600 Hours of Edward

minutes. We were supposed to meet at seven, correct?”
    “Yes. I am so sorry. I left Broadview early so I could get here in plenty of time, and then there was a big wreck on Highway3—a really bad one—and that slowed me down, and then when I got down here, I had a really hard time finding a place to park. It’s busy here on a Friday night.”
    “I parked right across the street.”
    “Oh?”
    “Yes.”
    “Well, Edward, I’m glad I’m here now.” She looks me over. “I like your suit.”
    “Yes.”
    I reach down on the bench seat beside me and pick up the rose, which I’ve been hiding. I set it on the table across from Joy. “This is for you,” I say.
    She picks it up. “Thank you so much. It’s beautiful. You’re so sweet.”
    The server comes by again to drop off menus and take our drink order. Joy orders a Gewurztraminer, which appears to be some sort of wine. I order a glass of water. I’ve never had wine, and I don’t drink alcohol. Or, at least, I haven’t.
    “You’re not having wine?”
    “No.”
    “I love Gewurztraminer. I like sweeter wines—Rieslings and chardonnays. Not so much red wines. Are you sure you don’t want to try it?”
    “I’ll try it, I guess.” When the server walks by, I ask her to bring me a glass of Gewurztraminer. Even if I don’t end up liking the wine, I sure like the word.
    “We didn’t really talk about eating, but this menu looks yummy,” Joy says. “Would you like to have something to eat?”
    “Yes.”
    When the server comes back with the Gewurztraminers and the water, she asks us if we would like something to eat. Joy ordersthe lobster mac ’n’ cheese. I order a Caesar salad with grilled chicken.
    “A salad?” Joy says. “You’re going to make me look like a pig for ordering a big, hot meal.”
    “I’m interested to see your mac ’n’ cheese. I can’t decide if it sounds good.”
    “I’ve heard that it’s fantastic. Would you like a bite when it comes?”
    “No. I couldn’t do that.”
    – • –
    Over dinner, Joy asks me a few questions but mostly talks about herself. She is surprised when she asks what I do for a living and I say “nothing.” I then tell her that I’m living on my investments, which is a little white lie. I’m living on my father’s investments.
    She launches into a story about growing up on a farm outside Broadview and how her parents were mean to her and her and brothers and how eventually she ended up living in town with her aunt and uncle, who were very nice people and—
    The Gewurztraminer makes me belch. It’s not loud, but it interrupts her story.
    “I burped,” I say.
    “Yes, well,” Joy says, looking momentarily annoyed, and then she’s off and talking again. I like listening to her. Her story doesn’t have a lot of structure—she jumps around a lot in time and place and goes on little side stories called tangents—but she is so demonstrative in telling the story that I just shovel salad into my mouth and listen.
    “Edward, I’m sorry, I’m dominating the conversation,” she says. “I’d like to hear what you think of all this.”
    “I think it’s nice that your aunt and uncle took care of you.”
    “No, I mean about this,” she says, waving her right hand in a parabola over the table.
    “It’s good food.”
    “No, about us, about being here,” she says. “Were you nervous? I was.”
    I think about her question for a few seconds before answering.
    “I guess I was a little nervous. I woke up really early this morning, at five fifty-seven. I usually wake up at one of four times—seven thirty-seven, seven thirty-eight, seven thirty-nine, or seven forty—but today I woke up at five fifty-seven thinking about tonight.”
    “What were you thinking about?”
    “I was wondering if we were going to have sex.”
    “What?”
    “I wasn’t planning on it, but I wondered what would happen if we did.”
    Joy looks cross. “We are not having sex.”
    “I know. That’s what I decided, too.”
    “Well, I’m glad.”
    “I just don’t see how it could happen. I would miss
Dragnet
.”
    “That’s not the only reason it’s not going to happen. And listen, I read up on
Dragnet
. Why do you keep talking about a forty-year-old TV show?”
    “I always watch
Dragnet
, every night at ten.”
    I look down at my watch. It’s 8:04.
    “I’m very uncomfortable with this conversation,” Joy says.
    “I’m sorry.”
    “I can’t believe you brought up sex. That’s really out