Chapter 39

Parking your car, you got out and checked yourself over quickly. Your shirt was tucked in appropriately, you had the top couple of buttons undone like Hikaru had told you. Your fly was up, so no embarrassment waiting for you there. Deodorant was on. Shoes were tied. You had your wallet, phone, keys...

Why did you feel even more nervous now than you had the first time you were meeting April?

Zara was her friend. You weren’t even meeting April’s parents or something. But then, Zara was her ‘chosen’ family, so was that kind of more important?

And had April felt this nervous meeting Hannah? Or Hikaru and Margot?

’I’m here,’ you texted April like she’d asked you to, and waited a minute before heading through the parking lot towards the front door. It wasn’t the kind of restaurant I would have picked - I would have thought we’d go to somewhere like a steakhouse, or equally fancy. Instead, April had texted that I should meet them at the China Buffet down on Central - I’d never been inside, but I’d driven past it more than enough times to know where it was and I was fully aware that the interior likely matched the exterior with its kitschy ‘authenticity’ and the dubious quality of food.

Not that I was against mediocre Westernised Chinese food, but the diet Hannah had me on meant I’d be crying over all my favourites that I couldn’t eat. No noodles - too many carbs. No lemon chicken - too much sugar in the sauce, and no breading allowed.