Page 174 of Deep End

He crosses his arms. “I know she has already fed you.”

Meow.

“She told me. She wrote it right there, on the board.”

Meow.

“I’m not her. I will not be manipulated.”

Meoooow.

He sighs and opens the treats cupboards.

He finds it at work, during rounds, while patting the pockets of his white coat in search of a pen.

The note reads:

Whenever you open this, I’m probably thinking of you.

Occasionally, someone brings up his previous life.

“Do you really not miss swimming?”

“Not really, no.”

“Interesting. You know, there’s an orthopedics resident here who used to be an Olympian a few years ago. Like in . . . Paris, I want to say?”

Melbourne, Lukas corrects in his head.

“Diving, I think. The one in pairs? She and her partner got a bronze medal.”

Silver.

“Do you know of her?”

Lukas smiles. “I am familiar, yes.”

They compare their schedules as soon as they receive them. Some months are better than others.

SCARLETT:How many times do you think we’ll see each other in the next year?

LUKAS:At least one.

SCARLETT:Right, the wedding.

LUKAS:Two, if we can both make the rehearsal dinner and neither of us has to send a proxy.

SCARLETT:Sounds far-fetched. You must believe in fairy tales.

LUKAS:If trolls exist, anything can happen.

“This is Lukas, my best friend’s fiancé,” Pen says.

He cannot help a small smile.

“What?”

“The way you introduced me.” Not her own ex. Not her ownfriend. It seems to occur to Pen, too, and her eyes widen. “Oh, shit, I’m so sorry. I promise I love you and stuff.”

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