Page 76 of Reel Love

“After bolognese and drinks?”

I’m nearly dizzy. My chest feels simultaneously hollow and full. I stare into her glistening gray-blue eyes. “That’s what I told her before she bailed on the game we were playing.”

“I didn’t bail. I had to sleep. I had back to back days of talk show interviews.”

“You?” I say, still needing someone to put a defibrillator to my chest. An oxygen mask would be helpful too.My online crush is Alana Graves?

I all but collapse into the booth across from her.

“Wordivore?” she asks, her previous pulled together facade slipping just the slightest.

“SaturdayIslandGirl.” It’s not a question, but I’m still in shock.

TWENTY-ONE

Alana

What if someone you never met,

someone you never saw,

someone you never knew

was the only someone for you?

~ Sleepless in Seattle

I’m in shock.

“You’reWordivore?”

He laughs this low, mellow laugh and it fills me like helium.

“Statistical probability? … One in infinity,” he says with a look of awe that I’m sure mirrors my own.

“On call?” I ask.

His face forms a mask of confusion for a moment. Then his eyes light up with the memory of our online conversation.

“My remote work as a marine biology consultant. I work on call. I forget if I explained the structure of my job when you asked me that day on Joel’s boat. I leave the island for a few days a week, sometimes longer. It’s unpredictable, but steady. I consult to various organizations, and the government at times. And, whenI’m free, I also tote celebrities back and forth to and from the mainland … among other odd jobs.” He winks.

I smile. I can’t stop smiling. “Celebrities? Like who?”

“Oh, I’m not at liberty to say. I signed an NDA. Keeping my word to her is extremely important to me.”

“I’m sure she appreciates that more than she can say.”

“And you?” He asks as if we’re actually on a first date where we need to get to know one another. “You’re sort of like a spy?” His one brow lifts.

Neither of us have stopped smiling. My glasses sit off to the side, abandoned now that I know who he is.

“In my recent trilogy of movies.”

He chuckles. “Ah, yes. Anya Blackman. The Red Falcon.”

I smile. I forgot he was a fan. He hides it well.

The waiter approaches our table. “Are you ready to order now?”

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