Nick Miller, crafter of zombie detective novels, sat on a park bench, slowly picking the large granules of salt from his oversized, soft pretzel.
"I don't know, man. Do you think Julius would give it all up for Jessica?" He flicked a piece of salt, watching it skip across the broken pavement. "I mean, not my Jessica, this is HIS Jessica." He looked at his companion, who sat with a knowing smile. "Okay, okay, maybe it IS my Jessica as well." He shut his eyes tight, then peeled one eyelid open. "Now, don't look at me like that. I am not saying I want to give anything up!" He stared at his friend for a second, then cringed. "ARRRGH! You are right! I do want to change for Jess, I do want to just BE a better guy because of her. How do you know me so well, Tran?"
The Vietnamese man continued to smile and occasionally nod at Nick. The pretzel Nick bought him lay in its paper wrapper on the bench, next to an unopened container of dipping cheese. Watching him, Nick remained in awe of how serene the little man appeared. "You've got it all together, don't you, Tran? I just want to be like that. To know what it is I want. What do I WANT, man?"
With a tilt of Tran's head, Nick rolled his eyes. "Of course I want to be with Jess. How could you even ask me that? You know I've wanted to be with her for a long time, maybe even longer than I knew." Tran's head bobbed in a small nod and he watched a woman walk by with her dog. Nick's eyes bulged. "You are RIGHT! That is probably why I never liked Paul, and why I set her up with Bear Claw, who was TOTALLY not her type. Maybe something inside me knew I wanted Jess, but the other part of me thought I wasn't good enough for her and kept pushing her toward guys like Russell. Man, now HE had it all together."
Tran glanced up at the trees, then back to Nick, and smiled again. "You are SO right!" Nick practically yelled. "He may have seemed perfect for her – and believe you me, he was a beautiful man – but she didn't want Russell. SHE broke up with HIM. Which means maybe part of her wanted me, too. GOD, you are GOOD!" He gave the smiling man a light punch on the arm before looking down. "Hey, where did my pretzel go?"
Nick glanced over at Tran, who was brushing a leaf from the bench. Nick shook his head. "All right, all right, don't get mad, man. I see what you are saying. There might be stuff I can change to be better, but I should not try and make myself into someone I'm not. Jess is not with Paul or Russell or Sam. She is with ME. Soooooo, there must be something about ME she likes."
Jumping up for the bench, Nick bent over and kissed the aging man on the head. "You are a master, Tran. A master!" And with that, he dashed back to the loft, leaving Tran with a smile.
Sorry, I could not help but give a nod to the great disappearing pretzel Nick held and then suddenly did not hold in one of his funniest conversations with Tran on the park bench in First Date. Seriously, where did his pretzel go?