“Nothing. It’s just that I can practically hear you smiling. It’s so unlike you.”
“Hey! I smile.”
“Yeah, but hardly ever about aboy.”
Mae flops back onto the seat and puts her feet up on Hugo’s. “So how’s college life?”
“No way. We’re talking about you first. Tell me everything.”
And so she does. By the time she gets to the part where they kissed last night, Priyanka is laughing again. “Only you would use your grandmother’s line to get a guy to kiss you,” she says. “Bet you don’t think those movies of hers are so unrealistic anymore, huh?”
“This isn’t like that,” Mae says. “It’s just a fling.”
“It isnot.”
“How do you know?”
“Because a fling suggests it doesn’t mean anything,” Priyanka says. “And I can tell that it does.”
“No, a fling is a measurement of time. And this has an expiration date.”
Priyanka sighs. “Stop being so…you.”
“What does that mean?” Mae asks, indignant.
“Just that it’s okay to give in and enjoy it. You’re on a train making out with a guy you barely know. It’s romantic.”
Mae laughs. “A week ago, you thought he was going to kill me.”
“Well, he didn’t. And you sound really happy. So don’t overthink it. Just—”
The line goes dead, and when Mae lowers her phone, she sees that there’s no service anymore. She waits a few minutes, and when it doesn’t return, she sends a quick text:Sorry I lost you. But I’m off to go enjoy it. Aren’t you happy I’m taking your advice?
It bounces back, but there’s nothing to be done about that now, so she winds her way through the other sleeper cars, past the dining room, where the tablecloths are already out, and into the observation area. Hugo is in one of the seats facing out toward the huge rounded windows that reach all the way up to the ceiling, and when Mae sits down beside him, he turns to her with a smile.
“How’s your friend?”
“Good. We got cut off.”
“Hopefully not before you had a chance to tell her all about me,” he says with a grin, and she punches his arm.
“Someone’s pretty full of himself.”
He laughs. “Someone was told this morning that he’s a good kisser.”
“Someone had better be careful about getting a big head.”
“Someone will try his best,” Hugo says, propping his feet up on the ledge and looking out the enormous windows at the houses whipping past. “This’ll be brilliant when we’re in the mountains, won’t it?”
Mae nods and takes her camera out of the bag on her lap, ready to capture the changes in scenery as they head west, first through Iowa and Nebraska, and then on to Denver, which they’ll reach tomorrow morning.
“I think I’ve already spotted some good potential interviews,” Hugo says. “As your assistant director, I feel like I should get first crack at choosing one this time.”
She laughs. “That’s a pretty big promotion for someone who couldn’t stop talking through the shots yesterday. What are your salary requirements?”
To her surprise, he leans in to give her a quick kiss, then sits back, looking pleased with himself. “I think we’re all squared away now. Unless you’d like to discuss some sort of raise.”
She grabs the front of his shirt, pulling him back toward her, and this time she kisses him in earnest. When they sit back again, she’s grinning like crazy, and so is he.
