“I still don’t know that much about him,” I confessed to Lorana over tea after work.
We were excited the pumpkin chai latte was still on the menu and decided to meet up specifically to drink one more before it was replaced with a winter-themed drink. We had both worn red sweaters and jeans today and laughed at our twinning outfits. Her sweater was bright and fuzzy, while mine was a slightly darker crew cut, embellished with a white-and-red plaid scarf. She started in on the questions about Julien that I couldn’t answer. I didn’t know many specifics, like where his dad worked and how his parents met. I just knew broader details: his mom was a consultant, for instance, and often helped the dad with his business, which was something to do with developing new medicines.
“He must be a doctor or a chemist then?” Lorana asked.
“Yes, something like that,” I nodded. I recalled that Julien said his dad was very smart, and I imagined he was trying to find a cure for rare diseases.
“You need to ask him more questions and talk less,” she said, chuckling. “You are talking too much and listening too little.” Leave it to Lorana to be frank. I took a sip of my tea.
“Am I though?” I wondered out loud. I remembered asking him about his parents, and he said they were very involved in the community and that was about it. The only other thing I knew was his family heritage was French and he used to go to France a lot as a kid. Every time I asked him a question, he seemed to flip it back over to me. Was I imagining this?
“I let go of the whole ‘be careful because he could be an agent’ thing cause you seemed to get upset with me,” said Lorana more seriously. “Has he done anything at all that might make you think he could possibly be an agent?”
“No! Not at all!” I said defensively. Then I remembered. “Well…” I hesitated.
“What?” demanded Lorana.
“Well, there have been a few occasions when I’ve had a chill and he doesn’t seem to notice anything.”
“Ooh, that's bad,” said Lorana.
“No, it's not! You and I aren’t always in sync with the chills,” I reminded her.
“You see?” Lorana pointed out. “You are getting defensive again.”
“OK, you might be right, but I think he's fine. In any case, I’m planning to ask him to test soon.” I decided not to bring up the watch. If we tested, I would know soon enough if he was an agent. There's no way he could be. I mean, he calls me, brings me flowers, asks how I’m doing—a D Glow isn’t capable of caring like this.
“Oh, good,” said Lorana, relieved. “When?”
“I think on my birthday. We’ve been dating for three months now, so it's the right time.”
“Good idea!” Lorana said encouragingly. “Is he taking you somewhere special for your birthday?”
“Yes,” I admitted. “He asked if I was free for lunch on Monday.’
“Lunch?! On Monday?!” Lorana shrieked “Does he know it's your birthday on Sunday?”
“Yes, I think so. I told him last week.” I looked down at my drink. I knew what she was going to say next.
“He didn’t ask you to do anything this weekend even though it's your birthday on Sunday?” She said something in Spanish that I didn’t understand.
“Nope,” I admitted. “It's OK, Lorana. He must know it's my birthday because I didn’t even say anything and he apologized that he couldn’t take me out this weekend. He has to attend a funeral and all the related family events.”
“Who died?” asked Lorana.
“His Aunt Julie,” I said, proud that I could answer one of Lorana's questions.
Frankly, I was just happy I didn’t have to ask him when we could see each other again—I didn’t want to chase him.
“Julien probably asked me out to lunch specifically on Monday to celebrate my birthday,” I said confidently.
“Well, I hope he sings you ‘Happy Birthday’ then,” she teased, twirling a ringlet of her brown hair.
“Oh, no way!” I laughed at the thought because I remembered what he said about his lack of singing talent.