Page 32 of The Girl with No Name

“So what’s your girlfriend like?”

“She’s…smart. Pretty. Kind. All the things you want in a woman. She’s absolutely special.”

“Where is she now again?”

“Grad school in California. She’s finishing her MBA.”

“When was the last time you got to see her?”

“Couple of months ago. I went out there.”

“When was the time you two were the most together? Physically, I mean.”

“Probably in college.”

“You lived together in college?”

“No. We were long distance then, too. She went to Purdue, and I went to this small liberal arts school in Indiana so I could run track.”

“Rad. So have you ever been together in the same place?”

I think for a moment. “For a few months at most. She was here for the summer between our senior year of college and when I left for the Peace Corps. We were living with our parents.”

“Oh.”

“Is that normal?”

“What’s normal?” she asks. “Nothing is, really.”

“Long distance is tough. I’m looking forward to the future. I don’t live for the now. I’ve got the secure job. The good girl. I’m headed in the right direction.”

Luna turns all the way around and rests her chin on the back of the seat. “Hopefully this isn’t too personal…”

“Okay.”

“But…are you happy?”

“Come again?”

“You don’t exactly light up when you talk about your future. You bring more of a doing-this-because-I-have-toenergy. You’re notpumpedto do it.”

“What else is there? You get the girl, you get the job, you get married. That’s the key to life. Dunn, back me up.”

“It’s simple, really,” Dunn says. “People try to overcomplicate shit and look for enlightenment around the next corner. But life’s about balance, too.”

I nod. “Everyone wants to look for the next best thing—the next girl, that special job. But true happiness—enduring happiness, the kind that lasts a lifetime—takes work to build. You’re not going to find it by downloading the latest app or by getting drunk and escaping your problems.”

“You’re not totally wrong,” Dunn adds. “But also? Concert festivals are better than therapy.”

I blow out a breath and make a quiet noise in my throat.

“What was that?” Luna asks.

“Nothing.”

“Didn’t sound like nothing to me.”

I realize right then that I like her. There’s some ineffable quality about her that draws me in. She doesn’t let those little reactions go unnoticed.