Chapter 29

                                    

                                          
"Alright, I'm on board with this one," said Reid.
                          
We were halfway through the movie Burlesque. "It's catchy, right?"  As the youngest sibling, I wasn't accustomed to manning the remote control. I also definitely wasn't accustomed to manning it for an insane home theater set-up.  That said, I tried to pick a movie that would benefit both of our perceived interests.  "Oh... sorry, were you talking about the music, or the half-naked girls?"
                          
"Neither.  I was talking about Stanley Tucci."
                          
                "Shut up!  Wait, are you serious?"
                          
                "Yeah I'm serious!  Look at the guy!"
                          
                There was only one man in this scene.  Otherwise I wouldn't have known who Stanley Tucci was.  "Are you gay?"  
                          
                "I'm like ninety-nine percent straight."
                          
                "...And the other one percent?"
                          
                "Bald, nerdy dudes like Tucci."
                          
                I couldn't breathe.  There were literal tears in my eyes.    
                          
                "Whoooooole lot of judgement from someone who washed her hands in a bidet earlier."
                          
                I hadn't actually used the 'bidet.'  I'd just asked him why rich people needed two sinks in their bathroom.  But it was impossible to defend myself while I was laughing this hard.  It didn't stop me from trying.  "Okay... that's..."    
                          
                "Uncouth?  Yeah.  You are."
                          
                "Not really sure what that means.  But at least I have decent taste in men."
                          
                "Think so?"  When he looked over at me, he held my gaze for just a little too long.  
                          
Three things suddenly occurred to me.  One, I did have decent taste in men.  Two, they looked an awful lot like Reid did. And three, I'd come to this conclusion while talking to him about his ass sink.  I had to change the subject before I embarrassed myself even further.  "Er... So... Any updates?  On the train?"
                          
"Right.  Let me check."  Reid got his phone out and did some research.  "Nothing yet," he told me.
                          
"Damn."  No wonder LA was a smog-fest.  Without a car, you were screwed.  "Maybe I need to start thinking about a Plan B."
                          
"Did I miss the part where you had a Plan A?"
                          
"Must have."  He really needed to keep up.  "Plan A is to take the first train back to LA.  Then the gold line –"
                          
"You sure it's the gold line?"
                          
"–It's definitely the gold line."  I've made a lot of mistakes, but rarely the same one twice. "Ending at Lake Station."
                          
"And then how are you getting to the party?  Are you walking?"
                          
"That's the piece that's T.B.D."
                          
Reid scrunched his eyebrows.  "That seems like an integral piece."
                          
I sat up a little straighter.  "Who's judging now?"
                          
"I'm not judging; I'm admiring.  Have you always been this cavalier?"
                          
                "That's not the word my family tends to use."  Though, I had to admit, it had a nice ring to it.  Stupid people shouldn't take the metro by themselves.  Cavalier people do it anyway.
                          
"They must not have the whole story, then."
                          
No, they didn't.  And they didn't need to.  "You know what?  You're kind of a genius.  Can I borrow your phone again?"