Gold Digger – Story 29 – APPROVED

Zoya had a birthday thing.

Small. Her flat. The kind of party that starts as ten people and becomes twenty-five because Zoya doesn’t know how to invite some people and not others and also she’d told the musician and the musician told people.

I brought Adam.

First time.

I told him in the Uber.

Not the full brief – not the Sara and Claire and Zoya breakdown, not the years of history, not the specific role each of them plays in the architecture of my life.

Just:

“These are my best friends. They’re going to have opinions.”

He looked at me.

“About me?”

“About everything. It’s what they do.”

He nodded.

“Should I be worried?”

I thought about Claire.

I thought about Zoya.

“Probably not,” I said.

I thought about Zoya again.

“Maybe a little.”

Sara found me in the kitchen eleven minutes after we arrived.

Which was eleven minutes longer than I expected.

“Mila,” she said.

“Sara.”

“He helped Zoya with the ice without being asked.”

“I know.”

“Before she even noticed it needed doing.”

“I know.”

“Mila.”

“I know,” I said.

She looked at me for a moment.

That specific Sara look.

“He’s good,” she said.

Not a question.

“He’s good,” I confirmed.

She hugged me.

Brief. Tight.

Said nothing else.

Went back to the party.

Claire found me twenty minutes later.

Same kitchen.

Different energy.

She’d been watching.

Obviously she’d been watching – Claire at a social event is Claire conducting field research, and Adam had just spent twenty minutes being subjected to it without knowing.

“He’s consistent,” she said.

“I know.”

“In person. Not just on paper.”

“I know.”

“That’s rarer than you think.”

“Claire.”

“I’m just noting it.”

“Noted.”

She picked up her drink.

“Good,” she said.

Coming from Claire that was approximately equivalent to a standing ovation.

Zoya took longer.

Zoya circled.

I watched her do it from across the room – asking Adam questions with the focus of someone looking for a structural flaw in a building, moving from topic to topic, trying different angles.

Adam answered everything.

Genuinely.

Without performing.

Without trying to win her over specifically, which is exactly how you win Zoya over.

At some point she tried the musician angle – something about whether Adam had opinions about a band – and Adam had opinions, real ones, and they argued about it for ten minutes and Zoya was laughing by the end.

She found me by the window.

Crossed her arms.

Looked at me.

“I tried,” she said.

“I know.”

“I really tried.”

“I know, Zoya.”

“There’s nothing wrong with him.”

“I’m aware.”

She uncrossed her arms.

Picked up her drink.

“This is extremely inconvenient,” she said.

Then she went back to the party.

In the Uber home Adam was quiet for a moment.

Then:

“They love you very much.”

“They’re a lot.”

“Yes.” A pause. “It was great.”

I looked at him.

He meant it.

Obviously he meant it.

Spreadsheet status: 

Adam → board review: complete. 

Sara: approved. Claire: approved. Zoya: attempted objection. overruled. 

Richard → pending. 

D → [row does not exist] 

The vote was unanimous. I don’t trust unanimous decisions. – Mila