Page 54 of Anatomy of a Meet Cute
Before Sam could blink, Stephanie proceeded to give them a rundown of how to eat a curry-soup bite, an explanation of the wines, and little note cards with gold pencils. She then pointed to the note cards and said, “I’ll leave you to process the experience of our passed apps.”
“Shall we try the momos first?” Jehan beamed over at them and scooped up a vegan dumpling, prompting Sam and Duke to do the same.
For his part, Travis reached for a curry-soup bite, and the four of them all nodded and got to work on their respective choices. Sam watched Duke’s and Jehan’s eyes go wide as they all experienced what could only be described as utter deliciousness.
“Oh, these are—”
Travis barked out a cough, interrupting Jehan, then reached for his first glass of white wine. Downing the glass in a single gulp, he wheezed, “The curry is spicy.”
“Do you want some water?” Duke said, pointing to the glass in front of him as Travis reached for the red that was on the table.
Draining half that glass, Travis’s face began to turn an uncomfortable-looking shade of pink as he said, “I’ll be fine. But we can’t serve those.”
Taking in the crestfallen look on her friend’s face, Sam said, “Right. Maybe the three of us will try them, and you can have a momo. Then we’ll all make notes before we try the other two appetizers. How does that sound?”
“Works for me,” Duke said, his gaze darting back and forth between Jehan and Travis. While the three of them grabbed their curry-soup bites, Duke continued, “So, Travis, last time we saw you, you were looking at banking policy. You still working on that?”
Sam tried to focus on not dumping the admittedly awkwardly plated bit of food everywhere while half listening to Travis as he talked about his client, a national bank chain, who was trying to ascertain the effects of a potential new banking law on their business. As far as Samcould tell, it sounded terrible for consumers but good for banks, which, Travis informed them, was actually good for him as well.
“A happy client is a happy analyst,” he said, then polished off his second glass of wine.
“Makes sense,” Duke said, taking overly careful notes with his pencil.
“Wonder if they’d give us a bit more of the white? I didn’t really get to taste it because of the overkill curry,” Travis announced, and Sam thought that he seemed like the kind of guy who talked loudly on the phone at work so people would think he was important.
“You can have some of mine,” Jehan said, smiling as she handed him her still-half-full glass. “Gotta pace myself if there is a pairing for every course.”
“You’re so small; it’s not like you can hold much liquor,” Travis joked, and all of them laughed for possibly the first time since he’d flown in last night.
As if sensing they were ready for the next course, Stephanie and the cadre of servers reappeared with two miniature entrées plus another two glasses of wine.
“First we have a traditional stuffed acorn squash with a brown sugar glaze that has just a hint of black pepper and cloves. Then we have our Better Than Meat filet mignon with a mushroom-based sauce and shishito pepper and cauliflower puree. And of course a red and a white for each. Enjoy.”
Duke waited until the staff was gone before eyeing the steak. “And here I thought nothing could top the brisket-bite appetizer.”
“I’d be shocked if it didn’t,” Travis grumbled. So far, he hadn’t been a fan of any of their options, which seemed absurd to Sam since he was the vegan at the table.
“Come on, Trav. Will you just try?” Jehan said, rolling her eyes. Sam wasn’t sure she had ever seen her roommate truly irritated, and that included the time Duke had accidentally burned popcorn in themicrowave and woken them all up at 4:00 a.m. after Jehan had pulled two long shifts in a row.
“I’m only trying for you, babe,” Travis said, half grinning through gritted teeth as he reached for the red wine in front of him.
Sam didn’t love the tone or the volume of his comment and had opened her mouth to say as much when she caught Duke giving her a microshake of his head and remembered her promise. Duke was right. She wasn’t the one marrying Travis. Jehan was smart and grown, and she could speak for herself. Deciding to ignore the comment, Sam said, “Do we want to start with the stuffed squash first?”
“Yes. Let’s try that first,” Jehan said, her words a little too excited to be sincere. “So Sam is in charge of the doula program I mentioned,” she said, trying to move the conversation to safer ground.
“Oh, really? Jehan talks about that thing nonstop,” Travis said, looking a little red in the face.
“That’s me,” Sam said, trying not to gobble down the entire scrumptious acorn squash in one bite. “I have to say, none of this would have been possible without Jehan’s grant-writing expertise. She is such a pro.”
“Huh. So tell me what it’s all about again.” Travis’s words came out a little fuzzy. Although Sam wasn’t sure if that was because of the black pepper in the squash or if it was the wine he had finished. At some point, he had clearly forgotten that he had polished off his red and inadvertently taken Duke’s nearly full glass. A mistake her friend didn’t bother to correct.
“Really, it’s just about putting the person giving birth at the center of our care,” Sam said, firing up her elevator pitch. By now, she had given it enough times that she was actually starting to get good at it. While Duke and Jehan threw in bits and pieces about the program, Stephanie and the team reappeared to whisk their plates away. For his part, Travis asked surprisingly thoughtful questions about their work in between writing notes about the food—which were mostly just frowny faces—and finishing off Duke’s red wine.
“So that’s what the program is all about,” Sam said, right as two mini cakes and two dessert wines appeared in front of them.
“Sounds like a lot of work. Is the hospital paying you all extra for this?” Travis asked, gesturing around at the group with his glass.
“Well, no. But ultimately if Sam’s theory is correct, her research will lighten our schedules and ensure that we aren’t having to see patients for questions that really could, and often should, be answered by someone else,” Duke said diplomatically.
