Page 49 of Save the Date

Imani had a huge fear of needles, so whenever she needed a blood test or vaccine, Emma had to tag along and attempt to distract her. It was one of the ways they’d gotten so close so fast. During their first class together, Imani needed to get a flu shot but kept putting it off until Emma insisted on going with her, and the tradition was born.

“My relationship with Emma Moskowitz is one filled with professional and personal respect, familial-level love and lots of cheap Mexican food. I feel lucky every day that she is such a huge part of my life.” Imani said this completely deadpan, which was how she often expressed positive emotion. Therapists were works in progress, just like everyone else.

“I’m going to need multiple copies of that tape,” Emma declared. “I want to listen to it every night as I fall asleep.”

Imani groaned in what Emma suspected was fake annoyance.

“How would you describe Emma’s relationship history since you’ve known her?” Will asked. Imani immediately looked at Emma for permission to speak openly.

“You can be honest.” For all her flaws, Emma had never been someone to hide her failings. How could she hope to get better if she never admitted that she needed to?

“Whew, okay,” Imani said, putting her feet up and getting comfortable. “When I first met this one in grad school, she was—how do I put this delicately?—a total disaster. She would go on one date and become convinced he was the love of her life. And if one of these losers didn’t text her back right away, she’d have a full-blown spiral and leap to the conclusion that she wastotally unlovableanddestined to die alone.Absolutely no ability to self-soothe or think rationally when it came to dating.”

“Do you dispute any of this?” Will asked, turning to Emma.

“Nope. One time a guy called me on the way to our third date to say I had been texting him too much that day, so he was turning around. It was kind of nice that he bothered to call.”

“Was he the one who called you a stage-five clinger?” Imani asked, amused by the memory.

“No, that was the lawyer in Pasadena.” Emma turned to Will. “In hindsight I can see how surprising someone at home is only romantic in the movies.”

“I’m going to switch from my objective-journalist hat toEmma’s-short-term-fling hat for a second and say I didn’t experience this type of behavior with you at all.”

“I never really liked you that much,” Emma teased. If Will had even an inkling of how much she had liked him—and maybe still did—he would also be running for the hills of Pasadena.

“Lie.” Imani snorted, completely blowing Emma’s cover. “Will, I bet I could quote your entire Hinge profile after how many times she showed it to me.”

Emma felt her face turn warm and her heart speed up due to the all-too-familiar feeling of embarrassment. The last thing she needed was for Will to know she was obsessed with him.

“Really?” Will said with a grin and a nudge to Emma’s right arm. “I had no idea. I felt like I was the one pursuing you.”

“Until I brought up my plan and you fled,” Emma countered with a touch of bitterness.

“That’s not exactly how I remember it going down,” Will replied before refocusing his attention on Imani and expertly avoiding an argument. “Did Emma’s behavior change once she met Ryan?”

“It changed before they met. Emma knew she was pushing people away by being too intense, so she worked on herself and got better at dating.”

“Better how?”

“More… I don’t want to say chill because we are talking about Emma, but maybe that’s the best way to describe it. Every date wasn’t life-or-death anymore. And she did a better job of letting go of guys who weren’t worth her time. Except for this guy Tony, but we all have an Achilles’ heel. Mine is the legendary Holland Taylor and this one straight girl from my gym.”

“She’s not going to leave her husband,” Emma interjected.

“You don’t know that for sure,” Imani countered before asking Will, “Who’s your Achilles’ heel?”

Not me, Emma thought with a dash of self-pity.

“I don’t think I have one,” he replied.

“Oh, come on,” Emma prodded. “There isn’t a single person living or dead who you wouldn’t do anything to be with?”

“Livingordead?” Will asked. “No.”

Imani nodded as though something was clicking together for her. “Let me guess. You’re a pragmatist.”

“Why are you saying that like it’s a bad thing?”

“I’m not. I mostly am too. It just explains why you weren’t open to Emma’s plan, even though you clearly like her. You don’t engage with things that haven’t already been proven to work.”

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