Weird.
"Have you ever eaten meat?" I asked because even if I left now, I'd still miss the rest of it by the time I got home. Might as well stay in misery. Though, if I were being honest with myself, it wasn't nearly as miserable as I thought it would be. Maron was a formidable verbal foe.
She shook her head. "I never had a desire for it. It's the strangest thing."
Maron was right. It was really weird. "Have you ever gone to the doctor for it?"
Another shake. "No. My family and my best friend used to be the only ones who knew."
"So now it's Portia and your... dates?" That word felt off in my mouth. "What made you put yourself out there?"
"The chance at a real relationship," she said and offered me a sad smile. "Though I think we can see that what we have here is no love match."
"No," I agreed, though I wasn't sure why because I wasn't altogether certain we were continuing to fail on this date. "We certainly aren't."
"I have two more to go," she admitted. "What about you?"
Two more men. "One," I said.
"So Portia only gave you two to choose from?" She cringed at me and laughed. "Guess we can see which one is going to work before you even meet her, right?"
"Right," I said and offered her a crooked smile. "Guess so."
After that, we both tackled our dinner. She must have seen me eyeing her mac and cheese because she pushed the bowl over and let me get a couple of forkfuls of it. I was right. It was delicious.
When we'd finished, we both sat back and sighed. "At least we got through a meal," she said after a moment.
"Miracle of miracles."
Maron went for her purse but I waved her away. "My treat. It's the least I can do." I waved for the check and paid it quickly. Maron was slipping on her jacket and about to leave when I stopped her. "Thanks for a very weird evening," I said to her. I helped her into the other sleeve and noticed that in close proximity, she smelled like strawberries. I tried not to inhale like a weirdo but it was hard not to. She smelled like a garden in spring.
Too bad she was a harridan.
When she'd gotten her jacket on, she gave me a sunny smile. "Congratulations on your match, then, Sterling. I hope you make each other very happy."
I blinked at her. "Excuse me?"
She tilted her head. "Your match. Portia always sets you up with your soul mate on the first date." Concern crinkled the space between her brow. "You did know that, right? You have your date with me and that was obviously a disaster, so the woman tomorrow must be it." She grinned. "I've got two more to go, but one of them has to be it!"
Her smile fell as she studied me. "Sterling?"
"Hmm?" I asked only to realize I was staring at her. "Oh sorry. Yes. Congrats to me." I waggled my fingers in fake exultation.
She gave me a concerned look and a little wave. "Well. Bye then. I'm sure she will be wonderful!" Maron turned from me and walked away, leaving strawberries in her wake and a whole lot of confusion.
I knew Portia was in the business of soul mates, but for some dumb reason I thought I'd escaped it when I agreed to her weird two women date thing.
Because if the next date wasn't it, I'd just let my crazy shrewish soul mate walk right out of the door.
