Page 40 of Emergency Exit
Piper drank more mimosa but didn’t look convinced.
“What were you doing at work on a Saturday anyway?”
Harper groaned and sank lower in her seat.
“I had a full Harper Moment.”
“What does that mean?”
“I woke up at Ash’s,” Piper made a squeak of excitement, but Harper made an angry gesture, “and I failed to remember that it is Saturday. Then I panicked and ran out.”
“Didn’t he say anything?”
“He wasn’t there. There was a thing.”
“I can’t do stories like this. Well, I can, but I don’t want to. Be more linear.”
Relieved to have Piper’s support, Harper poured out the story, ending with Harmony and the news story.
“Woah. Scary night for Ash’s brother. And good for Harmony for apologizing, I guess, but she is definitely not your pookie bear.”
“She’s probably right,” said Harper, waving at the waitress for another mimosa. “I probably am incompetent.”
“You’re not dating incompetent, but I think that maybe…”
“Maybe what?” asked Harper. “I’m an idiot?”
“No, you’re very honest, and you take what people say at face value. If they say they are mad or your friend or whatever, you believe that.”
“Well, what else am I supposed to do?”
“The problem is that people aren’t always aware of what they’re feeling, and sometimes they unintentionally lie.”
“Oh, I hadn’t thought of that.”
“And sometimes people lie on purpose because it benefits them.”
“Well, yeah.” That seemed like the only reasonable reason to lie.
“And sometimes people say things that they expect you to interpret in a particular way.”
“How would I know to do that?”
“It’s cultural. Like my mom’s family… My grandma will say,Goodness, someone needs to do the dishes.And her kids will all hop up and start doing them. In my Dad’s family, if she said that, nothing would happen because none of them are namedSomeone,and it is not their family culture. Which is why my Mom gets mad when she says someone ought to do something, and no one does. She gets upset because she thought she was clear, but it wasn’t clear to the people she was talking to.”
Harper frowned. She liked Piper’s story. It seemed to explain many of her past conversational miscommunications, but it also felt like Piper was trying to tell her something.
“Of course, communication got better when my brother was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum. Blunt works better for him. But my point is… You’re not dating incompetent, but you can’t always decipher what secret message someone is sending.”
“Yes! That’s why I like being with Ash. He’s very clear!”
“Well, then probably the best thing to do is just ask Ash if he kissed you because he would like to change the deal or if things just got romantic because you were trying on clothes and drinking wine. Which, frankly, sounds like an amazing date.”
“We also pushed someone into a pool.”
“Damn it! Why are your fake dates better than my real life?”
“It can’t be that great,” said Harper, looking at her phone. “I’m still on read for my last text.”
