“What is?” he asked, placing both elbows on the table and leaning forward.
“We’re so different, you and me. I bet we have very little in common.”
“Clearly not our breakfast food choices.”
“Exactly,” I said with a nod.
“What else?”
“What are your hobbies?”
“What is this, a blind date?”
“Would you just go with it… It’s going to be a long four days. What’s your favorite movie?”
“The Big Lebowski,” he said with a smirk.
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” I asked.
“Have you seen it?”
“Once, I think… It was okay.”
“You just didn’t get it. When you get it, it’s brilliant.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“And what’s your favorite, or are you too snooty for movies, Miss Library?”
“Shut up.” I broke off a piece of bacon and threw it on his plate. He grabbed it and popped it in his mouth. “Of course I like movies. I love movies.”
“So…let me guess. You probably like something snooty like The English Patient… No, wait…Jane Austen, right? You’re obsessed with her.”
About a year ago, Dev hit on me pretty hard. He learned about my Jane Austen obsession and made all kinds of cracks about reading the books to get me to sleep with him. A huge argument broke out between us, and we’d been pseudo enemies ever since. So his mention of Jane brought back a little bit of tension between us.
“I love the books…not the movies.”
“Oh right,” he said, leaning back into the leather cushion of the booth. “Let me guess, they didn’t get any of them quite right, huh?”
I swallowed hard and looked away, knowing he was absolutely right. I hated all the Jane Austen movies I’d seen…except for Clueless. That one was perfection. And Bridget Jones’s Diary was tolerable, but only because of Colin Firth.
“Anyway,” I said, attempting to move past the Jane Austen tension that loomed above our table. “You’ll never guess my favorite, so I’ll just tell you.”
“Oh please do,” he said with a sarcastic chuckle.
“The Wizard of Oz.”
“For real?” He sneered a bit.
“What?”
“I guess I’m just surprised. I know it’s a classic and all, but don’t you think it’s kinda boring?”
“I’ve loved it since I was three.”
“Ugh, and the songs,” he groaned.
I pointed my fork at him. “Watch it. Those songs give me life.”
“All I hear is a whiny white girl who shouldn’t let her dog bite old ladies. You know that whole movie could’ve been avoided if she was just a better pet owner.”
My mouth dropped as I stared at him. “You’re unreal.”
“Hear me out, c’mon. If Toto hadn’t bit that witchy neighbor or whoever she was—”
“Mrs. Gulch.”
“Sure.” He nodded, lacing his hands together above his plate. “If he hadn’t bit her, Dorothy wouldn’t have run away, and so when the storm came, she’d be safe inside the storm cellar. The end.” He took a huge bite of soggy pancakes, looking all too proud of himself.
“For someone who hates the movie, you’ve obviously given this an awful lot of thought.”
His cheeks reddened a bit as he chewed. “I just tell it like it is.”
I laughed under my breath. “Sure you do.”
“Okay, so I’m learning what topics to avoid with you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you get all defensive about Jane Austen, so that’s off the table. And apparently I can’t berate little Miss Dorothy or her dog. What is safe to discuss with you? Or do I just have to discover the landmines as I go?”
“If this was a date, I’d be faking an emergency right now,” I deadpanned.
“Aha, but you can’t, because you’re stuck with me.”
“Yeah, I think you mentioned that already.”
He took another bite of pancakes, looking smug.
“Let’s see if I can find your off-limit topics… I mean, the first one is obvious, right?” His smile disappeared. “Ooh, I struck a nerve already, and I didn’t even say her name.”
“I’m not talking about her.” His tone was cold, harsh. A small chill ran down my spine.
Playful Dev has left the building.
“Has anyone ever broken your heart? And I don’t mean crying-to-your-girlfriends-and-blasting-Taylor Swift’s-latest-break-up-song. I’m talking about someone ripping your freaking heart out, feeling like life-will-never-be-the-same-again kind of heartbreak. Has that ever happened?”
Sweat formed on the back of my neck, and my pulse raced. I regretted turning a somewhat tolerable breakfast into a shitshow. I knew it when I brought her up—I was trying to bug him, but I didn’t expect this level of disdain.
I really screwed up.
“Look, Dev, I’m sorry—”
“Answer the question,” he demanded, staring at me with bitter eyes. I hadn’t just struck a nerve. I’d struck every single one in his body.
A cold knot formed in my stomach as I forced myself to answer. “No.”
“Then you have no idea what you’re talking about.” He stood up and dropped a fifty-dollar bill on the table. “See you back at the room.”
“Wait, you didn’t even finish your pancakes.”
“I’ve lost my appetite.”
He walked away, and I felt like such an ass. Of course I’d had my share of relationships, and of course things had bothered me, some had even stuck with me and affected future relationships. But wasn’t that normal? And since I’d been out of college, no one had even come close to taking control of my heart. I’d been rather guarded in that respect. I’d never had the kind of heartbreak Dev confronted me about. And part of me was starting to wonder if I was even capable of such a thing. I sat in the booth for quite a while, thinking about what he said and how I’d hurt him more than I’d ever want to. We rattled each other’s cages. That was what we did. But this time I’d clearly struck a nerve, and the worst part was I’d done it on purpose. After I finished my coffee, I requested a to-go box for Dev’s pancakes.
“Hey, Lyra, right?”
I turned to see the petite blond from the shuttle bus. “Sam, hi. Good morning.”
“This is crazy, right? The snow just keeps coming.”
I sighed, the harsh reality of my situation becoming all too clear. “Yeah, it’s so strange.”
“Leo can’t get in, obviously, so I’m a little stir-crazy.”
“Same, girl. Same.” I nodded in solidarity.
“Are you all by yourself?”
“Actually, I’m here with a friend… I mean, I guess he’s a friend of a friend. I don’t know, really. Our real friends couldn’t get in.”
You sound like a moron, Lyra.
“Must be a little awkward.”
“A little bit,” I said with a laugh.