Samara took a deep breath and said, “I’m really trusting you here, and I don’t know that I should be, so–”
“Samara, I won’t say anything about you to anyone if you don’t want me to. I promise.”
Samara cleared her throat and decided to risk it because Dana appeared to be a genuine person.
“I have mild OCD, and I am also on the spectrum.”
“Spectrum? The au–”
“The autism spectrum, yes,” Samara confirmed. “The very high-functioning kind. I didn’t know about it until a few years ago. Getting diagnosed as an adult woman is not easy. They thought it was just the OCD for a while, but the OCD manifests when I’m stressed, mostly, and I have ways to manage it. Food is the one thing I really struggle with. I’m trying, but sometimes, I can’t get a handle on it. That’s why you got several lists.”
Dana nodded and asked, “Why didn’t you just say so? I wouldn’t have given you such a hard time. I mean, not that I expect you to tell me that stuff when we’re strangers, but–”
“A few people know. That’s it. The autism is newer, but they thought the temperature thing was the OCD until I met the right doctor who figured out that it’s part of my autism. She said she has a patient who can tell you the number of letters in any word in any language, even the ones he doesn’tspeak. She told me that it’s very rare, but she read a paper on how some people have the ability to know what temperature it is in any room they’re in at any given time, or even outside. I guess I’m one of them, and it applies to food, too. I prefer my coffee at a specific temperature, but it’s more than just a preference. It genuinely bothers me when it’s not right, to the point where I might not want to talk to another person for several minutes. Or, if the room is the wrong temperature when I walk in, I have to find a way to process and deal with it because I have to put my game face on and go to work. I’ve always been this way, and I never really understood why until she told me. I’m insistent about those things because I know if they’re right, I won’t have to work as hard to get through the day. If they’re wrong, though, I have to use up all of my energy just keeping myself together, so I end up twice as exhausted or worse.”
“I don’t know what to say. I wish I’d known. I wouldn’t have–”
“It’s okay,” Samara replied. “Like I said, I don’t tell people. I don’t want everyone to know.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. It just seems like a lot to tell them.”
“You just toldme.”
“Yes, andthattook a lot. I don’t know; I don’t want you to think I’m just being a bitch anymore. Iamvegan on top of everything else. That’s for health reasons and because I like the food, but it makes things like my OCD and autism a little harder because I’m already a picky eater. You throw in being vegan and in the South on top of that, and finding food at the right temperature is difficult, to say the least.”
“Thank you for telling me,” Dana said.
“And you won’t say anything to anyone?”
“No,” Dana replied. “But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.”
“Needing to have at least six bottles of my water to feel comfortable isn’t wrong? I prefer exactly six, but sometimes, they come in packs of twelve, so I have to divide by two in myhead. And if I only have six, I try not to drink one until I can get another. It’s a whole thing.”
“No, I don’t think it’s wrong,” Dana said, shaking her head.
“What about needing the car to be seventy degrees no matter the temperature outside?”
“Why would that be wrong?” Dana asked.
“Hey, Dana?”
“Yeah?” Dana yelled back to the guy in the kitchen.
“Your food’s ready,” he said.
“Do you want to eat in here, or out there?” Dana asked.
“Out there is fine, but thank you for asking,” Samara replied, smiling at her.
“Good. My drink is out there, and it’s really fucking good, so I’d like to finish it,” Dana said, standing up. “Hey, did you drive here?”
“No, Bryce picked me up. Why?”
“When you’re ready to go, just let me know. I’m only having one drink, so I’ll take you back to your hotel.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Samara replied.
