“Yeah, this one has all the same features as the last van we had. And I still hate it.” He climbed out of the driver’s seat, and I met him outside.
The lot had a variety of makes and models to choose from. So far, they had all seemed fairly similar to me, but David knew what he was looking for, knew what his wife would want.
I followed him to another model. This one was a different shade of gray from the last one. They all seemed to be various shades of gray, or white.
I opened the passenger door and had a seat. It wasn’t too bad. One of the things I hadn’t expected was how well I fit into the vans. I was tall, well over the six-foot mark. I was entirely too used to having to fold up to fit into cars. Even my own Maserati took some flexibility. The vans fit more like an SUV with more upright seats and plenty of headroom.
It had similar controls in the ceiling. Buttons for the doors and the back. I hit the tailgate and the back popped open.
“This one has in-floor seat storage. That’s always a good thing,” David announced.
“How else are you supposed to store them?”
“They used to come out, and we’d put the extra seat in the garage for when we needed hauling room. Shelly likes to be able to fold and unfold extra seats.”
He walked around the car and slid into the driver’s seat. I could tell he liked this one by the way he kept shaking his head.
“You want to take this one out?” I meant for a test drive.
“Speaking of taking this out. Shelly wants to set you up with this new woman from work.”
“You didn’t waste any time on that segue. Did you?”
“I saw an opening, so I took it. It’s a skill you should learn.” He gave me one of those, ‘you dumb ass,’ looks he’d been giving me since we were kids.
“I know how to take advantage of an opening.”
“You sure? We lost last week, and the ball was wide open.”
Even though we technically did not keep track of the scores during our somewhat regular and somewhat friendly basketball games, David always kept score just so he could remind me. If we lost, it was always my fault. If we won, it was solely because of him.
“Are we bitching about the ball or are you trying to set me up? I’m sort of seeing somebody.”
“I thought you were sort of fucking that one up?”
I shrugged. “We made up.” We made up, and down, and sideways. Brooke had more than knocked my socks off with her enthusiasm and drive.
David’s attention was on the steering column. He peered around it and moved the levers. “What does that do?” he muttered.
His eyes were on the car, but his conversation returned to setting me up. “You can date more than one woman at a time.”
I could, in the past I had. Something about Brooke demanded all of my attention. I did not need anyone else vying for my focus.
“Eh, I could. But I’d rather not.”
David sat up and turned his gaze on me. “What?”
“I’d rather not. Dating is exhausting. It’s like you need a spreadsheet just to keep track of names and likes. Jennifer likes sushi and is available on Mondays, Thursdays, and weekends. But not Saturday mornings, she has her weekend ritual of running and getting her nails done. Next column Lisa, she’s good for games, especially loves going to the stadium and eating hotdogs and drinking beer. But won’t touch either in any other situation. Rachael likes sushi and sleeping in on Saturdays. Now you have to cross-reference Jennifer and Rachael, ’cause it’s your balls if you get them mixed up.”
“You keep track of your dates on a spreadsheet?” David was staring at me with an expression of confusion and concern.
“No. Yes, in my head. Dating multiple women at one time is an art of coordination and memory. And I just do not have it in me to deal with that right now. I need to focus on one woman at a time.”
He cocked an eyebrow and tilted his head. “At least you’re dating. This isn’t serious, is it? I mean you were asking for advice on wooing this woman, and now you’re dating her exclusively…”
“I wouldn’t say exclusively. I’m just not in the mood to date more than one at a time.”
We started walking back toward the sales office. David turned and pointed at the different vans we had looked at before continuing.