After the Fall

rose. “And here I thought he was the younger one.”
    “What?” I peered at the license in her hand. “No way.”
    She gave it to me, and sure enough, Ryan was younger.
    “Eh, I’ve only got six months on you.” I slid his driver’s license back across the table. “I suppose I can live with that.”
    The waitress laughed. “Well, I’ll get you boys your drinks while you go over the menus. And no bungee jumping while I’m gone, okay?”
    As she walked away, Ryan flashed me a devilish grin. “See? You don’t have to tell everyone the truth.” He gestured at our waitress. “It gave her a laugh, too, so . . .”
    “Fair point, fair point.”
    We perused the menus for a minute, and when the waitress returned with our beers, we ordered dinner.
    Ryan took a drink, and as he set the glass on the table, said, “So out of curiosity, how did you end up working in an acupuncture clinic?”
    “The short answer? I’d had enough of delivering pizzas.”
    “Oh, yeah. I can’t blame you. That’s a shit job.”
    “You’ve done it?”
    He nodded. “Unfortunately. But how did you get from pizza to acupuncture?”
    Thumbing the edge of my menu, I said, “The clinic used to be in this strip mall on the other side of town. I was delivering pizzas to one of the offices a couple doors down, and I happened to see the Help Wanted sign in his window. Stopped in, asked for an application, and . . . here I am. When he moved over to the Light District, it meant a longer commute, but I love working for Mike, so I went with him.”
    “So you really like the job?”
    “Oh, yeah. Mike’s awesome, and it’s a pretty low-stress gig.” I shrugged. “I can’t complain. And it has its interesting moments.”
    “Does it?”
    I nodded. “He usually helps people with things like chronic pain and allergies, but he does a lot of infertility work too.” I smirked. “I’ll tell you, it was a little weird the first time someone came in to thank him for getting her pregnant.”
    Ryan laughed. “Oh, wow, yeah. I can imagine.”
    “And while we’re on the subject of jobs,” I said. “I never did ask what you do.”
    “A little of everything. Right now, I’m working in a mechanic’s shop down by Tucker University. Nothing all that glamorous.”
    “Pays the bills, right?”
    He nodded. “That it does. Which is good, because the cost of living here . . .” He whistled and shook his head.
    “Is it really that bad compared to other places?”
    “Compared to some places, yeah.”
    “Guess you’d know better than I would.” I paused. “I have to admit, I’m still curious about what it’s like to move around as much as you do.”
    “What do you want to know?”
    “I’m, um, not sure. It’s just the polar opposite of what I grew up with. I mean, don’t you miss people when you move?”
    “Sometimes. I don’t—”
    He paused when the waitress returned with a basket of rolls. Ryan took one, and then smirked at me. “Do you, uh, need a hand?”
    “No, I most certainly do not.” I pulled a roll out of the basket, at which point it dawned on me that buttering said roll was a two-handed operation. Guess I was eating it without butter. “Anyway, you were saying? About missing people when you move?”
    “Oh, right.” He shrugged. “I don’t tend to make a lot of friends wherever I go. I’m usually only there for a few months, maybe a year, and I’m . . .” He lowered his gaze, some color blooming in his cheeks. “I’ve never been that great at meeting people.”
    “Really?”
    “Really. Once in a while I’ll make friends at work, but beyond that, I’ve never been good at it.” He tore open the roll in his hand and sliced off a pat of butter from the plate next to the basket. As he buttered the roll, he went on. “I’m not really sure how to meet people, to be honest.” He laughed softly, almost cautiously. “Besides crashing into them, anyway.”
    “You know, I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen that in any self-help guide to meeting people.”
    “Maybe I should write one. How to Make an Impression, Broken Bones and All .”
    I choked on my beer.
    Ryan laughed. “Sorry.”
    I coughed a couple of times. “Well, I’m pretty sure there aren’t any other books out there like that one.”
    “Yeah, there’s probably a reason for that.”
    “Hmm, maybe.” I paused. “But, I will say the technique worked okay this time.”
    He raised his eyebrows, then laughed softly as he laid the butter knife