“When you met Henry, how did you feel?”
“What?” Aggie laughed a little.
“Your husband; when you first met him, how did you feel?”
“Like punching him. He stole my parking space.”
Larissa laughed and said, “Right. But after that, you got out of the car, and…”
“And I still wanted to punch him because he said he was there first, but he really wasn’t. I was there. I had my blinker on and was waiting for the other guy to back out. Henry had the better angle and got there first, that little asshole.” Aggie chuckled.
“Did you see his car waiting, too?”
“Yes. I even made eye contact with him, warning him off, and he still took it. Hard to blame him; it was Christmas Eve. We both needed to pick up stuff at the store, and there were no spots.”
“Okay. So, you saw him and knew you’d probably have to fight for the spot?”
“Yes.”
“Were you under stress because you were holiday-shopping and fighting for a parking spot?”
“I’m sure I was. I also see where you’re going with this, but we exchanged numbers and went out two days later. The stress didn’t prevent me from going out with him.”
“But why?” Larissa asked.
“Why what?”
“Why didn’t it? There’s something there, right? Think about it. Had it been anyone else, you probably wouldn’t have gone out with them. Another guy? A woman?”
“Probably not.”
“What did you feel when you saw him out of the car for the first time?”
“After the punching feeling?” Aggie joked.
Larissa laughed and said, “Be honest.”
“He was cute.” Aggie shrugged a shoulder. “I couldn’t really tell from the car, but when we both got out, I noticed he was cute.”
Her sister smiled a little.
“And?”
“And what?”
“How did you two end up talking about something other than a parking space he stole from you?”
“Oh. When we got into the store, I walked over to him and told him off. He apologized and explained that he was picking up medicine for his mom from the pharmacy, and it was aboutto close. He didn’t think he had time to find a spot in another lot and make it, and she was out of the medicine. That got me to shut up for a minute, and I watched him stand in the line before I started my shopping to verify his story. Then, I bumped into him in the cereal aisle, and we started talking. He had a bag from the pharmacy and told me his mom was diabetic and he had to get this to her but wanted to grab her favorite oatmeal, too, before he left. I thought he might be a decent guy.”
“Were you still stressed?” Larissa asked.
“No, not really. I guess I was stressed seeing the line of people at the counters that I’d have to join in a minute when I was done with my shopping, and I worried they’d be out of the pumpkin pie I told Mom I’d bring to Christmas dinner, but nothing crazy or intense; just normal holiday stuff.”
“And you got his number then?”
“Yes. I gothisbecause I didn’t want to give a stranger mine. I told him as much. He laughed and gave it to me, and we talked for a minute about how men didn’t have as much to worry about as women do generally in those situations. I texted him the next day. I wanted to text him that night, but I didn’t want to appear desperate. I asked about his mom. He told me that she was fine. Then, we went out, and my stress didn’t get in the way.”
“It did initially. You were unable to see through it.”
