Kaira laughed. She tore off a piece of the pastry, dipped it in her coffee, and tasted it. “Oh, that is so good!” She dunked a second piece and fed it to Armpit.
The pastry was good, but her fingertips were even better.
“So, how’s Ginny?”
“The same,” he said. “Great.”
“You’re so good with her,” Kaira said. “I really admire that. I have a hard time around handicapped kids.”
Armpit rarely thought of Ginny as handicapped.
“Have you ever heard of the Make-A-Wish Foundation?” she asked him.
“Yeah, I think so.”
“In a couple of weeks I’m supposed to spend the day with a nine-year-old girl dying of some disease. I was her wish!”
“That’s really nice of you.”
He took a sip of coffee, then wiped the whipped cream off his nose with his napkin.
“I dread it,” said Kaira. “I know, that makes me sound like an awful person, but I just get creeped out being around someone like that. My manager says it’s good publicity. I don’t know what she wants from me! I’m just a singer. It’s not like I can cure cancer!”
“She’s not expecting you to cure her,” said Armpit. “Just look her in the eye. Let her know she’s real.”
Kaira looked deep into Armpit’s eyes.
“Just like that,” he said.
She smiled and said, “You are so wonderful.”
“No, I’m not,” he said.
“Yeah, you really are,” said Kaira.
He reached across the small table and held her hand. “There’s something I got to tell you,” he said.
“Oh, my gosh,” Kaira said playfully. “You look so serious.”
“It’s just that . . .” He wasn’t sure how to begin. “You know at the concert, how Ginny and I had counterfeit tickets?”
A man wearing a shirt and tie and one pearl earring suddenly approached the table. “You’re Kaira DeLeon, aren’t you?”
Kaira took a second, then admitted it. “This is my friend Theodore.”
The guy didn’t even glance at Armpit. “My niece plays your CD all the time. The Fountain of Youth, right?”
“Yep,” said Kaira.
“Only one of her CDs I can listen to without throwing up!”
“Uh, thanks, I guess,” said Kaira.
“No, really. For overproduced commercial pap, it’s not too bad.” The guy stretched his arm in front of Armpit’s face and said, “I’m very honored to meet you.”
Kaira shook his hand.
He handed her a napkin. “Would you mind?”