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With a slight shake of his head, he started unpacking the big bag. There were clamshell trays, cardboard cartons, a couple of intriguing Styrofoam tubs, some plastic cutlery, pouches of sweet and sour sauce and hoisin sauce, soy sauce. My mouth watered.
I took him a glass of water and dropped into a chair, feeling my exhaustion to the bone right then. I wanted to drop my head onto my arms and cry and then sleep for about twenty hours, then wake up and cry some more. The only thing I wanted more than giving in to despair was one or two of those crispy egg rolls he unpacked. I swallowed hard.
Leo took a couple of plates out of the bag and started loading one with fried rice, spicy noodles, broccoli and chicken, egg rolls, some kind of vegetables with a rich sauce and shrimp—and put the plate right in front of me.
“Fork or chopsticks?”
“Um, either one,” I said, swallowing hard.
My voice sounded raspy and forced because my throat had gone tight with sudden tears. The kindness Leo showed was the first I’d had from someone else in a very long time.
Whatever walls I’d built up to protect myself, apparently egg rolls took them down. I took weird, short inhales to stop myself from tearing up because I was not going to cry. Not in front of Leo who deserved better than witnessing an emotional breakdown over Chinese food.
“Oh crap. You’re not a vegan or something are you? Cause I figured with all the eggs in muffins and stuff you probably just ate regular food. If you need something without meat in it—I think the noodles are okay?” he said.
I couldn’t help it. I started laughing in big, hiccuppy guffaws. I shook my head, eyes streaming from laughing so hard.
“You okay?” he said. I shook my head again helplessly before I finally got myself under control.
“I’m good now. I needed that, actually. You brought the food, and I was so mixed up, so awkward because it was a friendly thing to do, and I’m not—I don’t have many friends anymore. It’s just been so long since anyone was considerate and caring to me that I choked up. I was honestly going to start crying because you were so nice. And I am very much not vegan,” I explained.
“I was so charming and heroic that you wanted to weep?” he said slyly.
“Yeah, something like that,” I chuckled.
“Well, you’ve had a rough go. Dinner was the least I could do.”
“Thank you,” I said. “Really. For everything, but especially this.”
I picked up an egg roll, bit down and I swear I saw stars and rainbows and unicorns, it was so delicious.
“That’s what I like to see,” he said.
“What’s that?” I asked carefully.
“People enjoying good food. I figured as a baker you like that too, watching people eat and enjoy. It’s not the same, since I didn’t make the food, but I’ll take credit for bringing it.”
“Yeah, I do. I like to eat, and I like people to appreciate my food.”
“I appreciated the hell out of those muffins. I don’t know if you put, like, crack in them or something addictive, but I can see this becoming a stop on my morning commute, meaning I would have to get up twenty minutes earlier. It’d be worth it too. Once you’re open.”
“I’m open, kind of,” I said. “I have a few orders I can’t afford to lose so I’m making those up at home, and I’m serving seven to nine a.m. only now. Just two kinds of muffins or a muffin and a scone and coffee. Nothing that uses the oven. But I don’t want to lose all my customers, so I’m just doing small batches in my apartment. If I shut down entirely, people will forget about the place and change their routine. All it takes is a shift to stopping at a different place for coffee and a muffin, then the next thing I know, I reopen to zero people waiting in line.”
“I get that fear. And you’re smart to do it how you’re doing it. Any luck with your landlord?”
I blew out a breath. “He finally called me back and said he wanted his own electrician to look at it and give him another quote and he’d think about it.”
Leo shook his head. “He’s going to try to cut corners.”
I nodded. “Most likely. I told him I would contact an attorney if he didn’t do what was right, but I think he knew I was bullshitting. I don’t have that kind of money.”
“Don’t worry, Madison, it’ll all work out,” Leo said kindly.
“How do you do that?” I asked him.
He looked perplexed. “Do what?”
“Make me feel better just by being here.”
