Page 80 of Give Me a Shot

“I’m not going to call you for every little thing, Mo,” she said. “Besides, what if you were entertaining that young lady of yours?” She winked at him. “I hope things are progressing as they should.”

His ears got hot.

Do I have a sign on my forehead?

He cleared his throat.

“Um…” he said. “Everything’s fine. But how did you know?”

“Maddie told me you have a new friend. A woman.” She shrugged.

“Oh,” he said.

“She your girlfriend yet?”

His whole face lit into flames. He couldn’t talk with Mrs. Sargysan about romanticfeelings. He couldn’t have a discussion that might make his shyness overwhelming and cause him to shut down. Shutting down with her would be disrespectful.

“Ha! Good,” she said. “It’s about time you had a little romance in your life. Good for Maddie, too.”

“They haven’t met yet,” he said.

“That’s not what I mean.” She stretched her leg out and winced.

“I’m calling an ambulance,” Mo said, standing quickly and sliding his phone from his pocket.

“No, sir, you are not,” she said, glaring at him. “You want me to be broken and broke? Put your phone away.”

Mo obeyed.

“What I was saying is that it’s good for Maddie to see her dad in a happy relationship. To see you doing well with someone you like who supports you,” she said, cautiously bending the arm she’d fallen on.

“Oh,” Mo said.

“Have you told her yet?” Mrs. Sargysan asked.

“Jess? Yes, of course she knows about Maddie.”

“No, silly,” she said, looking up at him. “Have you told Maddie that Jess is your girlfriend?”

“I…um…” His voice was too shaky at first. He took a deep breath. “I don’t know if she’s my girlfriend. We haven’t talked about that.”

Mrs. Sargysan squinted at him.

“What on earth are you waiting for? Talk about it. You’ve been mooning around here having whispered conversations on the phone in your yard; you’re out later than I’ve ever seen. And when you come home, you’re all lit up. She’s your girlfriend, and that’s that.”

Mo wasn’t sure what to do. It wasn’t a surprise that Mrs. Sargysan had noticed his behavior. He had not been acting like himself at all. But he couldn’t just decide that Jess was his girlfriend. Mrs. Sargysan was eyeing him.

“She would be stupid not to say yes,” she said. “And I know you’re not the type to spend your time around stupid people.”

“Okay,” he said. “You’re right, she’s not stupid.” Suddenly the disorder in the kitchen jumped out at him, and he realized that Mrs. Sargysan was in no state to clean it up. He grabbed a bulb off the counter and reached up to screw it into place. The room flooded with light, and Mrs. Sargysan blinked a few times.

“Yes,” she said, looking around. “Definitely better.”

He righted the other chair and went into her pantry for the broom and dustpan. In a few minutes, her kitchen was in order, and Mo relaxed a little. Mrs. Sargysan hadn’t moved from her seat.

“I still think we should get some help,” he said. “I can take you to an urgent care.”

“Don’t wanna,” she said.

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