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“Yeah, of course,” he said sliding beside me and again being awkward. “Hey, do you remember that pizza joint we used to go to?”
“Palermo’s?”
“That’s right, Palermo’s. We couldn’t get enough of it.”
“I remember. When you folded the slice, grease pooled on the cheese.”
“And it wasn’t just a little, either. You could fry a whole other pizza with it,” he said with a laugh.
“Yeah,” I said resisting his trip down memory lane. “So, is that why you suggested this, so we could talk about pizza?”
“No. No, that is definitely not why I asked you here.”
“What can I get for you two?” The big bellied cook asked us.
“A burger for me, Mike.”
“And for you?”
“Merri retrieved the menu from its holder in the center of the table and quickly scanned it.
“You know what? I’ll just have whatever he’s having.”
“Two burgers medium, coming up,” Mike said, not writing it down.
“You know him?” Merri asked me.
“It’s a small town. Everyone knows everyone.”
“What’s that like? Where I grew up there were just over 10,000 people. That’s not a lot compared to almost anywhere else, but you can go a lifetime without meeting everyone.”
“Yeah, it’s a little different here. My high school had 100 students and it was the only one for 40 miles.”
“So you met everyone your age on the first day of kindergarten?”
“Pretty much.”
“That’s wild. So, everyone knows your business?”
“It’s not much they don’t know.”
Merri paused.
“How does that work with dating?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do all of you, like, have to take turns dating the same people?”
Against my better judgement, I laughed.
“No, there is no dating requirement here.”
“But there can’t be a lot of options.”
“Yes, options are limited.”
“So, what do you do about that?”
