Page 36 of The Sitcom Star
But thinking of who Maddie Ng could kiss made him feel out of sorts.He was a pretty ordinary guy, both appearance-wise and in other ways.Maddie was breathtakingly beautiful, and she was amazing at what she did.People found the show entertaining and relatable.
His favorite episode was still the body-swap one.Waverly had been watching a C-drama before bed, and the rest of the episode was about her dreaming she and Max were in a C-drama…in which they swapped bodies.She acted like Max and Max acted like her, and it was incredible how well they pulled it off.
Adrian couldn’t believe that the rare time Colleen needed emergency childcare had coincided with Maddie coming up to his neighborhood.Colleen hadn’t picked up Ryder until nine on Sunday night, at which point the boy had been sleeping soundly.
Adrian hadn’t asked what was happening with Meredith—he didn’t feel it was his business—and Colleen hadn’t said much about it.But she’d teased him about Maddie.
And continued to tease him via text in the past few days.
After Adrian turned off the TV, he got a text message and a photo of a crocheted Peppa Pig from Maddie.
MADDIE:What do you think of my pig?
ADRIAN:That’s really impressive.
MADDIE:It’s not like I made the pattern myself.I bought it online.
ADRIAN:Uh, it’s impressive.Didn’t you just learn to crochet, like, a week ago?
MADDIE:But I have lots of time to practice, and buying yarn is so addictive.
MADDIE:It’s for Ryder.If you think he’d like it.
She hadn’t needed to stay while he’d babysat his nephew.He wasn’t surprised she’d stayed for a little while, so she could eat the lunch they had planned, but all afternoon?And now she’d made him a toy?Adrian was touched.
Ryder already had at least one Peppa Pig plushie—it was his second favorite, after Gigi, but he would love another.
ADRIAN:Of course
MADDIE:I’ll give it to you the next time I see you.I was thinking we could go to our old neighborhood?My parents don’t live there anymore, so I haven’t been in years.
ADRIAN:Saturday?
On Saturday, Adrian picked Maddie up at York Mills Station, since he was the one with a car and taking transit to where they’d lived was a pain.
Maddie, once again, was wearing a dress, and he swore she looked better every time he saw her, which was a truly impressive feat.This dress showed more cleavage than the last one, and he would not think about burying his head between her breasts.He wouldnot.
She smiled as she got into the passenger’s seat.“How was your week?”
“The usual,” he said.“Work was…work.”His job had become remote in 2020 and he was still able to work from home.He was one of those weird people who kind of missed the office, though working at home was convenient, and he’d gotten accustomed to it.
But the past few weeks hadn’t quite felt like his normal life.He was spending time with Maddie Ng, and it was the most socializing he’d done, outside of his family, since the pandemic began.
“Adrian?”
He startled at her voice, at her hand on his shoulder.“Is something wrong?”
“Nope, nothing.I’m good.How was your week?What did you do other than crochet?”He pulled onto Yonge Street.
“Well, I did a lot of crocheting.Reorganized my bookshelf.Took three and a half naps.”
“How do you take half a nap?”
“I count naps under half an hour as half a nap.Otherwise, I feel like I’m giving myself too much credit.Yesterday, I also watched a bunch of videos on how to throw a Frisbee.I figure that knowledge might be useful at some point.”
The words hung in the air again.He wanted to suggest another picnic, another trip to the island, but he didn’t say anything.He shouldn’t be thinking of the future with her, just enjoying whatever it was they had before she went back to her hectic life.
“At some point I ended up with sixty-seven tabs open on my browser,” she said, “which is most unlike me.I prefer to keep it under ten.Remember when browsers didn’t have multiple tabs?God, I feel old.”
