Page 31 of The Weight Of It All
“Speaking of madness, what time do you start tomorrow?”
“Six.”
“Jesus, ouch. That has to suck.”
“It’s not so bad.”
“The same way that kale isn’t so bad? Is there a kale scale? Like a Richter scale, only with the horrible nastiness that is kale? Kale would be an eight.”
He chuckled. “Oh no, kale would be a six. Oysters would be an eight.”
I nodded. “Agreed. I’ll allow that. Nothing slimy and salty can taste good.” I stopped in my tracks. “Well, that’s not exactly true. Noteverythingthat’s salty and slimy is bad.”
“I hear pineapple helps with that.”
Now it was me who laughed. “I’ve heard that too, though I think it’s a debunked urban myth.”
“Did I miss an R rated episode of MythBusters?”
“You know, they really should have a sex version of that show.”
“I’m pretty sure the Internet has it covered. Tumblr, Tinder, Grindr.”
“I wouldn’t know. I couldn’t tell you the last time I tried dating. Oh good Lord, dating. Ugh. I’d prefer to eat an oyster and kale salad.”
Reed laughed again. “Yeah, it’s not easy.”
“Have you dated much since… since you became single?”
“No, not really. A few times, but it never felt right. I dunno.” He was quiet for a moment. “You must’ve arrived because I can hear people and music.”
I was standing out the front of the hotel, not really wanting this conversation to end. I spotted Anika at a table, and she waved at me through the crowd. “Yeah, I’m here. And oh please help me, Anika has schnapps. This isn’t going to end well.”
He chuckled into the phone. “Sounds fun. Have a good night.”
“Thanks for chaperoning me on my walk here.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Have a good night.”
“Same to you.”
I disconnected my call and made my way inside and over to Anika. I kissed her cheek. “What’s with the death wish so early in the evening for?” I asked, nodding toward the schnapps.
“Commiserating drinks?” She eyed me cautiously. “Which you don’t apparently need.”
“Why am I commiserating?” I racked my brain trying to think… Oh God. “Did Barry Gibb die?”
“No, I mean, we gave Graham until today and he didn’t reply.”
“Oh.” Man, I’d not given that a thought. “I forgot about that.”
Anika watched me for a long, scrutinising minute. She then noticed I was still holding my phone, and she took it from me. “Whoever you were talking to on the phone out there had you smiling,” she said as she scrolled through my call list. “Jesus Henry. You were talking to Reed for an hour and twelve minutes!”
“We had things to discuss!”
“Such as?”
