Page 31 of Two Guys, a Girl, and a Tripod

“Uh oh, what does that mean?”

“I think I repressed a lot of memories.”

I have to laugh at that. Natalie has an older brother and I’ve heard horror stories. I haven’t had the pleasure–or misfortune–of meeting him yet since he lives back in New York, but Natalie paints a vivid picture when she takes a stroll down memory lane.

“Are you sureyouweren’t the problem?” I ask with raised eyebrows.

Before Brody can respond, Alexis returns.

“Are you ready to order?” She has dropped the customer service voice, I notice, suppressing a smirk.

“You know, we haven’t had a moment to even look at the menu,” Brody admits. “Sorry, we’ve been talking. Can you give us a few more minutes?”

“Sure thing.” She turns again and dashes away.

“We should probably order before she gets pissed and spits in our food.” I grimace at the thought.

“Goodidea.”

We peruse the menu in silence, but I already looked online to prepare. The place has some amazing food, a lot of which uses local ingredients, but the nerves of a first date will always win out. I need something easy and familiar.

“What looks good?” Brody asks.

“I’m gonna be boring. Caesar salad with chicken.”

Brody eyes me skeptically, as if uncertain whether to call bullshit or accept my decision.

“You sure?” he asks. “This place is good. They’ve got a lot of great stuff.” He’s treading lightly.

“I promise, a salad actually sounds really good. I spent last week eating like crap because I couldn’t cook. I feel like I’m still recovering.” One reason I hate traveling for long periods for work is that it messes with my diet and as a woman who does butt stuff regularly on camera, I can’t afford for that to happen.

“So you cook?”

“I love to cook, but I find I’m too busy a lot of the time or too tired from work.”

“I’m not the best. My roommate’s better, but I have a few recipes I can do pretty well. I actually thought about offering to cook for you tonight, but… Well, I didn’t want to send the wrong signals or make you uncomfortable.”

He looks back down at the menu and I smile. He’s clearly nervous, so perhaps he won’t even try to invite me over after dinner. I can’t decide if that’s disappointing or if I should be relieved. We’ll go with relieved. God, how cynical am I that I automatically assume I’ll have to say no to an invitation?

“I can’t tell you how refreshing that is.” I meet Brody’s eyes when he glances back up. “Seriously, you made a plan, you thought about my comfort.” I squint at him. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I have a roommate?”

“You mentioned that. It’s LA. I think most people do. Next.”

“Doyou?”

“Of course.Next.”

“I don’t have much of a life.”

“So?”

“Well, how often do you go out with friends?”

“Once or twice a week, but it’s usually with my roommate. What about you?”

“Once or twice amonthand it’salwayswith my roommate.”

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