“Hey, Kenny,” Claire greeted her crush, waving.
Ken Cho looked up and smiled at Claire. Maria felt the sparks, and as soon as Ken turned his head, Maria started to make kissing noises.
“Cut it out,” Claire said, mortified.
“Oh, you did it to me yesterday with Joe.”
Claire grimaced. “You’re right. Sorry.”
“Whoa! Did Claire actually apologize? Someone call the historians. That’s a first!”
“Not funny,” Claire said, elbowing her. “Come up to the counter with me. I don’t want to go by myself.”
“Okay, but make it snappy. I’ve only got about thirteen minutes now.”
Sherlock walked by them. Hardly anyone even gave them a stare. Some of the food court employees actually called out to Sherlock, and he walked around like he owned the place, strutting like a model on the runway. The guy who was passing out free samples of Chicken California at Charley’s Grilled Subs gave Sherlock one, and he sat and even gave the guy a handshake. The dog was in heaven.
“What should I order?” Claire asked.
“How about some lo mein with a side of orange chicken?” Maria suggested, knowing that Claire wouldn’t end up eating it, and Maria would basically get a free meal.
“Yuck. Orange chicken? Chickens aren’t orange…are they?”
Maria shrugged. “They could be, you know, if you painted it.”
Claire snorted. “You’re hilarious, Maria. Absolutely hilarious!”
“I’ll be here all week,” Maria said, bowing.
They got to the counter. Ken went out of his way to take Claire’s order. Claire ordered the usual—fried rice and bourbon chicken—which was not Maria’s favorite. She was sure Sherlock would help keep it from going to waste, though.
“Heard about what happened to Kaylee at the golf course,” Ken said, scooping rice into a styrofoam container. “Wish someone would’ve gotten it on video.”
“Yeah! That would’ve been awesome,” Maria agreed.
“It would’ve gone viral, probably. Amazing how all those people were there and they didn’t bother to record it,” Ken said. Now, he moved to the bourbon chicken. It looked like rat meat, and Maria wasn’t absolutely sure she could say it wasn’t.
“Yeah, you should’ve been there,” Maria said. “If only Claire would’ve—Ow!”
Claire elbowed her. Her face was beet red.
Ken grinned. He was no dummy; he knew Claire had a thing for him, and he seemed to have a thing for her, too.
“Listen, Claire,” he started, as he slid down to the register and punched in the total. “I was thinking maybe you’d want to hang out sometime?”
Claire smiled and swiped her bangs off of her brow.
“Maybe go see a movie, or get dinner or something. Definitely not Chinese food.”
Oh, he’s smooth, Sherlock observed. I like him.
“Cute dog,” Ken added, looking down at Sherlock.
Oh, now I might love him! Tell Claire to say no so I can go out to dinner with him. Mention an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Maria nudged Sherlock, and he stopped.
They all waited for Claire’s response. None of them seemed to breathe, except maybe Sherlock who had taken to sniffing around the Dairy Queen next door.
“Claire…?” Maria prompted.
Claire looked up. “Oh, yes, that’d be great. I’d really like it. Maybe we could even go play putt-putt.”
“Yeah, but leave me out of that one,” Maria said. The three of them laughed. A lady behind them tapped her fingers on the counter, waiting to pay for her noodles.
Maria moved out of the way, grabbed a napkin and a pen from behind the register, and wrote Claire’s phone number down on it.
“Here,” Maria said, handing him the note, “since she seems to have her tongue tied at the moment, this is her number. Text her sometime, and you two can make plans.”
Ken scratched the back of his neck nervously. “Okay, thank you!”
He handed Maria the receipt and a couple of fortune cookies. Maria took them and put them on the tray. She had to drag Claire off toward the dining area. Claire mumbled and smiled and looked all sorts of flustered. Really, Maria just wanted her to get out of there before Claire blurted out something weird or deal-breaking.
They sat down at tables on the opposite side of the food court, near a GNC Sports Nutrition store.
“Oh, my GOD!” Claire squealed, fanning her face. “Can you believe that?”
After learning she wasn’t from Earth and she had the ability to talk to her dog and do magic, Maria thought she’d be able to believe anything.
“Thank you so much, Maria. It felt like my lips were frozen.”
“Well, I can’t be there on your first date,” Maria said. “So you’re on your own on that front.”
“Or can you?” Claire said, slyly.
Sherlock jumped up onto the chair next to Claire and sniffed her food. Claire was in such a good mood that she didn’t even sigh in disgust or push him down.
Yeah, it was turning out to be a pretty good day, indeed.
“Listen, Claire, I need to tell you something.”
“It’d better not be that you have a crush on Ken.”
“Ken? No. C’mon, you know who I like.”
Claire pointed up and grinned. “Speak of the devil.”
Maria’s stomach dropped. She turned around and saw Joe walking over to their table. He had a tray of food from Sbarro’s Pizza, and a smile on his face.
“Stay calm, stay calm,” Claire said.
“How do I look? Please tell me I don’t have any cotton candy in my hair or popcorn oil on my shirt.”
“You look great, Maria, don’t worry. In fact, you actually look a little—”
“Mind if I sit here?” Joe asked.
Claire didn’t answer. She was waiting for Maria.
It took Maria a moment to realize that Joe had asked her the question, and when she did, she didn’t stumble, which was unusual. “Yeah, of course,” she said.
“How are you ladies today?” Joe said, still smiling. On his tray were two big slices of pepperoni pizza. Put them together, and they’d be big enough to take up about half of a large one topping.
“Good,” Claire said.
“Never better. Another day in the paradise that is Rolling Hill Mall,” Maria said dryly.
Joe chuckled.
“Yeah, tell me about it. Usually the early shifts are quiet, but I’ve already had to chase two—that’s
