Page 7 of Thanks for the Memories
“I bought some cookie dough,” Lila says. “I could actually bake the cookies instead of eating all the dough. What a concept.”
We all laugh, and before I know what’s happening, the three of us are hard at work making dinner. Lila put on some old-school Taylor Swift, and we’re singing as we work. It’s not pretty, but maybe there’s hope for us after all. I was hoping for evenings like this when I agreed to move into Lila’s house. Fun roommates and even better friends.
While we eat, Lila and Gabby tell stories of impossible real estate clients. They work together at Fun in the Sun Realty, which is how they met.
At one point, I’m laughing so hard I spit Diet Coke across the table.
“The hotel industry is just as bad,” I exclaim. “At least I’ve never found someone dead. My friend Casey out in California found a dead woman in one of their hotel rooms. She said it was like a scene from a movie.”
“That’s awful,” Gabby says.
“My favorites are the clients who ask if the homes are haunted,” Lila says. “I once had a client who had to research the land of every listing I sent her. She wanted to know if they were built on Indian burial grounds or cemeteries. I think she watched too many movies.”
“The worst is when you find out the homeishaunted,” Gabby adds. “I had that happen back in Orlando.”
We chat for a while longer and, after cleaning up, Lila heads to her bathroom to take a hot bath, leaving Gabby and me sitting in the living room.
“That was fun. Who knew we could actually prepare a meal other than cereal?”
She nods. “Yeah. Business is slow for me right now. I probably need to cook every night and save every dime I have, especially since Theo is going to be out of town for a few weeks. Maybe you can convince Chef Dante to save us some leftover food from the restaurant.”
I smile. “I’ll ask him when we meet for coffee next week.”
Gabby raises her eyebrows. “Ohhh, really? Coffee?”
I nod as I try to keep my excitement to a minimum. I probably still look like a child on Christmas morning.
“So, you and Chef Dante finally made plans.”
“Yes!” I yell. “He told me he has a whole day off and suggested we do something fun like old times.”
There’s really no point in hiding my excitement, especially in front of Gabby.
“It’s about time you two spent more time together,” she says.
“I know, but I don’t want to overthink it.”
Sometimes I wonder if I’ve created this whole scenario in my head that will never happen. I mean, I’ve known Dante for a very long time and we’ve never been more than friends. Why would that change now? Although I do believe that the timing has to be right.
Gabby’s phone buzzes from the table. She glances at the screen and declines the call.
“Do you have to answer that?”
She waves her hand. “It’s Theo. I’ll call him back.”
I appreciate that she ignored a call from her man to listen to me blab on about my crush.
“You can call him back if you want. There’s not much else to say right now.”
Sometimes I can’t believe that I’m twenty-eight years old and still holding out hope that my crush will see me as more than a friend. There should be some sort of age cutoff for this, right?
“I completely understand that you don’t want to overthink your situation,” Gabby says, ignoring my comment. “There are still moments when I find myself wanting to push pause with Theo.”
“Yeah, but you two were on fire from the moment you met,” I remind her. “Dante and I have never been more than friends who flirt with each other. Sometimes I think that I’ve created a scenario in my mind that will never come to pass.”
She shrugs. “You never know. And the relationships with the slow burn can be pretty intense. Don’t count things out just yet. If you think about it, starting off as friends is kind of romantic.”
I nod. “Yeah.”
