"Uh, no, not so much. She can host a mean dinner party, but she doesn’t do much of the cooking. I think my dad's doing something in his smoker."
"Oh, that sounds great. It seems like you're close to your parents."
"Y-yes, I am. Very."
"Siblings?"
"Yes. A twin brother and a younger sister. And I'm close to them as well. I work with my brother."
"Nice," she said. "I have a brother who's five years older than me. We didn’t grow up close, but we've gotten closer in recent years. Mostly, we keep up with each other online. He's back in Chicago."
"That's where I'm… I'm from Chicago," EJ said.
He could feel the tension rising. His blood started heating up, and his heart started to race. He could taste the truth on the tip of his tongue. He could almost feel the words forming. But he stayed silent because he couldn't think of the right way to say it.
"Oh, that's cool, I'm from over near there, too," she said.
His heart was pounding in his chest.
He cleared his throat.
"What brings you to Pittsburgh?" she asked. "Do you live here now, or are you just passing through?"
He hesitated only for a second or two. "No, I'm just passing through," he said.
He could hear his heart beating. Blood was rushing through his body, and he just knew that he was about to say that he was there for her.
But he couldn’t do it.
It was like his mouth was glued shut.
He sat there in silence, thinking about how to tell her that and unable to do it. He had just driven seven hours to see her. It seemed like too much to admit.
EJ sat there for what must've been a full minute while she worked. It wasn't awkward because her hands were busy and there was music playing. But it was awkward for EJ. His blood pressure was through the roof. He concentrated on slowing his heart rate and taking slow, calming breaths.
"My sister got married a few months ago," he said, grasping onto family news since it was easy and neutral.
"Oh, that's nice."
"Was it in Chicago? Did you say you still live there?"
"Yosemite actually. It was beautiful. Her husband is from California, and they wanted to do it near his family so they wouldn't have to travel so far."
"I bet that was pretty."
"It was amazing. There was snow. It was gorgeous. My sister's a party planner, so she had fun with it."
"That's neat. I've been doing hair for so long that I meet people from all walks of life. You can pretty much name a profession, and I've heard about it. Party planning's a good one. What about you? Do you like to talk about your job?"
"I have a family business," he said.
"Yeah, you said you work with your brother."
"We own a gym."
The woman who had been cleaning interrupted their conversation. "Van, I’m going to lunch," she said.
Savannah paused to speak to her, and when she did, EJ glanced at her. He loved her profile. Everything about her was irresistible, right down to her voice.
