Page 80 of Let's Talk About Love
“Sorry,” she said. Her lips stretched into a smile she couldn’t feel.
“Whoa,” he said. “Okay, what’s up?”
She clasped her hands together and looked out of the windshield.A woman and three kids exited the library, each carrying a bag of books. “We’re already here?”
He poked her cheek. “What’s the matter?”
She didn’t want to tell him that it was possible her best friends didn’t like him before they even got a chance to get to know him and it was her fault they felt that way. Maybe they had a point—maybe this was all on her.
“Do you think we spend too much time together?”
“I think the opposite actually. I could try to give up sleep to spend more time with you.” He cleared his throat and sniffled. His cold hadn’t quite gone anywhere yet. “Sure I’d be happier, but I think that would do more harm than good. The consequences of sleep deprivation are terrible.”
“I’m serious. Be serious.”
“I like how you automatically assumed I wasn’t.” He laughed, resting his arm on the center console to lean closer to her. “No. I don’t think we do. Why?”
Alice took off her seat belt and turned in the seat to face Takumi. “You come to work early to have dinner with me, we hang out every night after work, we spend our weekends together, and when we’re not together, we text all the time. Thank God for unlimited messaging. I think our record has to be close to a thousand texts in less than twenty-four hours,” she said. “I know that, because my phone is set to save five hundred messages per thread and one night I tried to scroll back to reread something from earlier that day, but half the messages were already gone.”
“We’re friends,” he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “That’s what friends do.”
“It doesn’t seem, I don’t know, excessive to you?”
“We like each other. Constant communication is a natural side effect of that.”
She sighed. “It doesn’t bother you at all? You’re not sick of me yet?”
“No,” he said. “Does it bother you?”
“No, not exactly.”
“Then what’s the problem? Does it bother someone else?”
“Maybe.” She stared at her shoes.
“Someone else you care about?”
“Possibly.” She met his gaze.
“Is this the part where you tell me you’ve been secretly seeing someone and now they want to fight me?”
“No.” She laughed, but then thought of Feenie. “The fighting part might actually be true.”
“I guess it’s a good thing I have health care, because I cannot fight. If I had to, I’d take a punch for you. Just not in the face.”
“I wouldn’t let her hurt you.” She reached up and rubbed his cheeks. “You have amazing bone structure. I love your beautiful face. These cheekbones are so sharp, they could cut someone.”
“You’re rubbing my face. This is a little strange, even for you.”
She dropped her hands. “I know. I was trying to wait a little longer before I revealed this level of weirdness. Could I perchance convince you not to judge me for it, good sir?”
“I never said I minded.” He took her wrists and pressed her hands back onto his cheeks. “If it makes you feel better, go for it.”
“No, it’s okay.” She laughed, pulling away. “I do feel better, though. Thank you.”
He kissed her cheek.
“Ah, no kisses! You’re still sick.”
