38
I Hadn’t Seen That Coming
“This is so much more fun with you here,” Michael said.
I stared at all the people filling up the wide aisles at the cardiac conference and nodded my head.
“For starters,” he said, “you’re a great conversationalist.”
I smiled.
“You don’t talk back.”
I arched my brow.
“You’re very witty. I can barely stop myself from laughing.”
“OK, now you’re just taking it too far,” I said.
“See? Perfect comedic timing.”
I laughed.
“Now, the key to these things,” Michael said, “is making them go faster.”
“How do we do that?”
“The guessing game.”
“OK,” I said, “I’ll bite. What am I guessing?”
“Who’s having an illicit affair with whom while on conference.”
“Does that actually happen?”
“All the time. I’ll go first,” he said.
“By all means,” I offered.
He laughed.
“Those two there,” he said, nodding towards a couple standing too close together at a pharmaceutical company’s stand. “She’s a junior nurse, new to the team, and he’s the registrar, trying to make a name for himself. And they hooked up when she accidentally-on-purpose spilt a full bottle of hand sanitiser over his scrubs. And then proceeded to enthusiastically wipe him down in the storeroom afterwards.”
I made a snorting sound and then tried to cover it with a cough.
“Your turn,” he said.
“I’m not good at guessing.”
“Of course you are, you’re a writer. You make things up inside your head every other second of the day.”
I stared at him. “How did you know that?”
“It’s what writer’s do. They dream things. Sometimes big, sometimes small. But they’re always dreaming.”
“Some would say that’s not a good thing.”
He smiled. “I think it’s great,” he said.