Page 70 of Debugging Love

She scrolls before stopping on the next question. “Oh. This one is for Chance. Would you rather watch nothing but Hallmark Christmas movies or John Wayne westerns?”

Easy. “Hallmark Christmas movies.”

A bunch of “ooo’s” bubble up from my coworkers.

Danni lifts an eyebrow at me.

“What? I like sweet romances.”

“Nothing,” she says and then pops a chip into her mouth.

She’s wearing a bright pink short-sleeved tankini with matching boxers in a tropical print. It’s modest, but it’s more skin than I’ve ever seen on her. My eyes trace the feminine curves of her tan thighs. In the background, Juanita rattles off more questions.

“Would you rather have spaghetti for hair or sweat maple syrup?”

“Would you rather have your life narrated by Homer Simpson or Gilbert Godfrey?”

The answers don’t interest me. Danni’s smooth, delicate arm does. The thought of trailing my fingers along her soft skin makes me break into a sweat.

“This one’s for Danni,” Juanita says.

“No thanks. I don’t want to play.”

“Would you rather date a coworker, or date someone thirty years older than you?”

My stomach flutters. I toss a chip into my mouth and chomp down on it, trying to act casual.

“Is the coworker thirty years older than her?” Drew asks.

“No.”

“How do you know?”

Juanita’s eyes narrow. “Because I said so.”

“Because if the coworker is also thirty years older than her,” Drew continues, “the question does not make sense.”

Juanita mutters something in Spanish.

“The question should be, would you rather date a coworker your age or someone thirty years older.”

“Thanks for clearing that up,” Bruce huffs. “Answer the question, Danni.”

“Bossy Bruce is back,” Violet singsongs.

“I want this game to be over so I can take a nap on the beach.”

“What is it?” Juanita bats her eyes at Danni.

Danni shifts in her seat. “I don’t date coworkers, so the other one, I guess.”

My molars grind together as I process her answer. Danni doesn’t date coworkers.Whydoesn’t Danni date coworkers? And is there anything I can do to change her mind?

Juanita rattles off several more questions, but all I hear is a buzz of static as my mind replays Danni’s words over and over.

The game finally ends, and Christopher sets us free, telling us to fill our remaining two hours however we see fit. Danni and her friends lie down to sunbathe. I can’t sit still, so I walk along the shore lost in thought as I plan my next steps. There must be a reason Danni doesn’t like dating coworkers, so I need to not be that reason. Whatever it is. The walk doesn’t give me any grand ideas, but it calms me down some, puts things in perspective.

This is a problem. I solve problems for a living. Sometimes it just takes a little trial and error.

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