When It Hooks You by Elson Nicki

Author:Elson, Nicki [Elson, Nicki]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2016-06-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

THE BOAT MOVED NORTH at a slow, steady pace. Trish and Adam took seats at the small table and unpacked their food, piling small portions onto their plates. He uncorked the wine, explaining, “The sommelier at the hotel restaurant suggested a Riesling as the best bet for Chinese food. A sweet German wine for spicy Chinese food. Surprising, isn’t it?”

“Not so surprising,” Trish said. “Opposites attract.”

“Do you think so?” he asked, pouring them each a glass. “With people, I mean.”

She shrugged. “Sometimes.”

“Does it happen with you?”

She thought about it as she trapped a shrimp between her chopsticks. “Not really. I’d say most of my boyfriends have had roughly the same type of background as me, same level of education, same economic status. We tended to like the same kinds of movies and TV shows. Maybe we root for different teams, but we’ve enjoyed the same kind of sports. Pretty boring, actually, now that I think about it. Maybe that’s why none of them have stuck.”

“Are we opposites?” He peered at her over the rim of his glass as he took a sip.

She leaned back in her chair, considering. “In some ways. You seem to operate on a higher intellectual plane than me. You’re more serious; I’m more silly. We’re obviously not in the same financial position.” She gestured with her chopsticks around the boat.

“I don’t own this, you know. It’s a rental, along with Mo.”

“I figured. But I presume it costs a wee bit more than fare for two on the water taxi.”

“A wee bit more, yes.” He took another sip and smiled.

“How rich are you, Mr. Helms?” She pushed rice around with the tips of her chopsticks. This wasn’t a question she’d ever consider asking under normal circumstances, but this was their last date, so what the hell? “I’m not asking for net worth figures or anything, just wondering where something like this falls on your expense spectrum—with the scale being from pocket change to had-to-take-out-a-second-mortgage.”

He chuckled. “I didn’t take out a loan, but it does rank significantly higher than pocket change.”

The sun crept quietly from the sky while the music playing in the background dipped into a sedate, tranquilizing melody. This part of the river, with its low shrubbery and quiet industrial buildings, was dark. The boat’s navigation lights focused straight ahead, leaving the flickering electric votive in the middle of the table to suspend Trish and Adam in a private glow.

“How do you see us?” Trish asked. “Are we opposites?”

“You’re right that we’re on opposite ends of the serious-silly spectrum,” he said, “but I completely disagree with you about being on different intellectual planes. I may have more experience, but you strike me as intellectually capable. I count us even there. The socio-economic differences are only as important as money, which isn’t important at all.”

“You run a business. Do you expect me to believe money isn’t important to you?”

“It’s important to take care of basic needs, and having a successful business provides income for employees and partners, but having more money doesn’t make me different from anyone who has less.

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