By the time Saturday afternoon rolled around, Kevin was nervous. He played Dungeons and Dragons with his guild the night before. They had tried the new healer and it seemed to go pretty well. It was always fun making his friends play with random low-level characters. They always got so frustrated about their limitations, and Kevin loved to mess with them.
The new healer they tried though, was a woman. This wasn't a problem at all, she was actually quite good at it, and worked well with their party. Unfortunately for Kevin, all he could think about was how awesome it would be if Stephanie was into games like this. Then she could join them too, or they could make a new party. It was quite distracting, and the other guys noticed his head was elsewhere and teased him for it.
He and Stephanie hadn't talked again since she told him where to meet her. He wasn't sure if it was a date, or if they were just friends. Not knowing what else to do to kill time, Kevin headed to the bookstore early. He figured he could wander around for a little while, he had already thought of some titles, but he felt the pressure of what she asked and knew he couldn't let her down with his first recommendation. He wanted to refresh his mind on some of the better titles he had read in the past year.
When he approached the front door, he saw she was also approaching from the opposite direction, and waved. She caught his eye and waited for him outside the main entrance.
"I see we both like spending time in bookstores and like to be early," she said with a smile. "Shall we?" she gestured to the door. Kevin wasted no time and opened it for her. He liked that this store didn't have automatic doors. They were so uncomfortable in the winter if you were browsing the books near them. Bookstores should be cozy.
"So, how was the rest of your week?" she inquired.
"Not bad, it's been busy, but my big deadline was Thursday. It took me almost a month to get all the bugs out of one guy's code."
"Oh wow. That seems like a lot. I wish I knew how to code, but I never learned. Now I just have no idea when I would use it, so like, why bother right?"
"It's still a valuable skill to have these days. At least a basic level. Not everyone needs a degree in it like me."
"I don't even know how I would learn though. Like, where could I take classes?"
"There's lots of instructional videos online. Or I probably know some guys who might be able to teach you."
"Are you one of those guys?"
"Why, yes I am! But seriously, if you want to learn, I could try to teach you some basics."
"Well, we will see how you do with books first before we go that far." She tossed a grin over her shoulder and headed off to the fiction area. Kevin shook his head to clear it, and followed after her.
"So, what type of fiction are you thinking? Is there a specific style you like? Authors? You need to give me something if I am going to be of any help."
"Okay, well, let's start with the fact that Harry Potter was my favourite book growing up, which turned into Spellmasters more recently, but I haven't read much fantasy lately."
"Are you looking for a series, or stand alone?"
"Either."
"Well then follow me, I know just the place to start!" he turned into the stacks and forced Stephanie to follow him.
*
An hour and a half later they were sitting in the best comfy chairs, comparing books and their screen adaptations, when Kevin's stomach growled. Loudly. Stephanie looked at him with wide eyes and then laughed. Kevin could feel the heat rising up his neck. He had been too nervous to eat more than a small snack for lunch, and now he really wanted an early dinner.
"Well, I am glad to know I'm not the only one feeling a bit hungry. Does that mean it's time to go?"
"No, not unless you want to go. My stomach was just reminding me of its existence. It can be ignored a bit longer."
"Ah yes, I'm glad to know you are human and have food requirements like me. So, let's go buy these books, and then grab a bite? Unless you have other plans of course..." she trailed off uncertainly, and he smiled at her.
"No. No plans for me tonight."
"Alright, if there are no other objections, let's get food."
"Okay." Kevin grabbed his books and headed up to the cash register behind Stephanie. He was getting a new book for himself, and he found a book on sale about Jean Beliveau he was going to buy for Uncle Dean. It was the least he could do in exchange for all of the lunches. A small token of his gratitude.
Outside, Stephanie announced that she wanted to eat something 'noodly'.
"Like, just noodles?"
"No, something that has noodles in it. Like Asian or Italian cuisines."
"Okay. Like, a full dinner or smaller snack?"
"I don't always need to label my meals like that, do you?"
"Nope, just trying to figure out how filling this will be. And also, where to go for it."
"There's a pretty good Thai place about two blocks that way if you're into Thai."
"Works for me. Lead the way."
Stephanie led him to a very authentic mom-and-pop shop squished between two shoe stores.
"This is the best Thai food in the city."
"I'll trust you on that. I can't say I know too many places like this. How did you find it?"
"Oh..." she took a deep breath and looked down at her shoes, speaking very quickly, "My ex and I used to come here. His office was not too far that way, and some of his coworkers prided themselves on knowing 'the best' places for everything. Typical lawyer tune. Most of the time it was really pretentious feeling restaurants, but one of the older partners swore by this place and their noodles."
"Huh, well I will take your word for it and let you tell me what's good."
"Basically, all of it. Just be careful with the spice levels. They aren't kidding when they say hot."
"Good to know." He turned and studied the menu, trying not to think too much about how her ex was probably a lawyer. He also wondered where they would actually eat this food, as it appeared to be standing room only.
When they received their orders, Stephanie led him out around the back and into a little garden seating area. Kevin was stunned.
"Whoa, this is great."
"I know. I always wanted to sit out here, but never did. Mark didn't like the dirt."
"Mark is your ex?" he asked tentatively.
"Yeah. He just moved to Vancouver." She looked down at her noodles and her shoulders slumped. Then she sighed and looked back up at Kevin who was still standing in front of her. "But let's not talk about him right now. Not in this place. It can stay a Mark free zone"
Kevin noticed she seemed to be putting on a brave face and changed the subject as he sat down beside her. For being in the middle of the city, it was amazingly peaceful, and the bubbling fountain combined with the chirping birds made it seem like everything else just disappeared around them. Kevin thought he could talk to her for hours.
They finished their noodles and spent another half hour just talking. Trading stories from school, the trials of finding decent, affordable places to live in the city, and keeping jobs. He felt like he was really connecting with her. They decided to head out when the bugs started to bite.
When they came around the corner and back out onto the street, Stephanie stopped short in front of him, and he walked into her by accident.
"Sorry! What's wrong?"
"Nothing, sorry."
She took one hesitant step forward and headed right.
"Stephanie?" A suited man with dark hair standing outside the restaurant door was looking at her, and Kevin noticed Stephanie flinch just slightly as she turned around.
"Hi, David. What are you doing here?"
"Just grabbing some dinner. Mark told me about this place last year and I've been dying to try it ever since."
"Well, what a coincidence! Why didn't you ever come with him then? Too busy going to the fancy bars to stoop to a lowly noodle shop on your weekends in town?"
"Well, I gladly would've, but the other guys never wanted to."
"Uh huh. Well, I've got to go. Bye David." She took a step away from him.
"Wait!" She stopped at his call and slowly turned back to the man. "It looks like I will be staying in Toronto in the foreseeable future, and I really want to get the rest of the gang back together for a night on the town. Hasn't happened yet. Want to come? I'm sure the rest of the guys would like to see you too. You were always one of us back then. Even without Mark."
"Sorry, I'm busy. And I was only ever Mark's girlfriend to you guys."
His voice softened when he continued. "You were more to me." Stephanie's eyes widened comically at that, and Kevin held in his snort of laughter. The man continued, "nothing is set yet. I'll text you when I hear back from the others."
"I really need to go now. We're meeting up with some other people." She turned on her heel and walked away. Kevin followed right behind her, hearing the "See you soon, Steph" drift off into the wind behind them, but said with an intensity that seemed out of place.