A Love Triangle Most Unusual (Season 1)

Have You Ever Eaten Pad Kee Mao?

The vaccination worker stared at us, bewildered. "I think there's been a mixup," Dean stammered. "I must have gotten the wrong date, sorry-"

I rolled my eyes and snatched his vaccination card from him, holding it up to the sunlight. "It says here that your appointment is today," I glared at him. "Why not just get it over with?"

"I...well, I..." he looked away.

I raised an eyebrow. Was he going to run away? I looked over at the vaccination worker and I could see the gears turning behind her eyes. She was probably wondering the exact same thing as me.

"It'll be over quickly," I said. "Hell, I didn't even feel it." That caught his attention.

"I've administered hundreds of doses," the vaccination worker added. "No one has ever died on my watch. Not even come close. I assure you, we are very careful."

"Yeah, you're in good hands. She...what's your name?" I asked.

"Rosa," she replied, flipping the R.

"Rosa," I repeated in my sad American accent. "Rosa here, she's a real professional. You're in good hands, I promise."

Dean seemed a little more willing. "You're sure there won't be any side effects?"

"If there are any side effects whatsoever, we will be ready to handle it," Rosa replied firmly. With that, Dean was finally convinced. He finally took off his backpack and came over to Rosa. "Which arm do you want?" she asked.

Dean presented her his right arm without thinking, then froze and yanked his hand back. Rosa looked up at him and raised an eyebrow, but then he mumbled "Sorry, forgot I need my right arm. You can use this one instead," and presented her with his left.

I decided to leave while he was trapped with Rosa and get a head start on my thirty minutes. "Well, thank you so much, I'll be heading out now," I told Rosa, but Dean grabbed onto me with his right arm before I could leave. I resisted the urge to break the oath of pacifism that my karate sensei made me agree to when I was eight.

"Wait, I forgot to ask, why aren't you going back to Tumwater?"I huffed. Is now really the right time? "Because," I grumbled. "I have work." And I don't want to see my parents, or my grandmother again.

"But...isn't it cheaper for you to live with them?" he asked, confused.

He's REALLY testing my patience now. "Yes," I replied. "But I'm fine now. I can support myself."

Yeah, didn't you hear? I'm a Starbucks barista now, practically the next Bill Gates if you think about it. Might mess around and buy a Tesla with all the GENEROUS tips I've been receiving.

"Oh, okay," Dean said, and flinched slightly. It was a false alarm. Rosa was just wiping down his arm to prepare it. "That's good. Have you ever had uh, Pad Kee Mao?" he asked stupidly.

I stared at him. Of course I'd had Pad Kee Mao. Anyone who's ever been to a Thai restaurant like, ever, has probably had Pad Kee Mao. "Yes," I replied, annoyed. "What of it?"

"Oh, it's just all I can think about right now, really," Dean said weakly. I felt the grip on my arm tighten slightly, and I looked down. The poor man was quite literally shaking in his boots. "Marie says when I get home, that's the first thing she'll make for me. I've never had it before. Is it spicy?"

I sighed and decided to humor him. "Very," I replied.

"Oh," Dean said. "I was hoping it wouldn't be."

I was a little confused. During Lunar New Year, I had seen him eat plate after plate of Mrs. Pham's signature spicy cooking, and with much gusto. Either he was lying, or he was the best actor I'd ever met, possibly rivalling Charlize Theron. "Go on."

"I can tolerate it just fine, I just don't like it as much," Dean swallowed, and squeezed his eyes shut as Rosa finally injected him. Once the needle was out, he reopened his eyes, breathing heavily. "It's not really my favorite."

I frowned. As a huge spicy fan, I found it rather difficult to sympathize with him. "Well, then just ask her to make something else then."

"But I don't want to make her feel bad," Dean whined. "She's putting all of her time and energy into cooking that dish, I don't want to disappoint her."

I sighed. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Alright, you are done," Rosa said. "Just wait in the parking lot for thirty minutes, and then you can leave."

"Okay," Dean said, looking very relieved. "Thank you." She smiled at him and made a hand motion to indicate that we had overstayed our welcome and should move to the designated waiting area. "Thank you for staying with me," he said as we walked over to the waiting area. "That was scary."

I shrugged, then noticed he was still holding onto my hand. He also noticed, and let go of me. "It's nothing," I said. "I don't really have anything to do."

"No, seriously. I mean it," he said. "Is there anything I can get you? Oh, hey," his eyes brightened. "I know there's a Krispy Kreme near here that's giving out free donuts to anyone with proof of vaccination. Would you like one?"

I blinked. It was hard looking at him. It felt like I was being stared at by a giant golden retriever puppy. "Fine, why not," I replied.

"Wonderful!" he exclaimed, and beamed up at me as if I was the one offering to get him a free donut. I began to understand a bit more why Marie chose to keep him around.

A few other stragglers left the vaccination station to join us at the waiting area, and I immediately noticed that pretty much all of them took way less time than us to get vaccinated. I decided to ignore this embarrassing fact and concentrate on how nice the weather was. That, at least, put me in a slightly better mood.

"Hey, Dave?" Dean asked. I almost groaned.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad to have you as a mate," he said, and my heart fluttered slightly before I remembered he was just calling me the British equivalent of a homie. "Call me when you get the next shot, yeah?"

"There is no next shot," I pointed out. "Johnson and Johnson is a single dosage vaccine."

"Oh," he said stupidly, and I rolled my eyes, though not entirely out of frustration.

Welp, that's five minutes of small talk down...only about twenty-five to go.

I just gotta spend twenty-five more minutes, get my free donut, and then I can finally leave and never have to talk to this doofus again.

That should be doable, right...?