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“No, there’s plenty of women who would date my name. No one wants to date me,” Olin said truthfully. Even Cindy didn’t wanthim. She wanted the idea of him. She didn’t know he had certifiably the best dog in the world. She didn’t know he had a Batman room in his house.
“I think we should talk to the therapist about that,” Michael chuckled. He wasn’t wrong.
“Nah, I’m just thinking.” Olin knew he was gonna die alone. Yeah, it sounded morbid, and there was something a little unsettling about how comfortable he was with that fact. Still, he couldn’t stop thinking about Meegan Whelan’s smile. They hadn’t even met yet and it had been a feature in the slideshow shuffling through his mind all day.
He dropped the subject with Michael once they wrapped things up at the country club and headed back to their separate cars. They met up in Koreatown and spent a small fortune at ChoSun Galbee. When they finished, Michael headed off to meet his wife and Olin headed home. He took Pam for a short walk around the canals, his nerves leading him the whole way. After he got the dog settled with a fresh chew toy, he took a deep breath and finally messaged Meegan Whelan back.
* * *
Meegan took a few steps back and looked at the triceratops she’d just sketched on the white board. It looked back at her, announcing their next word of the day with a big grin on its dino face. She couldn’t wait for the kids to tell her all the things they could think of that were the color green. She grabbed a pink dry erase marker and added a few little lines and hearts around the triceratops head, completing her masterpiece.
The day had been an absolute disaster. Two tantrums, two potty accidents, and little Myleigh, her resident biter, was on a fucking roll. God, she hated that kid.
Getting her classroom ready for the next day was her way of hitting the reset button. There would be more disaster days, but tomorrow, one of those little babies would tell her that grass was green and then their little face would just light right up. Meegan lived for that shit, even from the biter.
She capped the marker and went back to her desk to finally unsilence her phone. She felt a hint of a smile touch her face when saw Olin’s text. It hadn’t been late when she’d texted him last night. For a split second, she’d thought about what her mom used to say back when they had a landline. “I don’t want your friends calling after 9 pm!” She’d texted Olin at 9:40. Well, he’d texted her now.
Hello Meegan.
Returning your text which is in fact a response to my request.
I did not mean for that to rhyme, but I hit send too fast.
She snorted, reading the next message.
I do need help. I need to create a diversion.
Xeni said you might be able to help.
Let’s talk.
Smiling at her phone as she typed back, she knew she definitely needed to get out more. This whole situation was already off to a ridiculous start. It had been a long time since she’d gotten a text from someone new. She had a feeling this wacky scheme with Olin would be a welcome distraction.
Mr. Breivik, hello.
What part of town do you live in?
She was ready to lock her phone so she could pack up, but those three little dots popped up on her screen. Meegan shouldn’t have been so giddy at the quick reply.
I’m in Venice. How about you?
Mar Vista.
If you’re free tonight, you wanna meet at the Yogurt Mart on Overland? We can talk about your plan.
I didn’t mean for that to rhyme either.
A loud tapping on her classroom door jolted her out of her giddiness. She went still like she’d been caught sneaking cookies when she saw Sarah standing in the doorway.
“Hey. Hi.” Meegan set her phone down on her desk.
“Hey, I want to get Shae a little something special to celebrate her before it gets to be all baby all the time. You wanna go in on that?”
“Oh, heck yeah. Now?”
“No, I’m gonna do some brainstorming. Some time in the next two weeks.”
“Okay, perfect.” Meegan gathered her stuff and followed Sarah out to the parking lot. They said their goodbyes and then when Meegan was back in her car she finally looked back at her phone. Olin had responded.
