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“I was making it more complicated,” David said, laughing. “In my head she’s making a point about how time works and beginning and ending and points converging on a spectrum. Also, there’s a teaching that says you should always eat the best part of the meal first because the messiah could show up at any time. But mainly I think it’s the sugar she’s after.”
“You’re just darling, you know that?” Shoshana said, meaning it. Then her cheeks flushed with embarrassment and she was glad he couldn’t see her face.
“Darling? I certainly like to think so,” David said, sounding just a little bit mystified, “What’s for dinner at your house?”
“Chili lime shrimp and pasta,” she said, refusing to apologize for it. “I don’t keep kosher.”
“I don’t expect you to,” he answered. Shoshana wondered if he was refusing to rise to the bait or if he really was that laid back. “Our chicken nuggets are going to be ready in about ten minutes so I’m going to let you go--”
“Oh, sure, sorry,” she said, then smacked herself in the forehead with the heel of her hand. Why was she apologizing? She rolled her eyes and stabbed at the shrimp in the pan. They were turning pink like they were supposed to.
“Well I didn’t mean right this second,” he said, and she could definitely hear the smile in his voice. Shoshana rolled her eyes. This was getting ridiculous.
She liked him, he liked her enough to ask her out multiple times. She should take the man up on his offer and just go out with him already.
On a date.
A real date.
“That’s fine too, if you want to stick around. So this date… what would that entail exactly?” she found herself saying, because she knew she had to say something.
“Oh, so you’re considering that now?” He was definitely laughing at her, damn the man. “I was thinking I would have to convince you. Also, which one? Because I suggested several.”
“Well, now it doesn’t matter because I want to know how you were going to convince me. Does it involve pie charts?” she asked, grateful again he couldn’t see her face. She added some more chili powder to the lime sauce.
“I could whip up a pretty decent PowerPoint if I absolutely had to,” David said, “Though I’m thinking that might be more than you’re interested in.”
“The man knows his way around Microsoft Office Suite. Impressive,” Shoshana quipped, removing the shrimp from the pan and grabbing a colander for the noodles.
“Shoshana,” her name sounded like a sigh in his mouth and she nearly dropped the colander, “let me take you out tomorrow night.”
Her heart was starting to pound. She cast around for a reason it wouldn’t work. None sprang to mind, and she bit her lip, stymied. Then she remembered the night before he’d suggested Monday. Monday was better. Monday was more than a day away. “That’s… soon. Why tomorrow? What happened to Monday?”
“I’m getting the feeling if we try for later in the week you’ll come up with a reason to cancel.”
Well that was the damn truth. She laughed in spite of herself.
“That laugh is dangerous,” he said, his voice low, husky. Her breath caught in her throat.
“David,” she started, then remembered she was supposed to be draining noodles and moved to do that, “You can’t just--”
“I’m not going to beg,” he said, and she liked the honesty in it. “You intrigue me, Shoshana. Let me take you out so we can get to know each other. If you’re going to keep coming up with reasons to dodge, I’m going to stop asking.”
“Okay,” she said, ashamed of how weak that sounded. Then she realized it also sounded like maybe she was agreeing that she was going to keep dodging the offers.
She didn’t want that.
She...wanted to go out with him. Maybe.
She shook herself, cleared her throat. Forced herself to commit before she lost her nerve entirely.
“Tomorrow night, then.”
“Good, tomorrow,” he said, and she hoped that wasn’t surprise she was hearing. Or, if it was, it was pleasant surprise and not regret. “Enjoy your dinner.”
* * *
“Fuck, Leah, you can’t do this to me right now,” Shoshana wailed, slapping her friend’s hands away from her face.
