Page 67 of Heart

“Aw. I love you, sweetie.”

They hugged, and when they parted May said, “So, we’re both on the cusp of something new. You even more with the restaurant. But it’s all going to be great. I just know it. When are you seeing him again?”

He looked at his watch. “In about an hour.”

“Oh, duh. He’ll be delivering the mail.”

“No. Apparently, he has beaucoup sick-time. He said he’d take off until after the grand opening if I want. He wants to help.”

“Are you OK with that?”

“Yeah. I am.”

“Good. I need to go open the store. Lunch with you three later?”

“Sounds good.”

She grabbed her belongings and left, the door jingling behind her. George returned to the kitchen.

“I found it!” Zac said as he returned. “Check this out.”

George took the card from him. “Wow. OK, I see where you’re going with this.”

“It’s got an Indian twist with mostly Greek ingredients.”

“Yogurt, pistachios, coriander, tamarind, mint, lemon. Oh, yeah... Yeah, let’s definitely do this.”

“Great. What’s next, desserts?”

“First, I need to run something by you. How are you with me adding a volunteer to our crew, for the grand opening, that is?”

Zac eyed him curiously. “Well, we need to hire additional servers and a bartender. You mentioned a pastry chef. Is that what you mean? Have you found someone already?”

“No.” George grinned, guiltily. “This is more of an indulgence on my part. But I wanted to run it by you because—”

“—we’re partners.”

“Right.”

“Does this have anything to do with last night?” Zac asked. “I’ve been meaning to ask how everything went after I left.”

“Things went well. You know, the whole double date-thing. We had some wine. Some folks wanted to continue the party... dancing was suggested.”

“Did you go?”

George waved his hand. “No. Are you kidding? I was wiped. I didn’t have enough energy for that kind of after-party.”

“So, uh... you and Fabio stayed back while Mikey and his date went dancing?”

“No. Not exactly. Why do you ask?”

Zac shrugged. “It’s none of my business, George. Really. I know you think of us as partners, but I hope you consider us friends too.”

“Of course we are. How could we not be? Anything you don’t know about me you soon will because May has the biggest mouth in all of Dupont Circle. I mean, you already know I’ve had phone sex with our mailman... and you helped cover for me when I was drunk at our special event last night. So, yes, I would say that we’re well on our way to being friends.”

“Good. I’m glad.”

“Zac I trust you. If I’m not here, I want you to run this place as if it were your own. So, yeah, we’re solid—no corporate HR to scrutinize our decisions, good or bad. I’m Kirk, you’re Spock. We’re on theEnterprise. Get me?”