by Alexa Land
He raised a skeptical eyebrow at me. “That’s not sushi.”
“Of course it is.”
“You put cream cheese and smoked salmon in it, and then you cooked it. It’s basically a deep-fried bagel with seaweed. You’re trying to invent something I won’t think is disgusting, just so I’ll admit sushi’s not bad.”
“I swear you can buy this at most sushi restaurants. Granted, Las Vegas rolls were invented in the U.S., but they caught on all over, even Japan. At least, that’s what I’ve heard. Just try it.”
“I’ll try one piece, but you have to promise not to be offended if I spit it out.”
I picked up a pair of chopsticks, plucked the lovely, crunchy end piece off the plate, and held it up for him. You would have thought I was feeding him an earthworm. He held his breath and wrinkled his nose, then gingerly took the morsel in his mouth.
The moment he bit down, his expression totally transformed. His eyes went wide, and he exclaimed around a mouthful of yummy deliciousness, “That’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted!”
I whooped triumphantly, then jumped up on my good leg and did a fist-pumping victory dance. He chuckled at that, and I exclaimed, “I told you! Didn’t I tell you?”
“You were right, and I’m absolutely shocked.” He picked up another piece with his hand and said, “I know it’s rude to eat with my fingers, but I can’t use chopsticks.” He tossed it in his mouth, and his eyes rolled back in his head. “Oh man, it’s so good.” He picked up the next piece and said, “I admit it, I was wrong. Will you make the other kinds, too? I can’t wait to try them.”
“Absolutely.”
I got to work assembling the California rolls, which might have been a bit run-of-the-mill, but I happened to love them. “I can’t believe I’ve been missing out on this all my life,” Duke said. “Thank you, Quinn. You introduced me to something brand new tonight, and it was a revelation.”
“Stick with me,” I said with a smile. “There’s so much more I plan on showing you.”
Duke grinned embarrassedly and broke eye contact as the color rose in his cheeks. I wondered where his mind went just then. But I figured I’d stirred up enough trouble for one day, so I didn’t ask.
Chapter Four
Maybe I’d gone a little overboard on the balloons.
After being rejected by a cab, an Uber, a Lyft, and the city bus because of the enormous latex and Mylar cloud floating above me, I resigned myself to walking across town with the gargantuan balloon bouquet I’d picked up for my friend Darwin. It was the following Sunday, and he’d finally been sent home after three nights in the hospital following his surgery. He’d come through with flying colors, but he still had to take it easy for the next few days, and I’d decided to bring him a care package and the rainbow-colored balloons to keep his spirits up.
The walk from Hayes Valley to Pacific Heights would take a good forty-five minutes, probably longer because I wouldn’t be moving all that quickly. I was off the crutches, but I had to wear an ankle brace for the next couple of weeks. The physical therapist I’d met with had given me some range-of-motion exercises and told me I was fine to walk on it, which was a good thing, since I was determined to deliver some cheer to my friend.
It was best not to push it though, so when I reached Japantown at just about the halfway point of my journey, I decided that was the perfect place for a break. Unlike Chinatown, which was an entire neighborhood, it was basically an enclosed shopping mall. Just a few seconds after I stepped through its doors, my phone rang. I juggled the balloons and the gift bag on my arm and smiled when I saw Duke’s name on my screen, then answered with, “Hey! Come meet me for dessert!”
“Oh. Okay. Where are you? I’m just leaving lunch with my parents and was calling to ask if you wanted anything from the grocery store.”
“I’m in Japantown. Park in the underground garage, then look for me in the west mall.” I glanced at the two dozen balloons overhead and said, “I’m impossible to miss.”
“Alright. I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.”
After we disconnected, I left the balloons and their gift bag anchor on a table and got in line at one of my favorite places. The crepe café was little more than a counter and a small kitchen. There was a reason people stood in line for it, though.
I’d just gotten my order when I spotted Duke across the mall. He’d worn a pale blue shirt, gray pants, and a tie to church that day. He had an odd tendency (well, odd to me, anyway), of dressing in muted colors, as if he thought that would make him blend into the background or something. He had to know that was impossible though, given his height and build. I sat down under my balloon cloud and waited for him to notice me. As soon as he did, his face lit up.
He joined me at the table, ducking under the balloons as he sat down, and said, “Subtle.”
“Isn’t it, though?”
“As if the rainbow balloons weren’t enough, you’re dressed to match. Was that intentional?”
I was wearing bright red jeans and a yellow sweater with a cartoon unicorn and a rainbow, and I said, “I didn’t even notice, but yay me for color coordinating.” I held out one of the pink paper cones and said, “I went ahead and ordered for you, since the line was long. If you don’t like what I got you, we can trade.”
Duke looked perplexed as he took the wrapped crepe from me. “What exactly am I holding right now?” The crepe was rolled up like a cone and held ice cream, berries, and whipped cream. But what made it extra special was the fact that it was topped with a totally edible teddy bear head, rendered out of a scoop of ice cream, candy, and brightly colored cereal.
“That’s the berry crepe. Mine’s chocolate ice cream with banana. Want to switch?”
“I’m good with berry. But why does it have a face?”
“Why not?”
“That’s not really an answer.”
“Okay,” I said, “here’s a longer one. There’s a great love of kawaii, basically all things cute, in Japanese culture. This café decided to incorporate that into their luscious desserts.”
He looked around at the other tables and said, “I would have assumed these are meant for children, but ninety-five percent of the customers are adults.”
“Isn’t it great? I love it when grownups hold on to their sense of whimsy.”
“It’s like a whole crowd of Quinns,” he murmured, and studied his dessert from every angle, as if he was unsure how to approach it. When he glanced at me, he asked, “Why do you look unhappy all of a sudden?”
My plastic spoon was poised above the round, adorable ice cream chick on top of my cone, and I said, “I hate this part! He’s so cute. Look at him!”
I held out the crepe cone to Duke so he could see the baby chicken, and he said, “It’s just going to melt, so you might as well dig in.”
“I know, but still.”
He pulled out his phone and awkwardly juggled it and the crepe cone, then snapped a photo of me with the ice cream chick. “There. Now he’ll live on forever, and you can enjoy your dessert.”
I licked the cute confection. When I saw what I’d done, I exclaimed, “Ew! Now he’s all smeary and looks like road kill!”
Duke chuckled as he scooped up the chick with his spoon and fed it to me. After I ate it, he said, “Can you move on now, or are you mired in guilt?”
“It’s better now that his little, beady chocolate chip chick eyes aren’t staring at me accusingly.”
“Good.”
I dug into my dessert as I asked, “So, how was church and lunch with the fam?”
“Same as always.”
“Is it always good, or always bad?”
“It just is. What’s up with the rainbow cloud?” He gestured at the balloons above us with his spoon before eating a big bite of ice cream.
“I’m on my way to deliver these to Darwin. He’s recovering from surgery. Hey, do you have a pocket knife on you?” When Duke nodded, I untangled one of the ribbons in the balloon bouquet a
nd said, “Will you please cut this for me?”
“Sure, but why?”
“You’ll see.”
He handed me his cone before cutting a balloon free with the miniature pocket knife on his keyring. I then pivoted in my chair and held the balloon out at arm’s length. A little boy of maybe five or six with brown hair and freckles, who’d been standing a few feet away and staring at me with big eyes, darted forward, grabbed the balloon, and ran. I grinned and said, “Balloons are like kid catnip. They just can’t resist.”
We went back to our desserts, and Duke said, “He didn’t say thank you.”
“He was too shy.”
Duke looked skeptical. “Or maybe he was raised by hyenas.”
“I always give kids the benefit of the doubt. I could never talk to strangers either when I was that age. They scared me to death.”
His expression softened. A minute later, the kid was back. Duke cut another balloon loose and offered it to him. Once again, the boy grabbed it and ran. I flashed my companion a big smile, and he grinned a little.
He ate another spoonful of ice cream, and I said, “You’re totally eating around the bear. You feel just as bad as I did, don’t you?”
Duke looked embarrassed. “No.”
“Yes you do, and I think it’s sweet. Let’s memorialize him.” I snapped a picture of my roommate and his dessert with my phone, then said, “Now I’ll tell you what you told me. It’s just going to melt, so you might as well go ahead and enjoy it.”
“Good advice.” He still frowned a bit as he scooped up half the bear and stuck it in his mouth.
I ate another big bite, then told him, “I’m glad we’ve become friends, Duke. I know we got off to a rough start, but I feel like we’ve come a long way in a week.”
“We just needed some time to get used to each other.”
It helped that I’d tried my damnedest not to be a pain in the ass the last several days. I licked the back of my spoon and asked, “What are your plans for the rest of today?”
“I’m going to clean the garage.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Why would I be kidding about that?”
“Because it’s already so clean that you could rent it out as a surgical suite.”
“Not quite.” He plucked a blueberry from his dessert, and after he ate it, he said, “I had my doubts about this crepe thing, but it’s delicious. How much do I owe you?”
“It’s my treat.” He thanked me, and I said, “Very welcome. So, I have a counter-offer for you. Instead of cleaning the already immaculate garage, spend the afternoon with me. I have a couple of errands to run, including delivering these balloons to Darwin in Pacific Heights, followed by dinner with my parents. You’ll like them, they’re nice people.”
“Are you sure I wouldn’t be intruding?”
“Positive.”
“Okay then, but I should probably wait outside while you visit your friend.”
“Why?”
“Because I made a terrible impression on him last weekend, and he probably thinks I’m a jerk.”
“Darwin understands why you and I were fighting, and he wouldn’t hold that against you.”
“Well, alright. Out of curiosity, how were you planning to get to Pacific Heights with all those balloons?”
“The same way I got here from our neighborhood, on foot.”
Duke said, “I know your physical therapist told you it was fine to walk on your ankle brace, but isn’t that kind of pushing it?”
“I didn’t really have a choice.”
“Now you do. I’ll drive you the rest of the way.”
When we finished eating, I gathered up the balloons and the gift bag, and we headed for the parking garage. On the way out, I noticed the freckled boy talking to two little girls. Each was holding a balloon. “Check it out,” I told Duke with a grin. “The Kindergartener is a player.” He just sighed at that.
*****
Nana Dombruso’s great-grandson Josh answered our knock when we finally arrived at the big, elegant home in one of San Francisco’s richest neighborhoods. He was a cute kid of about sixteen, who was rocking the nerd-chic thing with his shaggy, dark hair, vintage wardrobe, and chunky, black-framed glasses. I asked if Darwin was up for company, and he held the door open for us as he said, “Absolutely. He’s in the kitchen, along with Nana and her entourage. They were supposed to be coming up with some rainbow-themed drinks and appetizers for the shelter fundraiser, but here’s a shocker: they’ve all become completely distracted.”
It took me a few moments to stuff the balloons through the big front door and even longer to get them through the doorway into the huge, chaotic, white and yellow kitchen. Half a dozen people were bustling around making cocktails, talking loudly, and in some cases, trying to cook around the mayhem. My friend River and his new husband Cole greeted us, and we chatted for a minute before they both rushed over to something overflowing on the stovetop. They were catering the fundraiser, and it looked like Nana had been offering a lot of input, judging by the huge array of dishes on every countertop.
When I introduced Duke to Nana, she grabbed a pair of big, round glasses from the counter, stuck them on her face, and looked him up and down. The senior was five-foot-nothing, and he towered over her. Nana exclaimed, “Hot damn, you’re a tall drink of water! And look at those muscles, lord have mercy!”
Duke got as far as, “Nice to meet—”
But Nana blurted, “You look familiar. Weren’t you the strippergram my girlfriend Kiki sent me for my birthday?”
Duke blushed vividly while Kiki, having heard her name, rushed over to us. The little, full-figured senior tipped back her sequined baseball cap and squinted at my companion, then said, “Who can tell with all those clothes on? Let’s play some stripper music and see if they fall off!”
She pulled a phone from the pocket of her red velour track suit, which coordinated with Nana’s orange one. Duke looked like he wanted the earth to crack open and swallow him whole, so I tried to tell the seniors, “He’s a police officer.”
“Then that’s definitely him,” Kiki exclaimed as she poked at her phone. “He started out dressed in a cop uniform, and then he stripped down to tiny little briefs with a badge stuck to the front of ‘em. It looked like he was smuggling a double-A battery in those skivvies. That was disappointing. The rest of him though, ooo la la!” A Tom Jones song called ‘You Can Leave Your Hat On’ started to blast from the phone, and Kiki whooped with delight, then pulled a handful of cash from her pocket and waved it around. Nana got in the act too and started shaking her rear and pumping her fists in time to the music.
Normally, I would have joined the impromptu dance party, but Duke looked like he was on the verge of panicking, so I thought it best to lead him to safety. I grabbed his hand and dragged him and the balloons around the kitchen counter and away from the spirited seniors. Fortunately, an elegant-looking man with salt-and-pepper hair and a lot of self-tanner distracted Nana and Kiki with some bright blue cocktails just then, so we could make our escape.
Darwin was tucked into an upholstered chair in the corner near the kitchen table, and Josh sat beside him, holding his hand. The teens were both watching the kitchen chaos with amused expressions. Duke and I joined them, and I told Darwin, “You look happy.”
“I am.” He leaned around me and smiled at Duke. “Nice to see you again.”
“You too. Sorry about last time.” Duke ducked his head and studied the floor.
“Don’t give it another thought.” Darwin’s smile widened when I gave him the balloons and gift bag, and he exclaimed, “Thank you, Quinn! You didn’t have to do that.”
“You’re welcome. How do you feel?” He was pale and thin, to the point of seeming fragile, but that was always the case.
“I’m bruised and achy, as expected. But everything went perfectly, which is a huge relief, and I’m thrilled to be home from the hospital.”
“I’m so glad it went well.” I help
ed him free the gift bag from the balloon strings, and he grinned when he looked inside. “That’s just some stuff to help you pass the time while you heal, plus something for later,” I explained. He unpacked a stack of comic books and paperbacks, and then he grinned at the black, form-fitting tank top. “I know that’s not your usual style, but I thought you might have fun showing off your new bod. I wanted to get you a bright color, but you always wear black, so I decided to stay within striking distance of your comfort zone.”
“Thank you, Quinn! I’m going to live in it when the weather gets warm. I can’t wait, after all those years sweltering in layers and a binder.”
We chatted for a few more minutes, and then Nana rushed over to us and exclaimed, “I just had the best damn idea! We need to do a gay homosexual bachelor auction at the fundraiser! You two are both single, right?” She pointed at Duke and me, and I nodded. “Perfect! Let’s see, who else….” She spotted a tall guy with shoulder-length dark hair across the room and yelled, “Ignacio! Can I count on you to help with the fundraiser?”
He yelled back, with a thick Spanish accent, “Of course, Nana. I’ll do whatever you need!”
She clapped her hands together and exclaimed, “Perfect! I’m up to three hot bachelors already and I only had this idea a minute ago. This is going to be the tits!”
Nana rushed off, and Duke turned to me with a panicked expression and asked, “What just happened?”
“I think you and I both got roped into a bachelor auction for charity. How fun!”
“No.” He shook his head. “Absolutely not.”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “If you’re nervous about ending up with someone creepy, I’ll bid on you. Then for our date, we can just do something low-key, like ordering a pizza and watching Netflix. I mean, if you want me to.”
“Yes! God, yes. Do you promise to bid on me? It’d be so humiliating if no one did.”
How could he possibly think no one would bid on him? I rested my hand on his shoulder and said, “I not only promise to bid on you, I promise to win. I fully expect to get into a bidding war for you, but I’ll come prepared with big ol’ piles of cash. You and that pizza date will be mine!” I flashed him a big smile, and he grinned self-consciously.
