominic, “Dominico?”I ask under my breath quietly, a mischievous smile playing on my lips.
“Still better than Peggy,” he mutters under his breath before leaving my side to hug the plump woman behind the counter. I watch as he wraps his long arms around her short torso in an enormous bear hug before pulling back and asking her how her family is doing. He has the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on hisface and it’s impossible not to smile right along with it. I feel a sense of privilege at witnessing two unfettered moments of happiness from Dominic tonight.
The woman gestures in my direction and he nods and introduces me. I move quickly to extend my hand out in greeting but she envelops me in a hug that is so motherly and warm my eyes prickle with emotion.
“Hi! I’m Celeste, Dominic’s friend,” I manage, blinking the moisture away.
“Ah! What a beautiful name! I’m Mama Maria, or as Dominico used to say, Mama Mia!” She laughs and looks toward Dominic fondly.
“Used to? How recently are we talking, last week?” I tease, poking Dominic in the ribs lightly.
Maria waves me off, “Oh no, I think he was eight…no nine!” She looks to him again adoringly, motherly.
“You’ve known him that long?” I ask, trying to picture a surly nine year old Dominic.
“Known him? I practically raised him!” She waits a beat while my mind starts turning.
Oh shi—am I meeting his mother right now?
