“I beg your pardon?”
“Just a bit of honesty.”
“Thanks, I think. That might have been more brutal than honest. And what do you look for in a man?”
“Sincerity.”
“I sincerely had no intention of trying to sleep with you.”
“You don’t find me attractive?”
“I think you’re beautiful. So should I infer that you don’t findmeattractive?”
“I didn’t say that. You’re definitely awkward, which you’ve admitted—and that’s quite a rare thing, and maybe even a little touching. I didn’t come on this date hoping for a new start, I just wanted to close a door on the past.”
“What brought me here is my fear of flying.”
“Sorry, I don’t see the connection.”
“Consider it an ellipsis—a sort of mystery that will come to light in a later chapter.”
“Oh, so we’re going to have another chapter, are we?”
“Why not? If we both already know we’re not going to sleep with each other, there’s nothing to keep us from trying to become friends.”
“That’s original. Don’t people normally make that kind of declaration—‘Let’s be friends’—when they’re breaking up?”
“Exactly. Which makes this an incredibly unique idea.” Paul laughed.
“Cut ‘incredibly.’”
“Why?”
“Adverbs lack a certain elegance. I’m more keen on adjectives—though never more than one in a sentence.”
“All right, so let me start again . . . Since I’m not your type of guy, do you think I could be your type in terms of a friend?”
“As long as your real name isn’t Gazpacho2000.”
“Don’t tell me that’s the screen name they gave me!”
“No, not to worry,” said Mia, laughing. “I’m just winding you up. That’s something friends do, isn’t it?”
“I suppose so,” Paul replied.
“If I were going to read one of your books, which one would you recommend?”
“I’d recommend one by another author.”
“Oh, come on, answer my question.”
“Choose one where the flap copy makes you want to meet the characters.”
“I would think to start with the first one.”
“No way, definitely not that one.”
“Why not?”
