My instinct is to refute the compliment, but experience has taught me that never works. So I go for casual-if-fake arrogance instead. “See how well you already know me?” I hold up my hand for another high five, and this time he slaps his palm against mine in return.
Six
By the endof my second week living with Jack, I’ve found a bartending gig, gained three hundred new followers on Instagram, and managed to completely clear out the backyard. And that’s just the fun stuff. I also managed to put together a mini business plan and build a website, all by myself. Okay, Nick actually came over and helped a little with the website, but the ideas were all mine.
Jack and I have kept our conversations light and simple, and it probably comes as no surprise, but they’ve mostly consisted of me talking about myself and my new kick-ass life goals. I still know next to nothing about Jack, but he could probably give a TED Talk on the life of Sadie Green. The surface life anyway.
I wake up Saturday, ready to take my backyard plans to the next level. Time to germinate some seeds, mothafuckas!
After dressing in my gardening best—cut-off shorts and the standby Columbia tee—I run out for coffee, grabbing a latte for myselfand an iced coffee with milk for Jack, and I’m back before the man even rolls down the stairs.
Because I’m going to need easy access to water, I set up shop in the kitchen once again, spreading out the plastic seed trays and hauling over the big-ass bag of soil I purchased at a nearby nursery earlier this week. I label the trays before scooping dirt into each of the small compartments, taking frequent coffee-sip breaks while I work.
Jack comes downstairs just as I’m filling up a pitcher of water.
“Good morning! Your coffee is in the fridge.” I nod my head in the fridge’s general direction; you know, just in case he forgot where it is.
“Should I even try reminding you that you don’t have to get me coffee every time you go out?” Jack runs a hand through his still sleep-rumpled hair. Though to be honest, it pretty much always looks sleep rumpled.
“No. Unless you have some caffeine allergy or something, I’m never not going to bring you coffee.” What kind of roommate does that? Of course, in the past, my roommates equally bestowed coffee upon me, but since I haven’t seen Jack leave the house once since I moved in, I’ve kind of given up hope there.
“Well, thank you. I appreciate it.” He grabs his coffee from the fridge and pulls up a seat at the peninsula. “Do I want to know what all this is?”
I clap my hands together. “Today is germination day!”
“Is that supposed to sound like a good thing?”
“Yes. Because it is.” I hold up one of the tiny seed packets I bought earlier this week. “Today we plant the seeds, and then over the next few weeks, they germinate and grow roots. Then, when these little babies are toddler aged, we take them and move them into their new homes in the garden, where they will live long, healthy, nurtured lives.”
“Should I be disturbed by the level of reverence in your voice?” Jack pokes one of the compartments and comes away with a finger covered in damp soil.
“Hobbies are healthy, I’ll have you know.” Opening the first seed packet, I shake four little spores into my palm.
“And how did this come to be yours?”
I’m starting to catch on to Jack’s game here. Rather than leave me the opportunity to ask him deep, probing questions such as “What do you do for a living?,” he’s found a workaround. He asks me a million questions about myself, already knowing I physically can’t keep myself from answering them.
“Do you want the actual truth or the surface answer I usually give people?” I raise my eyebrows at him in a silent challenge. An I’m-onto-you challenge. An if-you-want-to-ask-me-personal-questions-be-prepared-for-real-answers challenge.
Jack takes a long sip of his coffee before answering. “Let’s go with the real truth.”
“My family was pretty toxic growing up, and gardening provided me with two things: a reason to be outside the house and something I had control over.” On an unrelated note, therapy is great and everyone should try it.
“Wow.”
I give him a smile and make sure it’s a real one. “I also really enjoy nurturing living things, ushering them from inception and into adult life.”
He clears his throat, which I’m learning is his nervous tic. “That’s not what I was expecting.”
“What? For me to actually care about something other thanmyself?” I laugh a little too loudly, pretending his words have no effect. “I know it seems out of character, but don’t get me wrong, I’m still a huge asshole, and the only thing I nurture is plants. So yeah, that about covers the whole gardening obsession.” Turning back to the work at hand, I continue to distribute seeds to their pods, tucking them into their little soil homes so they can bloom and grow.
“That’s not at all what I meant, Sadie.”
I pause my seed distribution, chancing a look at him. For once he’s looking right at me, as if he needs me to see the truth in his words. I open my mouth to respond, but nothing comes out.
He clears his throat again. “Any other plans for today? Other than germinating?”
I turn back to the planters, thankful for the change in subject. “Yeah, I’ve got a training shift at the bar later.”
