“It’s better than the alternative. What if I got stuck in the elevator every time and all of my milk products spoiled?”
“Good point. But at least if you got trapped with all of your groceries, you would have something to eat besides your own foot.”
“I don’t have that many groceries anyway. I’m only one person. I can carry it all in one trip.”
“Ah. You’re one of those get-it-all-in-one-trip kind of people.”
“I don’t trust anyone who isn’t.” I turn to look at him as we reach the third floor. “Oh no. Please don’t tell me you like making multiple trips. Do you only carry one bag at a time?”
He frowns. “Is that a deal breaker?”
I nod. “Obviously.”
“Well, you’re in luck then, because I practically invented getting it all in one trip.” He ignores my eyeroll. “Try carrying in all the groceries for a family of six without any help.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Okay, now you’re just showing off. Big family, huh?”
He smiles. “Yeah. What about you?”
I shake my head. “It was just me growing up. I always wished I had siblings.”
“It can be chaotic,” he says, “but I wouldn’t change a thing.”
I find myself hoping that I’ll get to meet his family. I know this is absurd, because we haven’t even been on our first date yet.
My cell starts to ring. I pull it out of my purse to see who is calling.
“Need to take that?” he asks.
I sigh. “It’s Anne. She’s trying to plan our trip.”
I hope that he’ll tell me to cancel the trip and spend the whole weekend with him. I want him to tell me to forget about that guy who used to write letters to me and move on with my life. Even if he knew all this, I’m not sure I could. I need closure. I can’t leave this thing with Luca open-ended.
“Have fun,” Jake says. “I’ll see you when you’re back.”
I watch him go up the stairs, and then I answer Anne’s call, balancing my phone on my shoulder as I open the door to the third-floor hallway.
“So, I’m looking online and there’s a nonstop flight to San Diego that leaves in four hours for less than three hundred dollars.”
“That’s not bad at all.” For some reason I always imagined that plane tickets cost thousands of dollars.
“It’s a pretty good deal,” she says. “We’ll get there tonight, and we can book a double room – unless you want separate rooms? – and then look for your penemy’s street first thing in the morning. If that goes well, we can spend the rest of the day at the beach, then catch a redeye back home.”
“Okay. What’s a redeye?”
“Are you serious? All those years in college and you never learned what a redeye is?”
“Is it an airplane? I’ve never flown before, Anne.”
I can hear her laughing at me on the other end. “It’s an overnight flight. We’ll get home early Sunday morning. That way we don’t have to pay for two nights at the hotel.”
“Count me in. How do I get my ticket? Do I buy it at the airport?”
“You’ve seriously never flown before?”
“If you keep mocking me, I’m going to back out.”
“Fine. But no. I mean, you can buy the ticket at the airport, but it’s quicker if you just do it online. I can send you a link.”
