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Sitting in Susan Dean’s living room, we learn her life story. She grew up an orphan and was raised by the state, but she did well in school and got a scholarship to college and then she became a doctor. She married a fellow doctor, and they have three kids. Her oldest is a teenager who keeps giving us odd looks from where he lies on the couch in the adjacent den playing video games.

By the time we leave I’ve decided the first Susan was a success. She may have not been the Susan, but she gave me hope for the rest of our visits. She had been so understanding, and I hoped that when we finally find the Susan that she might be too.

Chapter 7

We stop at a small diner for lunch. I’m picking at my fries, thinking about how Will thinks I’m more typical than a suburban housewife, while listening to him and my dad chat about cars. And he thinks I’m typical. I roll my eyes and let out a sigh. My dad excuses himself to take a phone call and then it is just me and Will again. Considering I bring out the asshole in him, I’m hoping he will just stay quiet, but of course he doesn’t.

“Are you in school, Hannah?” He asks, and even though I planned to ignore him, I look across the table at him, surprised that he used my name and tried to make conversation.

“Uh yeah, I go to Alabama.” I take a sip of my milkshake and hope I don’t look happy that he is paying me any attention.

“Let me guess. Your mom went there too, and you went so you could pledge the same sorority.” He guesses and when he sees the truth of his words on my face, he smirks. “What’s your major?” He asks, the stupid smirk still on his face.

“Why don’t you tell me since I’m so typical?” I goad, not feeling like telling exactly what he is probably already thinking.

“Hmmm, you seem like the nursing type. Am I right?” He asks, and I hate to admit that he is right. Mom had been a nurse, and I wanted to be just like her, but what he didn’t know was that I hated I wasn’t good at it like her.

“You had your chance to ask questions, but you already had all the answers. Now it’s my turn. Where did you go to college?” I ask, successfully diverting the conversation away from me and getting more information on him.

“Columbia.” My interest is immediately sparked. Columbia is one of the places I applied and had been accepted, but I don’t want to let him know that. He’d just think it was typical that a small-town girl like me would want to see the city.

“Major?” I question. I was switching to an accounting degree. I like numbers and money.

“Economics and then I got a law degree.” Will says, but he doesn’t sound very passionate about either.

“And now you’re a writer?” I ask, a little amazed and a lot confused. Why go to all that school just to write? If I did that, Dad would tell me it was a waste of money.

“Yup.” He says simply, not providing any details.

“Okay. So, tell me about your first romantic relationship.” I say, stealing one of the many questions he had asked my dad.

“Shelby Thomas, hottest girl in school. We started dating after months of me bombarding her with notes in our biology class. We dated for two weeks until I found out she was pretty boring when I had her.” Will explains, and I’m surprised that as a teenager he cared about anything other than her hotness. Most boys at my schools hadn’t seemed able to see past girls’ boobs to even judge their personalities. I’m certain that my own personality had little to do with why Wesley had initially asked me out. Heck, his personality had little to do with why I initially went out with him.

“What about your last relationship?” I ask, and Will clenches his jaw for a second before answering.

“Samantha Harrington. We met in law school. I thought she was the most intriguing woman I had ever met until I caught her cheating on me with a musician. Then I realized she was typical.” Will says, and I can tell that he is still bitter about the end of their relationship.

“Like me. Maybe we would get along.” I comment, not really liking that he thought I could be described by the same adjective as his cheating ex.

“Doubtful. She is a city girl, about as different from you as possible.” Will looks at me then and I get the feeling that my typical might not be as bad as her type of typical. I would hope not.

“Sounds like that is probably a good thing.” I mutter. Guess we have cheating exes in common.

“Probably.” Will looks out the window and I get the sense that he wants this conversation to be over.

“Tell me about your parents.” I say, wondering what a family in New York City is like. Do they still have family dinners and go buy Christmas trees together?

“They are city people, too. My dad is a surgeon, and my mom is a partner at a law firm. They spent more time with me growing up than you would think was possible with their jobs. We go on a family vacation twice a year. We are pretty typical for Manhattan.” He says and by the way he smiles, I know his love for his family is deeper than the words he said.

“Any siblings?” I ask, curious to know more about his family.

“An older sister and a younger brother.” He answers and just by the way he says it, I know he is close with them.

“Don’t know how they survived growing up with you.” I say, though I’m secretly jealous that he has siblings. Up until I was ten, I had wished for a younger sibling. After that, I knew it was too late.

“Oh please, you know I’m not that bad.” Will says with a smile meant to charm my pants off. His tone is playful, and based on the look in his eyes, he thinks I will give in. Yeah, not happening.

“I really don’t. You’ve basically stereotyped me since the moment we’ve met and have spent zero effort getting to know me.” I say and though my tone isn’t angry, he flinches and gives me a curious look. Guess he thought because he looks like a fantasy that I would just look past his personality. Well, too bad for him I had retired from that stage of romance with Wesley.

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