Page 49 of The Scientist
“Swordfish.”
“Wow,” I said, impressed. “I didn’t know you could cook.”
He gave me a half-shrug like it was nothing. I waited for him to say something more, but instead found myself in the company of his silence, as usual. I had hoped we’d made some progress during our last outing, but his demeanor seemed just the same as when I first met him.
I decided to leave him in peace and went to the refrigerator to grab myself a drink. Just as I was about to leave the kitchen, I heard him say, “How was your mom’s appointment yesterday?”
I turned to look at him, surprised he remembered. I had only mentioned it once that I could recall.
“It was hard, but she’s doing okay. I’m just praying the treatment works,” I said. “It will all be worth it then.”
“Dr. Gremillion is the best oncologist I’ve ever worked with. Your mom’s going to be fine.”
He said it so earnestly that it was easy to believe every word he said.
“Thank you, Lex.” A knot had formed in my throat. I cleared it, feeling the emotions of the past few days wanting to spill over.
“How often does she have to have treatments?” he asked.
“Twice a week for now. We go back on Friday.”
“Any side effects so far?” he asked with a clinical tone.
“Just nausea and fatigue,” I answered. “Which I know doesn’t sound that bad, but I’m just not used to seeing my mom like that. She’s always been so strong. I think I’m going to have to toughen up.”
I smiled even though I felt like crying again.
“You seem pretty tough to me,” he said, taking another dish out of the oven.
“Oh yeah? What gave me away… all the crying?” Ichuckled lightly.
“No.” He shook his head. “It’s the fact that you picked up and moved across the country, changed careers, left everything and everyone you know behind, all to take care of your sick mother.”
I gave him a half smile. “Well, when you put it like that...” Maybe I did have a little bit of toughness in me and didn’t even realize it. I was surprised to hear he saw me that way. He just had a way of speaking—when he chose to speak at all. I thought he could convince me of anything.
“We all make sacrifices for the people we love. It’s not anything more than what your mother did for you,” I said, thinking about how the two were similar. Her journey of moving to a new country and not knowing the language with a fatherless ten-year-old seemed immensely more difficult, however.
“Yes, and she’s a tough lady,” he said with an affectionate smile, obviously fond of her.
I was about to ask him more about his mother when Stuart poked his head through the door. “How’s it coming along in here, guys?” he asked, clearly dropping the hint to hurry up.
“Everything’s ready. I’ll bring it out in a second,” Lex said, his words clipped.
“Great. I’ll just be right over here… in the dining area…right outside this door… waiting.” He slowly closed the door behind him.
“I guess we better get out there,” I said.Before Stuart drags us out. “Do you need help with anything?”
“No, I got it,” Lex replied stiffly as he began plating the food.
“Okay.” I could already feel the subtle shift in his demeanor. It was like our private bubble had burst, and now we had to get back to the status quo—small glances and as few words as possible.
I walked out to the dining area where Stuart and Merrick were already seated. I sat down next to Stuart, hoping to offer him some kind of support for his dislike of the man sitting across from us. Lex brought out the rest of the food, which consisted of swordfish, roasted potatoes, and broccoli, when my mouth started to water.
“So, where are you from, Hadley?” Merrick asked as we all dug in.
“I just moved here from New York,” I answered while trying a bite of everything on my plate. I was starting to think there wasn’t much Lex wasn’t good at. The food was incredible.
“What brought you to California?” he asked. Lex and Stuart both had their forks suspended in midair as they peered over at me. It wasn’t a secret that my mom was sick, but I didn’t feel like getting into it with this guy, so I told him a half-truth.