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I remember how painful it was, at first.
Suddenly having a soul-mate-best-friend and then losing him was awful. I felt more alone afterwards than ever before in my life.
Of course I’d been lonely before, plenty of times. I had a few friends in high school but never a person who made me feel as alive and happy and understood as Nick did. When we stoppedhanging out, I went through an honest-to-goodness period of mourning.
I don’t want to do that again.
“Disclaimer,” he says, after slurping down noodles. “Though I am a doctor, my views on sodium and starch may not represent the views of my profession as a whole. And it never hurts to get a blood test now and then to check your sodium markers.”
“Relax, Doctor Landry. I’m not going to come at you with legal papers for telling me to eat ramen every night of the week.”
“Did I say every night of the week? No way. This is a treat. I’m not the one who bought an entire bag full of the stuff.”
“So what are we having tomorrow? Spinach salad?”
“Good call.” He slurps in more soup. “With grilled chicken on top. And for dessert… applesauce.”
I’d razz him about the dessert option, except my mind’s now on to other matters. I have to bring up Hana. I promised her.
“So… er… speaking of medical malpractice lawsuits… I met with a lawyer today.”
“Oh yeah? Hana Chen?”
“How’d you know?”
“She’s the only lawyer in town.”
“Ah, that’s right. I keep forgetting I’m not in the city anymore. Roxie mentioned that. She’s actually really good. I think she’ll be able to help me with the copyright thing.”
How much am I going to tell him?
I feel anxious as I skip over the particulars of my bargain with her. “Uh… you came up, actually.”
“Me?”
I nudge a lump of pale noodles. “Yeah…”
I’m not going to tell him that I’m playing matchmaker.
That would only make him skeptical. If I’m going to do my best at this thing, I have to do my best to be subtle about it.
That’s pretty much matchmaking 101.
I’m not an amateur here, and that’s why Hana agreed to this deal in the first place. I owe it to her to give this an honest-to-goodness shot.
“Yeah, you,” I tell him. “I mentioned that you got me this gig as a house-sitter and dog-sitter. She thought that was pretty cool. She seemed to light up when I talked about you.”
“Really?” He stops slurping soup, leans back, and eyes me warily as he pats his lip.
“She’s an interesting person,” I add. “Great career, super smart. She likes… um… taking walks in nature.”
At least, she said that thing about how she’d seen Bart and Sue in the park, so I know she’s been in the park at least. “Oh, and, hey, I saw her car parked out front of her office. VUSC sticker, Columbia Law sticker, and a kayak on top. So, she kayaks…”
“So?” He scrunches his brow together.
“So, you like walking in nature, too. And you have a kayak. I saw it out by your porch.”
“Maddison… what are you getting at?”
