Page 38 of Falling for Leanne

“I’m sniffing it like an addict, okay? My dad’s on a restricted diet. I’ve been trying to stick to it for support, but I miss sodium so much.”

“Sodium? You can’t just say salt?”

“It’s the cardiac protocol I’ve memorized: sodium and saturated fats are evil. But this smell makes me want to dance with the devil!” I said with a laugh.

“Okay, the maniacal laughter is starting to freak me out. Go ahead and start eating, don’t wait on me. I’m not sure how much longer you can control yourself,” he said with a grin.

I ripped open a paper packet of chopsticks and scooped soy-sauce-laden spicy noodles directly into my mouth. He leaned on the doorway, chuckling.

“What?” I asked, trying to chew the huge mouthful I had taken. They were pure, salty heaven.

“Nothing. I’m glad you’re enjoying it,” he said.

“What? Oh—” I shut my eyes, “you wanted me to use a plate, right?”

“It’s customary but go ahead. We’ll call those Leanne’s noodles,” he said, sitting down across the desk from me and dishing up some vegetables onto one of the paper plates.

“Don’t you know college students are like animals? We just descend on food and eat everything in sight, no manners at all,” I said, gulping some water and going right back at the noodles. “Ooh, chicken and broccoli?” I said, lunging for another container. “I’m starving!”

He handed me the other plate pointedly, and I rolled my eyes. I dished some food up onto it and put the containers back in the middle of the table. I heaped rice and vegetables onto my plate along with the chicken and broccoli. I went back to the carton of noodles, but it was empty.

“Oops,” I said, smiling. “I think I ate them all.”

“Like I said, they were yours anyway. You marked them when you ate out of the container.”

“Afraid of my germs?” I teased.

Then, like a slap in the face, I flashed back to his mouth on mine, his mouth between my legs, all the ways we’d touched and kissed each other on the night we spent together in my bed. I felt my face flush and took another drink of water to cover how flustered I was all of a sudden.

Aaron let my comment pass without remark, and as we ate, he told me the things I needed to have in place before I even considered looking for a location or applying for a loan. I took notes, pages of them, smudged with sauce in places, because he didn’t want to be recorded.

“My friend Hamilton is a lawyer, and he’s drilled into me that my image, voice, and whatever else is not something I want to give away for free and with a specific usage contract in place. If I’m not careful, the next thing I know, I’m part of some heavily edited viral video that makes it sound like I’m a damn neo-Nazi or something,” he said ruefully.

“I hadn’t thought of that. I wasn’t going to, like, sell your advice or anything. But I understand,” I said, a little embarrassed.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” he added quickly.

“It’s fine,” I told him. “I’m lucky to be here and get a chance to take notes on this. I’m not taking it for granted. I know this is a privilege. That people, myself included, pay thousands of dollars in tuition to listen to you give lessons. If you were charging for mentoring sessions, I’d never be able to afford one.”

“I’m not charging you,” he said. “I’m not for sale. You asked me for a favor, and I said yes. So, here’s the stuff I wish I’d known when I got started.”

Aaron handed me a couple of sheets of yellow paper ripped off a legal pad, covered in his close, square writing. “Consider it a cheat sheet. Don’t lose it. I’m not in the business of making copies and selling them.”

I took them, eager to read them but knowing I should wait until later. I quickly snapped pictures of the pages with my phone. “I’m not going to post them or sell them. It’s just in case I get stupid and drop them in a puddle or something, that all isn’t lost,” I explained.

“I don’t think you’re a corporate spy, Lee,” he said, calling me that nickname that made my blood go hot. His private name for me, that he only used when we were alone. I sat back and finished my bottle of water. I looked through my notes and saw that he had covered all of my questions.

“This means a lot to me,” I said. “I really can’t thank you enough.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” he said. “Is your dad doing okay?”

“He’s doing so well. Even his doctors are impressed with him. Mindy has been---okay, I’m not supposed to call her a godsend because she said it’s bad for your ego, but she’s been amazing. It saved my life, really. I’ve been staying at my apartment a few nights a week already, and I’m going to be able to move out of my dad's house completely in a week or so. Thank you for asking.”

“I’m glad he’s doing well. I know it was scary for you,” he said.

“When we were at the hospital, waiting for word about my dad, you said you’d lost both parents. I wanted to ask at the time, but I didn’t think it was appropriate to pry. Now, I’m going to go ahead and pry. How old were you?” I asked, hoping he wouldn’t think I was overstepping.

“When my mom died it was the week before I turned sixteen. She had pancreatic cancer, and by the time they found it, it was too late to do anything. My sister Cory was ten at the time, and it was really hard on her especially. Then my dad didn’t deal with my mom’s death all that well. He was always a problem drinker, and it just got worse after she died. I ended up taking care of my sister a lot even before he died.”

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