Noah:Meanwhile, my wife’s out there trying a new flavor every chance she gets.
Mia:Guess you’ll have to find a way to keep our marriage spicy then, huh?
As soon as she hit Send, she regretted it. She scrambled to find something else to say, to explain she hadn’t meant itthatway. But everything she typed out seemed ridiculous, and she kept erasing it to start over. Finally, another message from Noah came through.
Noah:We’re so different.
They were. As she considered how to respond, Barbara said, “Mia?”
Mia looked up. Natasha had placed the tourniquet on the older woman’s arm and stood at the ready with the needle.
Barbara’s eyes were wide, her lips quivering. “Would you talk to me? To distract me?”
Forgetting all about her conversation with Noah, Mia dropped the phone in her lap. “Of course.” She launched into a monologue about going back to school, and what prompted her interest in pediatric dietetics. She talked about her own issues with eating growing up, and told Barbara that the brownie she’d handed over was one of her many attempts to have perfected recipes at the ready for future patients with allergies or food aversions. Natasha expertly started the IV and left, while Barbara and Mia kept chatting. They spent the rest of the time discussing their favorite recipes and baking techniques, and before Mia knew it, her pump beeped to indicate her infusion was complete.
Natasha disconnected the empty bag and pulled the IV from Mia’s arm.
“See you next week,” Natasha said with a smile.
“I’ll be here.” Mia stood and turned to Barbara. “Will you be back?”
Barbara nodded. “As long as this works, I’ll be here every other week.”
“If you didn’t mind me talking your ear off, ask for Natasha again.”
“I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was lovely meeting you, Mia.”
Mia gathered her things, and as she made her way to her car, she realized she’d left off in the middle of a conversation with Noah. She opened her messages to type out an apology, and found another message from him she hadn’t seen. She slowed her steps, reading it twice, unsure what to make of it.
I guess it’s a good thing opposites attract.
After dinner that night, Noah said he had something for her and disappeared to his room. She cleaned up the table and out of habit separated the extra wings for Claire before realizing she wouldn’t be going back home to take them to her.
Shewashome.
Instead, she wrapped them up and put them in the fridge, wondering if she’d have time to take them to Claire tomorrow.
Noah reentered the living room and sat beside her. She’d kept her original spot on the couch, and it felt like every other Thursday night.
Except this time, he offered her a ring.
She stared at his open palm and the two circles there. They were silicone, the larger one black and the small one a dark purple.
He took the purple one between his thumb and forefinger. “I’m sorry I didn’t think about rings before. But someone asked me, and I realized we should probably wear them.”
She nodded, her throat strangely tight. She took the band, bending it between her fingers.
“They’re nothing fancy. It seemed silly to spend a lot of money. You know, since...” he trailed off.
Why did her heart feel so fluttery, bouncing around inside her chest? This was for appearances, plain and simple. Still, she couldn’t hide the emotion in her voice. “Purple’s my favorite.”
“I know.”
She slid the ring on her fourth finger and watched as he slowly did the same with his. She looked up to find his ice-blue gaze on her.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “Not just for the ring.”
“I swear, Mia. If I hear those words from your mouth one more time...”