Page 69 of An Introvert's Guide to Life and Love
I get overly ambitious at the party store and purchase a kit to make your own balloon arch. This ends up taking me two hours. By the time I finish it, I’m both pleased with the festive blue-and-silver arch and also starving. It’s almost eightP.M.and I haven’t eaten since lunch. Feeling like I’ve earned a nice drink, I head over to the mermaid bar.
It’s buzzing now, much busier than it was the last time I came. There are a few open seats at the bar, so I take one and grab a menu. Amanda is mixing a drink down at the other end. She sees me and waves, then sidles over after she hands the customer her drink.
“Hey!” she says, wiping her hands on her apron.
“Hi! Looks like you’re staying busy here.”
“Guess so.” She looks around the place, buzzing with chatter and the clink of cutlery. “Saturday-night rush, I guess. I don’t know if it’ll be a normal thing, but I’m liking it.”
“It will totally be a normal thing! This is the perfect place to hang out!” I sound a little too enthusiastic to my ears, but I’m excited to have a new friend. It hasn’t happened in way too long.
“Thanks.” Amanda smiles in what I’m pretty sure is a genuine, grateful way. “What can I get for you?”
“I’m starving.” I glance down at the menu. “What do you like? I mean, I’m sure it’s all delicious.”
“The burger,” she says decisively.
I read the description: a quarter-pound burger topped with Gruyère cheese, red onion, arugula, and a secret sauce.
“That sounds great. I’ll have one of those and an Andrina, please.” I decide on the spot, remembering the delicious purple gin and cava cocktail I had last time.
“You got it.”
Amanda bustles off to put in my order, and I pop in my earbuds, figuring she’ll go on to chat with other customers. But a few minutes later when she drops off my burger, she strikes up a conversation again. I am beyond tickled.
“What are you listening to?”
“Oh.” I swallow my bite of burger, removing my earbuds. “Just a podcast. This is freaking delicious, by the way.”
She juts out her chin in a told-you-so kind of way.
“Which podcast?”
“It’s calledElementary. It’s—”
“No kidding? I listen every week!”
“Really?”
“That episode where they analyzed classic movies from the ’90s and why they’re actually unhinged had me crying.”
“Yes!” I grin wildly. I’ve never met a fellowElementaryfan in real life before.
“And the one where Samantha talked about adopting a senior dog? Dang, that was sweet,” Amanda continues.
“So sweet,” I agree. “Actually, I’ve been looking into where to adopt a dog around here.”
“Did you move here? I thought you were just visiting from Seattle, right?”
“I was—I mean, I am. I have to go back to Seattle in a couple weeks. But I want to get my grandpa a dog for his birthday. Is that crazy?”
“I don’t know your grandpa, so I don’t know. But it sounds cute to me. Although…” Amanda adjusts her headband—chartreuse today—and continues thoughtfully, “I read a post on Instagram once that said you shouldn’t get people pets as surprise presents. Because they might not be prepared to care for them. Or they might give them back to the pound? I forget the reason exactly.”
“Hmm.” I ponder this over another huge bite. This burger is seriously hitting the spot. “I wouldn’t want to fly in the face of conventional Instagram wisdom. But I think my grandpa is prepared. He had a dog when he was a kid, and his dad made him get rid of it, and he’s never been able to have another dog since then.”
Amanda makes a small sound of dismay, and then says, “Mallory, I don’t know how old your grandpa is, but you cannot let this man die without having another dog.”
“Do you have one?” I ask, taking a sip of my delicious fizzy drink.
