Gali kept laughing. “Is that why you’re so flustered right now? I’ve never seen you like this before. It’s so…awesome.”
“No, it’s not!” Minh threw up her hands in exasperation. “I mean, look at him!”
Gali stopped laughing. “You mean you want him but you won’t even consider him because of the way he looks? Did you seriously just say that?”
Maybe. Minh shrugged. “It’s not that, really. He and I—I mean, you heard what he said about classical music! Right? Did you hear what he said?” She kept going back to that. Why wasn’t Gali agreeing with her that what Chris had said was wrong?
“Damn, you’re such a mess.” Gali sighed, then stepped forward and hugged Minh before stepping back and wagging her finger in reproach. “Look. I’ve known you for nearly five years, and I can safely say that you’re the best friend I’ve ever had. I love you as though you were my real sister. But he wasn’t completely off base, even if his delivery was awful. It is a little weird that you don’t share your real music with anyone.”
Minh recoiled. “What?” Gali thought she was wrong, too? “I do share my real music, as you call it. I keep getting rejected for it!”
Gali shook her head. “God, Minh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so harsh like that. It’s just…you have to admit that what you compose when you think no one will hear is pretty different from the stuff you keep sending out. I know that what happened with Richard and your sister has colored your perception about things, but that was a long time ago. It wasn’t your fault. You were young. I haven’t said anything because I figured you’d see it in time, but…” She trailed off with a shrug.
What the hell? Was Gali serious? But Gali knew why that kind of music was unacceptable. What had happened back then with Kieu was Minh’s fault. She’d taken her little sister to a party where a big record label executive was supposed to be, hoping he’d be interested in her edgy, wild work. It was at that party that Kieu had ended up trying drugs for the first time. Kieu had been hooked ever since.
Minh blinked at her friend. “I don’t—” She stopped, shaking her head. She didn’t want to talk about this anymore. She couldn’t talk about it.
“Look. That is not what this is about. Yes, I want him. But it’s purely physical. It’s not just that he doesn’t fit anything on The List. Chris is just… he’s completely wrong for me.”
Gali humphed. “Actually, I kind of think he might be exactly what you need, but you’re trying too hard to stay blind.”
“Excuse me?”
Gali waved one hand in the air. “Nevermind. You’re not ready to hear that.”
“Not ready? Since when did you turn into the Greek Yoda?”
“God! Just—” Gali let out a groan of frustration. “Listen. We’ve got to focus on what’s really important. Forget Chris and the way he makes your panties feel uncomfortable.”
Minh stiffened. “He does not—”
But Gali just barreled on. “We don’t have anyone else lined up for this apartment. Daria is cool and nice, and she makes enough money as a TA to cover the rent. We, on the other hand, are about to go under because we can’t afford to keep paying for a vacant room. If she ends up living here, so what if you and Chris maybe share another awkward moment or two in the future? It’s no worse than last Thanksgiving with your sister and her mystic model friend.”
Gali had a point. Kieu lived and worked as a model in New York, and last Thanksgiving she had brought along one of her friends, who had proceeded to make noises that sounded like weird bird calls throughout the meal, claiming she was channeling the spirits of Native Americans who abhorred the traditional holiday.
And Gali was right about the money thing too. They needed someone, fast. Someone normal with a decent job. A fine, upstanding, respectable person.
How could that person be related to a guy like Chris?
Minh sighed. “Fine. Okay. Fine. She can have the room.” She was getting carried away and being unfair. Like Gali had said, Daria was cool and nice, and there was no reason Minh would have to see Chris all the time. He wasn’t the one renting the room.
Gali clapped. “Generous you are. Fine everything will be.”
“What are you—are you talking like Yoda?”
“Called me Greek Yoda you did.”
“I wish I could afford to live alone.”
“Cute you are when pouting.” Gali barely managed to get out that last sentence before she dissolved into a fit of the giggles. Meanwhile, Minh grabbed the door handle and yanked it open.
“Come on, dork. Let’s go get ourselves a roommate.”
…
Chris had just watched Gali and Minh disappear into one of the bedrooms when his sister grabbed his arm and pulled him into the kitchen with her.
“Hey, what the—” Chris shrugged out of Daria’s grip, frowning at her.