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She held on to his hand as she backed up to her desk and perched against it.
“Remember when I mentioned Chicago?” she asked. He nodded. “I’m coming to the end of my residency. I have offers from hospitals around the country, including a fellowship in one of the most competitive pediatric cardiothoracic surgery programs in the world—that’s the one in Chicago. But if we can make this MSE room happen here at County, I just can’t see myself abandoning it. I want to see it through.”
She cradled his face in her palms. “Thanks for going out of your way to make this meeting happen and for making my decision so much easier than I anticipated.”
“I made a phone call, London. I didn’t—”
“That’s more than I can normally count on. Don’t you understand, Drew? I could never rely on the few men in my life that Ishouldhave been able to count on to have my back.” She squeezed his hands and brought them to her lips. The firm kiss she pressed against the backs of his fingers conveyed even more than her words had. “Thank you,” she said again. “Thank you for staying true to your word.”
32
The aroma of fried cheese, spicy tomato, blistered peppers, and whatever else Samiah had ordered from their favorite Spanish restaurant’s tapas menu permeated her friend’s condo. Thank goodness it did, because London had just burned the zucchini that was supposed to be used in place of lasagna noodles in the dish Taylor was teaching her to make.
“What did you do?” Taylor snatched the spatula from London and scraped the charred vegetables from the pan. “You’re the only person I know who can burn food so badly that it sticks to the bottom of a nonstick skillet.”
“And this is why I ordered tapas,” Samiah said. “I still get nightmares from the grilled cheese you made me months ago.”
“Ha ha,” London deadpanned. “I know the Mediterranean diet is the best for me, but I’m not sure this will work if I have to make the dishes, Taylor. Cooking is the one thing I do not excel at, which is why I don’t do it.”
“You’ll learn!” Taylor said. “The recipes are super simple. You just need some practice.”
“Well, can she please practice in her own kitchen? I happen to like mine and don’t want it going up in flames,” Samiah said. She turned to London. “And remember, it’s not just your diet you need to worry about. You still need to do more to reduce stress.”
London pointed to the top of her head. “Doctor here. I know all of this.”
Samiah pointed to her own head. “Doctor’s friend here. I know you know this, but I don’t see you practicing it. Have you been journaling?”
“The journal is in my purse.”
“Anything written in it?”
“I plead the Fifth.” London held up both hands. “I promise to journal and try at least one recipe a week from that book,” she said, gesturing to the cookbook Taylor had brought with her tonight. She picked up the lid for the jar of sun-dried tomatoes that had been spared from joining her ruined veggie lasagna. “Can we please just eat? I’ll stick to the shrimp and the peppers tonight. Both are pretty healthy.”
“Fine,” Taylor said, “But I want reports on your meals. And if I have to cook for you, I can do that. I just want you to be healthy.”
London’s heart jumped to her throat. She set the jar on the counter, walked over to Taylor, and pulled her into a hug. “That is one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. Thank you.”
“Aww, I love us,” Samiah said. She wrapped her arms around both of them.
After a few seconds, London shook Samiah off. “Okay, let go. You know I hate this mushy stuff.”
“I could have used another minute or two, but whatever,” Taylor said. “Let’s eat.”
London wiped away the evidence of her ruined dish from the counter, and the three of them went into the living room. They sat around Samiah’s coffee table, where the dozen or so tapas were spread out.
“Okay, woman, what’s up with this emergency girls’ night?” Taylor asked. “Is Daniel putting a ring on it or what?”
Samiah’s head snapped back as she loaded a helping of garlic-butter shrimp onto her plate. “What? No,” she said.
“No?” London sat up straight. “Why else would you bring us here on a Tuesday night if not to announce your engagement?”
“Girl, Daniel just moved in like a second ago. We haven’t even agreed on what to do about his ridiculous CD collection—he has to put some of that shit in storage,” Samiah said in a lowered voice. “Besides, I would have just texted if that was the case.” She picked up her phone, swiped across the screen, and turned it so that it faced them both. “The Just Friends app is officially in the App Store.That’sthe reason we’re celebrating tonight.”
It wasn’t the news London had expected, but that was her own fault. Knowing Samiah, she totally should have predicted this would be related to her career.
“Congratulations,” London said. She clinked Samiah’s glass of sangria with her own. Her friends had agreed the sangria was okay because it contained fruit. “To hard work paying off.”
“Amen!” Samiah said. “This app kicked my ass, but it was so worth all the effort.”
