“So am I,” Harlow said, chuckling, before she pushed her own empty plate of pasta away and leaned forward over the table a little. “It’s different every time.”
“But that doesn’t help me.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Harlow laughed a bit harder. “How long did it takeyou?”
“Me?”
“The two relationships you’ve had, or maybe including the third woman you slept with, too. Not sure if you were in love with her.”
“We don’t talk about sex, do we?” Larissa asked, realizing it at the same time.
“Our own? Not really.”
“But why? A lot of friends do.”
“We’re not a lot of friends, I guess,” Harlow said.
“That’s interesting, too, though. Some friends, no matter how close they are, never talk about that stuff, and others want all the details. I wonder what makes the difference.”
“That’s for book two, maybe,” Harlow suggested.
Larissa smiled at her and said, “Maybe. There’s a whole group of underserved people, as you put it, and we happen to be part of that group. We could interview friends and ask–”
“Larissa?”
“What?”
“Stay focused onthisbook for now and stop avoiding my question.”
“The love thing?”
“Yes,” Harlow said, laughing a bit louder this time, and then took a drink of her water.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever been in love. I have never said that to anyone, at least. I can recognize the chemical and hormonal changes in the body and say that I was maybe deep inlikewith both women I dated, but I don’t think that I was in love.”
“Never? Really?”
“No. But I knowyouhave.”
Harlow looked down at the table for a second and said, “Yeah.”
“So, it’s different every time?”
“Yes, I think so. You’ve spent so much time with your nose in textbooks; you hardly even watch anything on TV or read the classics to see how love isportrayed, at least.”
“I watch TV with you,” Larissa argued.
“Oh, please. You usually just have your phone or laptop with you, reading something for school or science-related, whileIwatch whatever’s on.”
“True. I want to do things with you, but–”
“No, it’s fine. I’m not picking on you, and it also doesn’t bother me. But does it mean you’re missing things, Lou. You are thirty-five, and you’ve never been in love. I know you’re focused on school, but once you finally have your doctorate, then you’ll be focused on teaching. It’s like, right now, you’re focused on this book, so you’re sitting at home all day or sitting here when you’re not working, I guess, but I doubt you’ll meet anyone there or at the school library, where you’re usuallyalonein a study room. I don’t want you to be alone.”
“I have you.” Larissa smiled.
“Yeah, for now.”
“What does that mean?”
