Page 7 of Just Another Meet Cute

As the barista grabbed the different spices from the shelf overhead, she glanced over her shoulder and smiled. Her red ponytail bounced as she bobbed her head in time to the music in the background. “So, did you get a lot of writing done?”

“What?”

She shook something into the blender and pointed at the table I was sitting at. “I’ve noticed you sitting at the same spot with your laptop for the past couple of days, so I figured that you were a writer on a deadline or something. We get a lot of those in here.”

“Oh, right.” I glanced over my shoulder at the booth by the window and coughed nervously. “Yeah, I was writing … a novel. A romance novel.”

“Nice. What’s it about?”

My fingers twisted around the straps of my bag. “Hmm, a girl and a guy. Obviously. Who just met and fell in love within a day, but then they lose contact with each other, so she goes to find him in his hometown. You know, check out all the places he likes to go. That kind of stuff.”

“Sounds interesting. Hope she finds him.”

I forced myself to smile. “Yeah, I hope so.”

After we hit a dead end at the gym, I knew I had one last resort to find Ryan, and that was the Golden Cleaners on Fifth Street. The one that he said he needed to pick up his sisters’ stuff at this weekend.

So I basically camped out all day at the Coffee Bean across the street from the dry cleaners. Even got a nice cushy booth by the windows with a perfect view of the street. Basically, go full-on stalker mode, like Linh said. The only thing I was missing was my night vision goggles.

Finally, the barista slid the cup toward me. “I think there’s a writer’s group or something that meets at the library on Thursdays. If you want, I could ask around and pass them your email address or phone number.”

“NO! No, I’m writing for fun. Nothing serious. It’s not something I—” I cleared my throat and glanced down at my phone. “Oh, I have to go. Thanks for the drink. I mean, making the drink.”

Before she could ask any more questions, I grabbed the cup, even though it was scorching hot, and rushed out of the coffee shop. A couple of burned fingers were a small, although painful, price to pay to avoid answering more uncomfortable questions.

If only I could avoid Mom and Dad just as easily.

“So, uh, how was your day, Nina?” Mom asked as she passed me the bread plate.

“It was okay.”

“Just okay? What did you do?”

That was a hard question to answer. I stuffed a giant hunk of bread into my mouth so I wouldn’t have to respond to her right away.

Two days. For the past two whole days, I’d been at the coffee shop, and all I had to show for it were a dozen solved sudoku puzzles, an impressively high score on Candy Crush, and enough coffee to last me a month.

But no Ryan. So basically, it was all for nothing.

At least I was able to rewatch my favorite movies on Netflix, otherwise, this whole weekend would have all been a total waste.

Finally, I swallowed. “Oh, I hung out in town. Walked around the mall. That kind of thing.”

“By yourself?” Dad looked startled like even he was surprised by what he just said. He scratched at the stubble on his chin and looked away. “Not that there’s anything wrong with hanging out alone. It’s not … weird. You do whatever you want to do.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

The table got quiet again. So quiet that I almost wished that Aunt Sarah were here. She always knew how to steer the conversation. Or drop a bomb to completely change the subject. She and Linh had that in common.

Clearing my throat, I passed Dad the bread plate. “I know Linh had to work late today, but where’s Aunt Sarah?”

“Oh, she had a meeting with the homeowners association tonight.” Mom reached out to clasp each of our hands. Her fingers tightly held on. “I thought it would be nice to have dinner together. Just the three of us. Isn’t it nice?”

What was she talking about? We always ate together. Even though Dad had his own place, he slept over practically every night and hung out on weekends. His other apartment was basically a giant storage unit that he left his stuff at.

As usual, Dad nodded. “Sure, honey.”

She turned her expectant gaze toward me, so I offered her a weak smile that was my usual. “Sure. Nice.” I struggled to tug my hand out of her tight grasp. “Uh, Mom? Could I have my hand back? I still need to finish eating.”

“Sorry!” She dropped my hand like a heavy weight. “I am surprised that you’re home for dinner, Nina. Didn’t you have a date today?”

Oh, crap. I forgot that I told Mom that the date was today. After spending so much time at the coffee shop, I barely knew what day it was.

“Uh, we decided to go out next week instead. Ryan had a family thing.” I jabbed at the carrots on my plate until they turned into mush. “It’s not a big deal.”

Mom nodded, but Dad leaned against the table with a frown. “I thought his name was Ian?” he asked. “I mean, that’s what your mom told me.”

Ducking my head, I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. “Uh, no. His name is Ryan. Maybe Mom heard me wrong. Or she didn’t remember.”

Dad still looked confused, but Mom waved her hand and laughed. “Ian. Ryan. It doesn’t matter what his name is as long as your date goes well. And remember, you promised to bring him home sometime.”

“Uh, right.” My appetite was definitely gone now. I picked up my plate and stood up. “Can I go? I need to … call Ryan back.”

Thankfully, she nodded. “Go ahead and leave the plates. Your dad and I will clean up.”

Once I was safely in Linh’s room, I let out a heavy sigh and sat down on the edge of her bed. My fingers poked at the lacy holes in her cream quilt.

To be honest, I hated lying to Mom. We used to be really close before Dad came back into our lives.

Sometimes she would even sign me out of school early so that we could hang out.

Whether it was spending the afternoon at the bookstore or going to the movies and staying for two or three of them.

Sometimes we just went home to bake cookies and talk.

And she was so easy to talk to. She understood me, almost better than I understood myself, without any judgment. Back then Mom would have easily been the first person I told about Ryan. Heck, she would have been on her laptop next to Linh helping me track him down. Before Dad, we had each other.

Before Dad …

Sometimes I still couldn’t understand how she adapted so quickly from our life with Aunt Sarah, B á , and Linh to a life with Dad and me. How she could forget everything he did to her. To us. She just rewrote history and was happy. Because she was really happy.

Somehow.

And that was the only reason I went along with everything. Why I kept my mouth shut and smiled as, day by day, the two of us became the two of them. And I was left on the side like a forgotten, wilted side salad.

Maybe it was better this way. I’d be going to college soon (hopefully), and it’d be Mom and Dad together anyway.

They’ll retire to some beach condo where Mom can do yoga on the balcony during the sunrise.

And they’ll continue their traditional Friday date nights when they’re not hanging out with their new neighbors.

And I’ll be … well, I had no clue where I’d be or what I’d be doing. As usual. The uncertainty seemed extra heavy tonight. My stomach churned, and I didn’t know if it was the usual nerves again or if I was hungry. Probably a bit of both. I didn’t really eat much dinner.

Letting out a tired sigh as I pushed the doubts out of my mind, I shoved my laptop, charger, and noise-canceling earphones into my bag and set my alarm for seven a.m. The laundromat opened at eight, and I didn’t want to risk missing Ryan tomorrow.

He looked like the type of person who woke up early.

Honestly, I didn’t really feel like going back to the coffee shop. I’d had so much coffee the past couple of days that it was practically seeping out of my pores by now. I could sweat caffeine instead of, well, sweat.

Just one more day left. Ryan was bound to be there tomorrow.

Hopefully.