6:15 p.m.
October 11
Jean Juan's French-Mexican Buffet
The Louds and the Maheswarans had agreed to meet at the restaurant around 6:30. At Lincoln's behest, however, the Louds arrived just a tad earlier. The reason Lincoln gave was that he wanted the Maheswarans to know that they were respectful and punctual; the real reason, however, was that he wanted a few minutes to collect his thoughts and steel himself for the night to come.
As they waited, Lincoln fidgeted with the sleeves of the hand-knitted maroon sweater that he had decided to wear that night. Although Jean Juan's didn't have a strict dress code, he took it upon himself to look "nice" for the occasion, and he assumed that the Maheswarans would do the same.
"Are you nervous, sweetie?" asked Rita, who lay a gentle hand upon Lincoln's shoulder.
"A little," said Lincoln, as he twiddled his fingers and cast his gaze downward.
"Oh, Lincoln, it'll be okay. I'm sure we'll get along just fine."
A minute or so later, three figures emerged from the entrance. The first was a sharp-featured, stern-eyed woman in a blue blouse and beige slacks. As she entered, her eyes scanned the room top to bottom. Then came a glasses-wearing man with a similar complexion and dress style, though he was considerably less stone-faced than the lady was. ON this evening, he had opted for a button-down shirt and tie. Finally, Lincoln spied a small, timid figure peeking out from behind the first two, which he recognized as Connie.
"Is that them, Lincoln?" asked Lynn Sr.
Lincoln grunted in the affirmative.
Once he got the confirmation, Lynn Sr. called out to them - just loud enough to be heard over the din of the restaurant. The older Maheswarans spotted him and walked Connie over to the table, with the mother gently leading her daughter by the arm. Lincoln popped his head up and put on his friendliest face as their three guests took their seats.
"Hi, Connie!" he said. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs... Mahasa...Maha-"
"Maheswaran," said the mother.
"Yeah, Maheswaran. Right."
"And it's Doctor, actually," she added - not angrily, but firmly enough to give Lincoln pangs of shame.
"Got it," he muttered, cringing. "Sorry." Though it wasn't that big of a deal, Lincoln thought of himself as more "woke" than most boys his age, by virtue of growing up surrounded by girls - so he couldn't help but kick himself for assuming that Connie's mother preferred the "Mrs." honorific.
"Quite all right," said the mother. "I'm Priyanka, and this is my husband, Doug."
"Nice to meet you!" said Rita. "I'm Rita, and this is Lynn."
"Namaste!" Lynn said with a sunny, oblivious smile.
Both Rita and Lincoln cringed, which only intensified once they caught a glimpse of the Maheswarans' faces. The three of them, especially Priyanka, looked thoroughly unimpressed.
"Namaste"? Seriously, Dad?
Lincoln feared that his notoriously dorky father would make things awkward at some point, but he was hoping that it wouldn't happen this early on; he could only hope that it wouldn't be a recurring trend throughout the dinner.
Fortunately, the uncomfortable silence was broken by the arrival of the waiter.
"Is everyone ready to order?"
"NO!" Lincoln blurted out. "I-I mean, not quite yet," he added, catching himself and lowering his voice. "Our guests just got here."
"Very well."
With that, the waiter took his leave. Lynn Sr., eager to rebound from his social gaffe, tried to kick off a conversation.
"So tell me a little about yourselves! What brought you to Royal Woods?"
Priyanka straightened her blouse and brushed her hair out of her eyes before responding. "I was transferred to a different hospital, so we had to move. I'm a surgeon."
"So that must be why they call you doctor," said Lincoln, hoping that they wouldn't notice how stupidly obvious that observation was.
To his relief, they didn't - or if they did, they didn't comment on it. Priyanka responded with a simple, "Indeed."
"How respectable!" said Rita. "I'm a dentist's assistant, myself."
"And I'm a chef at Aloha Comrade," said Lynn Sr. "It's this Hawaiian-Russian fusion restaurant a few blocks away from here."
Doug's eyebrows popped up for a moment. "Hawaiian-Russian? Geez, and I thought French-Mexican was unusual. What's next, Italian-Chinese?"
Lynn Sr. snorted with laughter. "Oh, funny you should say that. There's a place on the other side of town called Giovanni Chang's. Their wonton minestrone is pretty incredible."
Doug flinched from the revelation, as his bespectacled eyes popped out of their sockets. "Shut up. Are you serious?"
"And that's just the tip of the iceberg," Lynn Sr. said with pride. "Royal Woods is the number one spot for fusion cuisine in the country. It accounts for ninety percent of our tourism!"
Having recovered from the shock, Doug turned to his wife, beaming. "See, honey? I told you we would find something special about this town!"
A sliver of a smile snuck its way onto Priyanka's face. "Mm-hmm. When you're right, you're right."
"And by the way, it's aways nice to see a guy who likes to cook," said Doug, turning back to Lynn Sr. "Am I right, fellas?"
"Ha, you know it!" cheered Lynn Sr., as the two of them shared a high five.
Lincoln smiled, relieved that they were sailing in smoother waters after such a rocky start. However, he noticed that Connie had failed to say a word since she arrived; in fact, she could scarcely bring herself to make eye contact with anyone but him. Eager to coax her out of her shell, he tried to invite her to the conversation.
"So Connie, how've you been?" he asked. "I just finished the second Dogcopter book. Loved it."
Connie could barely get a syllable out before she was cut off by a groan from her mother.
"Are you still reading that drivel, Connie?" she asked. "I do wish you'd seek out more sophisticated fare. Lord knows you're bright enough for it."
"Oh, trust me, I know," said Lincoln, as he leaned into the table to make sure that both Priyanka and Connie had his attention. "She's helped me with my math a few times. She's really smart!"
This elicited a light blush and a giggle from Connie, which in turn triggered a twinge of satisfaction in Lincoln's heart. Sadly, the effects of his compliment faded as Priyanka continued to dominate the conversation.
"Exactly," she said. "So why waste such a gifted mind on such mindless pablum?"
"Oh, don't be like that, Priyanka," interjected Doug. "Let the kid read what she wants."
Priyanka rolled her eyes, but decided not to engage with her husband. Instead, she set her sights on the precocious little imp who had the courage to speak up to her - Lincoln.
"And what about you, Lincoln? What do you read for pleasure?"
Uh oh...
He swallowed hard, racking his brain for an answer. Although he was a good student, he wasn't exactly what you'd call bookish, and what he did read for pleasure wasn't likely to impress anyone - especially not the Maheswarans.
"Well, Connie got me into-"
"Besides Dogcopter."
"Um..."
It then occurred to him that he'd read nearly every Ace Savvy comic cover-to-cover. His best bet was to name-drop them and hope that Priyanka wouldn't recognize the title.
"...Ace Savvy. I read a lot of Ace Savvy."
Priyanka expelled a quick burst of air through her nose. "Ah. Comic books."
Dang it.
Lincoln shrunk away from the table, figuring that his only option was to retreat back into his shell and quietly wait for the conversation to shift. But in a move that genuinely surprised him, Connie stepped in to advocate for him.
"Well, my librarian says that comics and graphic novels are a legitimate form of literature," she said. "In fact-"
But once again, her momentum was stopped by her mother, who responded with a haughty laugh. "Oh, please, Connie. Next you'll be telling me that video games have artistic merit!"
Lincoln, eager to repay the favor that Connie had just paid him, tried to step in to secure the rebound. "Actually, some people argue that-"
Connie let out a barely audible "psst" - just loud enough to get Lincoln's attention. Once they made eye contact, she gave her head a solemn shake back and forth.
"...never mind," he muttered.
Much to his relief, Priyanka decided to let his half-comment pass without rebuttal, and instead turned her attention to his parents. "Speaking of literature, what are you reading right now... Rita, was it?"
"Yes, that's right," said Rita. "I'm actually between books right now. You don't really have a lot of time for pleasure reading when you're raising..."
Before she finished that sentence, she caught a glimpse of her nervous-looking son out of the corner of her eye, and took a moment to choose her words more carefully.
"...a family," she said. "But I do love literature. I'm an aspiring writer, actually!"
"Interesting. What have you had published?"
Lincoln grimaced. This wasn't fair. "What was the last thing you read?" "Have you ever been published?" It was as though Dr. Maheswaran was trying to scrutinize them for any possible flaws. Next she'd be asking to see their tax returns.
"Well, nothing yet," admitted Rita, "but I haven't given up. Every failure is a piece of future luck, right?"
She capped off her statement with a friendly smile, which Priyanka failed to return.
"So they say," she said flatly.
Just then, Connie stood up from the table. Lincoln flinched at the sharp, sudden sound of her chair scraping the hardwood floor.
"I... um... I have to go to the bathroom."
Before anyone could respond, she scurried away. A few seconds of uncomfortable silence ensued before Lynn Sr. took it upon himself to re-break the ice.
"By the way, I forgot to ask; what do you do, Doug?"
"Oh, I'm a security guard at the Royal Woods Mall," said Doug. Started working there just a couple weeks ago, and so far..."
Just then, Lincoln felt his phone vibrating against his thigh. He discreetly withdrew it from his pocket and peeked at the screen. He found the following text from Connie displayed at the top:
I need to talk to you.
Lincoln gulped, fearing that either he or his parents committed some kind of horrible faux pas over the course of the conversation. Realizing that he had no choice but to face the music, he stood up to address the rest of the table.
"I have to use the bathroom, too. I'll be right back."
He excused himself from the table and slumped over to the restrooms, barely able to keep his head up. As expected, he saw Connie waiting for him right outside the door of the ladies' room. To his surprise, though, he found no trace of anger, annoyance or disappointment in her eyes - quite the contrary, in fact. The face she wore was eerily similar to the one she had on when she first introduced herself to Mrs. Johnson's class: one shaped by timidity, anxiety and just a hint of shame.
"Lincoln, I'm really sorry," she said. "I should have warned you about this before, but my mom is really hard to impress. It's only because she wants what's best for me."
"Connie, it's not your fault," Lincoln said with a shake of his head. "Besides, it hasn't been all bad. Our dads are really hitting it off. Then again, my dad gets along with just about anyone."
Connie let out a tiny giggle, just strong enough to turn her frown upside down for a moment or two. "I've noticed."
As soon as he sensed that her defenses were lowered, Lincoln made his move. He took a step closer to her, putting them just a hair outside of kissing distance, and looked straight into her bespectacled eyes.
"More importantly," he said, "this doesn't change the way I feel about you. I still want to be your friend. You're really smart and nice and pretty..."
As soon as that last word came out of his mouth, he felt a twinge of panic, sensing that he had gone too far. Fortunately, his brain conjured up a way for him to save himself a split second later.
"...cool. You're pretty cool."
That seemed to mitigate the effect somewhat, as all he got from her in return was a smile and a bashful little shudder. "T-thanks. You're not too bad yourself."
After regaining her composure, she took him by the arm and started guiding him back towards the tables.
"Now, come on; let's get back before the waiter does. I don't want them to order without us."
Lincoln guffawed. "Have they done that before?"
"Well, no, but I wouldn't really put it past them," she said with a smirk.
After they returned to the table and made their orders, the table splintered off into two groups. The parents spent the rest of the night discussing jobs, relationships and the news - "adult" topics - while leaving Lincoln and Connie to their own devices. As the night went on, Connie grew less and less shy and more and more willing to volunteer information. It was almost enchanting how animated she allowed herself to get; a warm glow seemed to radiate from her being as she grew more comfortable within her own skin. Sometimes he would just forget to speak, content to just stare at her in a dazed trance. Most of the time, he would catch himself and snap out of it before she noticed. In one particular instance, however, it was her words that snapped him out of his daze.
"By the way, have you started the shop homework yet?"
Lincoln blinked. "Oh, you mean the birdhouse? No, not yet. I really need to get started on that."
"Well, see, I've been having some trouble with it," she said. "I thought that maybe if you have time next Saturday, we could work on it together!"
A feeling of unease started to swell inside of Lincoln. "Um, where would we meet?"
"I was thinking your house. The school library'll be closed and my mom's gonna be having company over."
She leaned into the table, bearing a disarming smile. "So what do you say?"
"Um...er..." Lincoln stammered. The idea of having a girl over was nerve-wracking enough on its own, but the idea of Connie facing the Sisternado head-on was borderline nightmarish. He snatched his phone out of his pocket and called up his calendar app, desperate to see if there was any prior commitment he could use to excuse his way out of the commitment.
To his satisfaction, he did see an event marked for next Saturday that helped him out of his jam - but not in the way he expected. According to his calendar, Rita would be taking his sisters out to the spa for an all-day trip. He'd have the whole house to himself with nary a chance of meddling.
"Sure!" he said, beaming. "Saturday's wide open for me. Let's meet!"
And with a handshake, Lincoln and Connie made the date official. Lincoln sighed internally, praising the fates for lining everything up in his favor. He knew that he couldn't keep Connie a secret from his sisters forever, but he assured himself that he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.
Before long, the meal had reached its conclusion. The two families split the check, left a generous tip and walked out, bidding each other a final farewell before splitting off.
"It was a pleasure getting to know you, Priyanka."
"Mm-hmm. I must admit, your latest novel has me intrigued. I'd love to see a copy of the manuscript."
"Have a good one, Lynn. One of these days I'm gonna check out that restaurant of yours!"
"You'd better. The pineapple stroganoff is amazing."
Lincoln, however, was having a bit more trouble putting a sentence together. He had always found Connie attractive, but he had never seen her like this before, in the evening hours, illuminated by the glow of the city lights. The sight of Connie's long, flowing hair rippling in the autumn wind while her glasses glistened from the reflected moonlight was almost too much for him to process.
"Well- I guess this is- uh- I mean-"
Connie giggled. "See you next weekend."
She then lunged forward and put Lincoln in a tight hug, one that left her cheek grazing his for just the briefest moment. For the rest of the night, from the moment they parted ways to the moment he tucked himself in, that one spot on Lincoln's cheek wouldn't stop tingling.
She likes me.
