Part 3: RECENT INCIDENTS IN MY LOVE LIFE

By Lucy Baker

My co-worker Lauren wants me to meet her friend Steve.  She arranges for a group of us to have lunch at this Japanese restaurant in midtown that makes you take off your shoes.  We sit down, and while the waitress is pouring our tea, Steve sticks his tongue out at me.  I look around to see if anyone else noticed, but they’re all reading their menus.

It happens repeatedly throughout the meal.  Steve’s tongue darts in and out of his mouth like a snake’s.  Each time he does it, I try to catch someone’s eye but nobody else seems the least bit phased.  It’s like an episode of The Twilight Zone.  I concentrate on my sushi roll, mixing wasabi into a puddle of soy sauce.

Back at the office, my friend Claire asks how lunch was and what I thought of Steve.  I say it was weird because Steve kept sticking his tongue out at me.

“Oh,” she says “didn’t anyone tell you he has Tourette’s?"

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THE BOOK, THE AUDIO, THE TYPING ABOUT BOTH