Page 29 of Falling into Place
“Seriously,” Brooks said loudly.
“Shh, calm down. I’m just doing a few basics, like you’re a man, no kids, you’re a doctor, you’re from Oklahoma, blah blah blah.”
“Can we skip my profession?”
Sasha looked up and frowned. “What? Why?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, I just feel like women only want to go out with me because I’m a doctor.”
“Why do you think that?” Macy asked at the same time Sasha said, “What women want to go out with you?”
He eyed Sasha. “If the notion is so shocking, why did you ask me to do this?”
“I didn’t mean it that way, obviously. You haven’t been going on dates, so how would I know women had been suggesting them?”
“It doesn’t happen a lot, but I only get approached by women at the hospital where they know what I do. Maybe they think I’m rich, or something?” If they saw his student loan statements they’d probably run in the other direction. Plus, the general public tended to put doctors on a pretty high pedestal, and if that’s what he was starting with, there was a good chance he’d let them down.
Sasha pursed her lips. “You don’t go anywhere except work, so that’s the only place womencannotice you.”
Okay, fair.
But as a rule, he preferred not to admit when Sasha was right. “Regardless, I’d rather start with something more important, like common interests or values.”
Macy looked on the verge of arguing, but Sasha spoke first. “Fine. I’ll just put you work in health care.”
“Thanks.”
“Okay, now we’re getting to the questions.” Sasha settled back into the cushions. “What are you passionate about?”
Brooks eyed her fingers hovering over the keyboard. “Can’t I just do this myself?” When she’d said she’d come over tonight, he’d envisioned sitting at the kitchen table on his own, giving serious consideration to these questions, with Sasha available to help if he wasn’t sure how to answer something.
“You type too slow.”
“I do not.”
“Just answer the question, Brooks,” Macy said.
Brooks signaled at Mark with a wink, but his brother-in-law was looking at his phone and didn’t notice. Brooks sighed. Evidence-based medicine and broad-scale education about the importance of advanced directives probably weren’t good choices for this.
“Um, helping people, I guess? Health and wellness?”
Sasha nodded. “What else?”
“I don’t know.”
After a pause, Macy suggested they come back to that one. “What’s next?”
“What are two things you like doing with leisure time?”
“I don’t know.”
“Brooks!”
“What? For fourteen years I didn’t have leisure time. Since then, I’ve sort of wandered around, unsure what to do with myself when I’m not working, worried I should be studying for an exam or preparing a Grand Rounds presentation.” Nearly a year later, and he still didn’t know how to relax. “I started that garden a few weeks ago. Can we put that?”
Sasha’s expression saidno. “Do you read?”
“Sometimes.” Usually medical journals.
