We hurriedly got dressed and drove the truck to his Sunday parking spot, not far from Dolores Park. A crowd had already gathered there, and people cheered as the truck pulled up.
“Sorry about that, everyone!” he said out the window. “I’m a bit short-staffed today, so I had to pick up some help. Everyone, this is Anna.”
I stuck my head out the window and waved. “Hello!”
Several people said, “Hi, Anna!” and waved back.
Then Ian actually got to work, and so did I.
◆◆◆
“Wow, you can make a killing on desserts.”
Ian nodded while slurping up his ramen. “Yup. I did the math. If sales keep going like this, I’ll be making close to what I was making as a tech lead.”
“That’s...that’s crazy! Why can’t music journalism be like that?” I bit into my hard-boiled egg, then followed it up with a spoonful of miso broth. Ian had driven the van back home and we’d walked over to a nearby ramen food truck.
“Well, the pay is great, but I have to stand in that hot truck for hours each day, soaking up oil and chatting up customers. And I spend my free time trying new recipes, working on marketing, replying to online reviews. It’s a lot, but it’s worth it.” As he spoke, his last slice of chashu pork slipped out of his chopsticks and fell onto the pavement. His sad little frown tugged on my heartstrings, and on the corners of my lips.
“How’d you get the idea?” I asked, placing a slice of my chashu in his bowl.
Ian’s eyebrows shot up at me, giving me a Really? look before he broke into a huge grin and devoured the pork. “Cassie and Michael gave me some shrooms.”
I nearly choked on my ramen. I drank some water to try to wash it down, then coughed even more as Ian patted my back. “Seriously?”
He nodded, contemplating my face. “Yeah. It gave me some perspective about the things in life that have really brought me joy. Definitely wasn’t building apps.” His eyes bore into mine before lowering back to his bowl. “I thought a lot about my past, my family...my dad. Boston cream donuts were my his favorite, so they’re really nostalgic for me. But I wanted to make desserts that were uniquely mine. Thus, the balls were born.”
“Definitely sounds like you’ve done some shrooms,” I replied, smiling at the passion in his words.
He shoveled the last of his ramen noodles into his mouth, then placed his bowl and chopsticks down. We sat in silence for a moment, but it was sweet and companionable. Like old times.
Until Ian blurted,“You’re only here for the weekend...right?”
“Yeah,” I answered softly. “I was just here to see the show.”
“I see.” He took my hands in both of his, brought them to his lips, and planted a soft kiss on each. “I’m really glad I got to see you.” His smile was bittersweet.
“Me too.” I blinked away my tears and smiled back, then slowly withdrew my hands and stood up. “I should probably go. My flight is really early tomorrow morning, and I want to start working on my writeup while the show is still fresh in my mind.”
He nodded and stood up. “Okay.”
We brought our bowls back to the ramen guy and thanked him for the meal, then walked back to Ian’s place and got into his car. He drove me to Cassie’s house, silently holding my hand for the entire ride, gently kneading it with his thumb. When we arrived in front of Cassie’s, he parked the car and got out, then came around to open the door for me. I stepped out and leaned into his arms, and we held each other for an all-too-brief moment, just long enough for me to breathe in his scent, the old familiar smell of him mixed with the aroma of oil and pastries, and imprint this new Ian’s scent in my memories. Then he stepped back and kissed me again, oh so sweetly, one last time.
“Goodbye, Anna,” he whispered.
“Goodbye, Ian.”
He let me go, his sad little smile mirroring my own. I reluctantly took a step back.
The front door to the house opened and Cassie stepped out.
“Hey, guys! What’s going on?”
“Hey, Cass. I’m leaving,” Ian said, walking back around to the driver’s side.
She stepped further down the stairs. “Hey, wha—I MADE MARGARITAS—”
Ian waved at us both as he drove away.
I looked up at Cassie and smiled, tears rolling down my nose. “Thanks, Cassie.”
She flew down the stairs and engulfed me in her arms.
Chapter 26
-Ian-
Monday was my day off, so I went to visit my mom and aunt. As soon as I walked through the door, though, I could tell that something was wrong.
My mom was smiling too much. Much too much.
“Ian, how was yesterday?” she asked. She took my arm and led me to the backyard, where she and my aunt were cracking sunflower seeds and eating the kernels of meat.
“It was fine.” I decided not to say more than that, just sat and reached for a seed from my aunt’s pile. She slapped my hand away.
“Your Ayi and I walked past the park yesterday and saw the truck there.” She studied my face, smiling coyly. “Why were you working?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Ma. Were you spying on me?”
“Me? Nooooo.” She adamantly waved her hand back and forth.
“Ma. Did you see her?”
My mom leveled a look at me, then turned her attention back at her pile of seeds. “Is she your girlfriend?”
My aunt playfully elbowed me in the ribs. “She was very pretty.”
“No, she’s an old friend from New York.” I reached for a seed from my mom’s pile, but she slapped my hand away, too. “Ow. She was just visiting for the weekend.”
“Just for the weekend?” my mom asked. She paused in her eating to study my face. I took the opportunity to snatch a seed.
“Yeah.
