get fish food,” she said.
“Just give it some bread crumbs,” Mark said. He sounded like he wasn’t the one who’d brought her the fish in the first place.
“I’m not sure that fish can eat bread,” Lauren said. Mark just shrugged.
“What are you going to name him?” he asked.
Lauren considered this. Should she name the fish Rudy as a good-luck gesture? Maybe it would help strengthen the little guy.
“Wil ard,” she final y said. “After Wil ard from
“Where?”
“
“Never heard of it,” Mark said. He looked at his watch and then back at Lauren.
“Wel then, we’l have to watch it,” Lauren said. “It’s amazing.”
“You ready?” Mark asked. Lauren nodded and put her coat on.
“Good night, Wil ard,” she said to the bowl. She left the light on in the kitchen so that he wouldn’t be disoriented.
Mark was odd. Lauren knew that. She knew from the time that he approached her in the deli that he was not normal. He interrupted her while she was putting Equal in her coffee. “Hel o,” he said, and she jumped in mid- stir.
“Hi,” she said. She was running late to meet a client and didn’t have time for pleasantries with a stranger.
“I’ve seen you here before,” he said. “Every morning around this time, I see you here getting your coffee and sometimes a bagel.”
Lauren stared at him. She had never noticed him before. “Real y?” she asked. It didn’t occur to her until later that she should be nervous.
“Here’s my card,” he said. “Cal me. I’d like to take you out.”
Lauren took the card, but didn’t look down at it. “Okay.”
“I look forward to hearing from you,” he said. Then he turned and walked out.
Lauren thought that was sort of cocky. He was very handsome. She could give him that. But stil , people didn’t just approach other people in the middle of their morning coffee to ask them out. Did they? No, they did not.
Lauren thought about him al during her appointments that day. She was escorting a young Kansas City couple around. They were relocating to the city and wanted to find a place immediately. The wife had blond hair and wore a pastel minidress. She complained about every place they saw.
“I don’t know,” she kept saying. “It’s so smal . It’s just so smal .”
“This is pretty standard for a one-bedroom in New York,” Lauren said. The wife glared at her.
“We want to have children soon. Babies,” the wife said. Lauren nodded.
“Right. Wel , a lot of people in this building put up a wal for a second bedroom. It’s a pretty nice size, so you wouldn’t feel so tight for space.”
The wife looked at Lauren’s hand. “Are you married?” she asked.
Lauren shook her head. She reminded herself to be nice so that she wouldn’t lose a good commission. This couple had to move soon. They were against renting. They were a guarantee buy.
“I’m not married,” Lauren said. “But one of my best friends lives in a building very similar to this one, and they put up a wal to make a bedroom for their little boy. It might be hard to imagine what it would look like, but if you picture it over there you might get a better idea.”
“I think that would work nicely,” the husband said. “Don’t you?” He put his arm around his wife and squeezed her shoulder. He had been chipper al day. He felt guilty for making them move and was trying to make it up to his miserable pastel wife.
“If you want to see some bigger places, we could look in Brooklyn or maybe Hoboken,” Lauren offered.
The wife shook her head. “No,” she said. “We want to be in Manhattan. We told you that. Didn’t you listen?” She walked away and stood facing the wal with her arms crossed. Her husband gave Lauren a little smile and went to stand next to his wife. Lauren waited quietly while the couple stared at their imaginary baby’s imaginary room. Sometimes, she knew, people just needed a little time to be able to picture themselves in a new place, to see possibility in a blank space. And so she waited.
Lauren cal ed Mark that night. She didn’t even mean to. Not real y. She was eating take-out sushi and saw his card in her purse. She dialed before she could real y think about it.
“Hi,” she said when he answered. “Mark?”
“Yes,” he said.
“It’s … hi, it’s Lauren? From the deli?” She realized after she introduced herself that she had never told him her name.
“Hi, Lauren.” He sounded not one bit surprised. He sounded like he’d been waiting for her cal .
