He shot her a glance, then went back to looking at the road. “Do you drink a lot?”
She shook her head. “No. I really shouldn’t drink at all; I’m hopeless at it. I get drunk right away, then hungover two hours later. I don’t do it well.”
He laughed. “So, not a boozer, then, that’s what you’re saying?”
She shook her head. “I usually end up crying.”
“Wow. Then yeah, you should stick to soda.” He flicked on the indicator, and Nina tapped her toes in time to the click.
“Soda makes me fart.” Then she closed her mouth tightly and promised herself she wouldn’t say anything else. Possibly ever.
“Well, plain water it is, then.” He looked sideways at her. “Not that there’s anything wrong with farting.”
She kept her promise and said nothing. Instead, she stared out of the window, noticing the usual things: homeless people waking up after a day of sleeping in order to be alert during the more dangerous night. Hipsters who dressed like the homeless people but with better shoes, crowding around doorways, or waiting for ride-share cars, looking up and down from their phones, reading license plates with more attention than they ever had in their lives before. Bodegas and liquor stores lit up like Christmas, their lights pooling on the damp and sticky sidewalks out front. Then they entered the residential part of Larchmont, where the streetlights were desirably vintage, but few and far between.
They pulled up outside the guesthouse. She’d left the reading light on next to her armchair, and the glow was inviting. Part of her wished she’d stayed home tonight, because now her head hurt and she hadn’t even won the trivia contest. She sighed.
“Nice pad,” said Tom.
“Thanks.” She was fumbling with the door handle, something that normally didn’t give her any trouble. Tom leaned across and opened it for her, pushing the door all the way open.
“Do you need help finding your keys?” He was teasing her.
She looked at him and shook her head. “I think not.” Something occurred to her. “Wait, did you desert your team? Weren’t you up in the next round?”
“Yeah.” Tom shrugged. “Without your team to play against, all the challenge was gone.”
She frowned. “And did your teammates see it that way?”
He nodded. “They don’t take it very seriously.” It had been Lisa who’d pushed him out the door to see if Nina needed a ride home, but he didn’t think he needed to mention that. “Besides, I’m sure QuizDick will reschedule it.”
“OK then.” She told her legs to swing around and get out of the car, but they weren’t having it. She frowned and made them do it—jeez, who was in charge of this bus, anyway? Once out and standing, she swayed a little, and then Tom got out and was right there, holding her arm.
“You really aren’t good at drinking, are you?” he said, smiling.
She looked up at him. “Do you read books?”
He frowned. “Sure. Occasionally.”
“Good books?”
“Well, books I think are good.”
“Have you read Jane Austen?”
“No.”
“Kurt Vonnegut?”
“No.”
“Truman Capote?”
“No.” His face was blank, but she could see he was getting vaguely irritated by this line of questioning.
“Harry Potter?” She was desperate.
“When I was a kid, of course.”
“Do you know which house you’re in?”
“No. I’m not a total nerd.”
She swayed again, and suddenly leaned up into him, turning her face up, so there was really nothing he could do except kiss her.
Which he did. Lightly, but properly.
“Do you want to come in?” she said, once they’d separated.
“Are you sure I’m welcome? I haven’t done the required reading.”
She nodded and stretched up on her toes again, pulling him back down. His arm was tight around her waist, he was kissing her deeply, but then he pulled away and shook his head.
“No. I don’t take advantage of tipsy book snobs. It’s a rule.”
“It is?” Nina was confused. “Who said?”
“Me.” He turned her gently around and pointed her toward the house. “Go on, I’ll make sure you get there in one piece.”
She walked into her house, managing the stairs pretty well, actually, and once inside went to the window and opened it. He was still in the driveway.
“Hi,” she said.
He grinned up at her. “Hello.”
“Shall I let down my hair?”
He shook his head. “It’s not long enough to reach me, for one thing, and secondly, I never understood why that was a good idea. Why not cut the hair into lengths, braid them into ropes, and create an actual ladder? It wouldn’t be that hard.”
“But it would be less romantic. And a much shorter story.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, but it would be pretty hard core of what’s-her-name to create a hair ladder and escape, right?”
“Rapunzel?”
“If you say so.” He turned to leave but paused and looked back up at her, haloed in the reading light. “I’d like to see you again.”
Nina inclined her head regally. “I’m prepared to consider it.”
“Don’t overwhelm me with enthusiasm.”
“OK.”
“Bye, then.” He climbed into the car and pulled away, waving out of the window.
“Bye, then,” said Nina, watching his lights fade away. Then she went inside and closed the window.
“Phil,” she said to the cat, who was back-and-forthing on the floor, waiting to be fed, “I think I met someone.”
“That’s fantastic,” said the cat. “I’m hungry.”
As Tom drove away, he pulled out his phone and called his older brother, Richard.
“I think I met someone,” he said, as soon as he heard his brother answer.
“Hi, Tom,” replied his brother, wryly. “How are you? It’s nighttime—did you notice?”
“I’m freaking out,” Tom said. “That’s why I’m calling.”
“If you only met someone, why freak out yet? Keep your powder dry for when you’ve slept with her a few times and she reveals herself to be a total lunatic and you have to work out how to get away from her. Then you can freak out.”
Tom said, “Look, you and I are not the same person. I try to find out their mental status before I sleep with them.”
His brother’s voice was sarcastic. “Really? What about Annika?”
“That was an exception. Every rule needs an exception.”
“But not every woman requires a restraining order.”
“She had beautiful hair.”
“She did. Until she shaved it off and mailed it to you.”
Tom realized he wasn’t paying attention to driving at all and pulled over. “This girl is different.”
He could hear his brother sigh. “Tell me.”
“She works in a bookstore.”
“Employed is good. Literate is good.”
“She is small and has hair the color of a chestnut.”