Page 132 of Debugging Love

“They’re lucky, then.”

Chance’s expression softens a little. He leans back, keeps his eyes fixed on mine while taking a swig of Coke. He finishes it with an “Ahhh” and then he sets down his can, leans forward, and rests his forearms against the edge of the table. “I should tell you something.”

No idea where this is going. Not sure I want to know. He’s married? Surely not.

“There’s a woman back in India.”

I’m an idiot. A total idiot. Just because a guy hasn’t kissed a bunch of girls doesn’t mean he’s not a player. “Oh,” I manage and then take a sip of water to wash it down.

“Her name is Navya. My family has been speaking with her family. They want to arrange a marriage.”

“Oh,” I say with a heavier inflection.

“I’m not in love with Navya.”

“But you’re physically attracted.”

One side of his mouth curls up. “No. I don’t want an arranged marriage. I want a love match.”

I sink in my seat. Now Ireallydon’t know where this is going.

“My dad gave me a year to find the one.”

“Oh,” I say again, likeAh ha!but less cartoonish. “Farmers Only.”

“Zoosk. Christian Mingle. Yeah. I decided to take a scientific approach.”

Laughter bursts from my mouth before I can stop it.

“Are you laughing at me?” A part of him is laughing at himself, I can tell.

“I’m not laughing at all,” I say behind my hand which is covering my laughter.

“In theory, it should work,” he says. “Go on enough dates, narrow down the dating pool. I had limited time and limited resources. There’s only one me.”

“How did you keep it all straight?”

Chance hunches, raises his hand to his temple, a feeble attempt to hide. “I kept a spreadsheet.”

“You what?!”

“I kept a spreadsheet and ranked each date.”

“This has to be the most unromantic thing I’ve ever heard.”

He relaxes a little and laughs. “In hindsight, maybe.”

“Wait a minute.” I grab my butter knife and point it at him. “You ranked our first date.”

A sheepish look erases his humor.

“You did! What did I get? How did I rank?”

“I shouldn’t have told you this.”

“Tell me Jyoti– Chance.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore.”

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