“So. Daria said you guys are from San Diego.”
Minh fiddled with the napkin in her lap and tried to relax. She and Chris had just been seated at a table in a nearby restaurant, and she was suddenly nervous. How did she get here? She didn’t kiss guys she disliked and then go on dates with them. She had a strict date-first rule on kissing. But Chris had somehow broken that, and now, here they were…
She couldn’t figure out what to do with her hands, so she fell back on what she knew about how dates were supposed to go. What they were supposed to talk about.
Not to mention that Well Placed had called her again just now. She was supposed to have had a phone interview yesterday, but they had canceled at the last minute and now wanted to reschedule. She didn’t want Chris to know about it—the prospect of writing commercial jingles would no doubt earn a sneer and some rude remark from him, so she’d tried to keep the embarrassment to a minimum by turning away and trying to get through the call as quickly as possible.
“Seriously? We’re making small talk?”
Yes, because I’m nervous, and I can’t stop thinking about how much you make me want to be different.
“It’s what we’re supposed to do.”
“Says who?”
She set her chin. “Just…that’s the way things go!”
He stared at her for a bit, then gave her a soft smile. Not patronizing, like she’d been expecting. Just…soft. He’d been a lot nicer to her today, despite that he kept challenging her, and she had to admit that she liked this side of him.
She relaxed.
“Okay. Yes. Daria and I are from San Diego. I moved up here nearly seven years ago because I got a job after college, and she came a little over a year ago for grad school. What about you?”
She grinned. “Do you really want to know? Or are you just making small talk to be polite?”
He laughed at her teasing tone, and she relaxed a little more.
“I do want to know. But honestly? I’m a little surprised I didn’t know already. The way we’ve fought since the beginning…”
“It felt like we were already familiar with one another,” she finished for him, and he nodded. “So. About me. I’m a Navy brat. Kind of, anyway. My Dad is from Mississippi, but he enlisted in the Navy as soon as he turned eighteen and met my mother on furlough in Vietnam. He was stationed in Korea and ended up going back to Vietnam every time he had enough days off in a row. After a few months, he married her and brought her back to base, where I was born. When I was two, my dad got transferred to Belgium, where Kieu was born, but my mom was pretty miserable there. It was cold and rainy, and I vaguely remember feeling really isolated from the other kids. When I was five, we moved to Monterey and ended up staying there until Kieu graduated high school. Mom and Dad are in Florida now. Mom loves it because it’s nice and warm, and Dad loves it because he gets to take it easy for once in his life.”
“Your sister’s name is Kieu?”
“Yeah.” She thought about Kieu, how close they used to be as kids when there was no one else around to play with. It wasn’t until right before Kieu graduated, while Minh was in the conservatory, that things got bad.
“Where does she live now?”
“New York.” Where she’s not really living. “I don’t talk to her much, though. She has—she’s got a problem with drugs.”
“Oh. Man.” Chris leaned forward. “I’m sorry.”
Minh straightened. “Well, that’s what happens when you stray off the right path.”
Chris frowned at her. “Wow. Harsh.”
She looked down at the tablecloth. It was, wasn’t it? She’d meant it about herself, but it had come out like a judgment on her sister.
And the sad truth is that, for a moment, she’d almost felt relieved to push that burden onto someone else. She felt her cheeks burning with shame.
“It was harsh. I-I’m sorry. I mean, I’m sorry for the way I talked about my sister. I’m scared for her, to be honest. I don’t know what to do. Her problem…it was my fault.”
Richard calling…the offer to meet that studio executive …Kieu begging Minh to let her have a turn at breaking the rules, just this once, and bring her along…
The pain of those memories must have shown on her face, because Chris reached out his hand and squeezed her fingers. She grabbed onto his without hesitation. “I didn’t mean to upset you. It sucks to watch someone you love go through hell. Especially when it’s your little sister.”
She took a moment, letting the emotion subside a bit, then nodded. “Yeah. Daria told me about her ex.” She smiled. “I’m glad she found us, though. I like having her as a roommate.”