“Great.” Emiko waved her hand toward the tables. “Sit anywhere you like.”
I thanked her, then waited for Callan to move. I looked up at him when he didn’t.
“You pick,” he said, meeting my gaze.
I scanned the room, taking in the booths along one wall and a few tables in the center. I pointed to a booth near the window.
“That one?”
He nodded. “Good.”
We walked over, and I slid into one side. Callan sat across from me. He leaned back against the booth, with his hands resting on the table, and his posture easy. The menus were already set out, and I picked mine up because doing nothing with my hands felt too exposing.
He watched me for a few seconds before picking up his menu too. “How many pieces can you eat?”
I looked up and shrugged. “Fifteen, maybe?”
He nodded, tilting his menu slightly to show me what he was pointing at. “They have an all-you-can-eat option. Includes dessert and one drink.”
I pursed my lips. “That sounds great.”
We placed our order when Emiko came to our table, and as we waited for the first round, we sat there looking at each other. He didn’t seem in a rush to talk, and neither was I, so I let my eyes drift toward the window. The sun had already set, andthe sky outside had that deep blue tint that came right before everything turned fully dark. A few stars were already visible, and the moon too.
I leaned closer to the window, letting that comforting feeling I always felt when I looked at the sky come over me.
“You always stare at the sky like that?” Callan asked. His tone wasn’t teasing.
I looked back at him. “Yeah. I do.”
He waited for an explanation.
“I’ve always liked the stars. When I was younger, I’d sit outside almost every night and just…watch. It made me curious.”
He set his forearms on the table. “Curious how?”
I rubbed my thumbs over the edge of the menu. “How far and old they are. How there probably are billions of them and I can only see a handful with my own eyes. Things like that.”
He nodded slowly, giving me his full attention.
“I actually wanted to study astronomy at first,” I said. “Before I picked film.”
“What made you change your mind?”
“Realizing how much math was involved.” I grimaced. “I like science, and I like everything that makes me think about things outside of myself. I used to read books about planets and stars and nebulae, and I thought maybe I’d go into something related to it. But everything about those studies always includes math, and my brain isn’t built for that level of calculation.”
He tilted his head, showing interest in what I was saying. “So you switched to writing.”
“Yeah. It made more sense.”
He watched me like everything I said mattered to him, and his focus made me fidget a little. I reached for my water, took a sip, then placed the glass back on the table.
“So, astronomy is more like a hobby now.”
I nodded. “Yeah. I read books about it, watch documentaries, and all that. And I often go to the Griffith Observatory.”
“Ah, where that big telescope is.”
I smiled. “Yes. Have you ever been?”
