James Series Chapter 25 Laz had chosen a fondue restaurant off of one of the main roads in Columbia. As I pulled into the parking lot, I recalled that a similar restaurant was in Towson, closer to my home, closer to my good friend Ava Diggs. I had been invited years ago by some friends at a former job to have the fondue experience once after work; I declined, never really seeming to fit in with coworkers and girlfriends the way I’d imagined most women did. Ava was ten years older than my mother and the closest I had to a “girlfriend.” Not sure what that said about me. How long had I not been aware that I was alone? I shut the engine off, closed my eyes, and wiped a trail of sweat that suddenly streamed from my forehead. I was about to answer a marriage proposal. The last time I had done so, the entire track of my life changed. And not necessarily for the better. I reached for the platter of cookie bars I’d kept wrapped up in plastic wrap and foil in my back seat, trying to remember why I’d baked them, why I’d felt the need to bring them.
