Sushi for One? by Camy Tang

volleyball. Two, he has to be physically attractive. It’s the whole ‘oneness’ thing. I have to actually want to ‘be one’ with him.”
    Trish snorted with laughter.
    “That’s gross! You’re getting ice cream everywhere.”
    “Sorry.” Trish covered her mouth.
    “Three, he’s got to be Christian.”
    “That’s third? Not high on your priorities, hmm?” Trish poked her in the ribs.
    “Er . . . it’s in no specific order. Four, he has to have a good, stable job.”
    “Where did Paul say he has to be rich?”
    “Not rich. But Ephesians tells men to love their wives just as they feed and care for their bodies. So that means my boyfriend — or future spouse — needs to have enough money to feed and care for me, right? Five, he’ll be faithful. No sexual immorality, impurity, all that stuff.”
    “That’s in Ephesians too? I have to read my Bible more.”
    “Six, he won’t lie to me. ‘Put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor.’ ”
    “How are you going to know if he’s lying?”
    “Um . . .” Lex dropped her legs from the coffee table. “Well, hopefully he won’t. He shouldn’t manipulate me or deceive me in any way.
    So, what do you think?”
    Trish shrugged. “I guess that’s doable.”
    “I just want to be careful, you know?”
    “Yeah, I know.” Trish set down her empty carton. “So what’s up with buying a condo?”
    “Think about it. A house declares independence. What’s more, to the family, it’s not a form of independence that’s outright defying Grandma. It’s an acceptable form of independence because it’s considered an investment.”
    “Oh, I get it.”
    “I need to make a statement. Even if I show up at Mariko’s wedding with a boyfriend, I want to show Grandma that I’m not completely under her thumb.”
    “Grandma’s not a monster.”
    “Easy for you to say, she hasn’t threatened anything important to you.”
    “She was actually pretty nice to me the other night.”
    “Huh? Why?”
    “I introduced her to my new boyfriend.”
    “So who’s the flavor of the week?”
    “Shut up.” Trish stuck out her tongue, then launched into her giggly mood when talking about a new guy. “I met him when I went out to lunch last week at Sako Sushi. He’s a waiter. He gave me fresh chopsticks.” Trish dimpled. “And he spoke Japanese to Grandma.”
    “Score!” She gave Trish a high-five. “No wonder Grandma liked him.”
    “I’m telling you, being on Grandma’s good side is better than where you are now. Find a boyfriend.”
    “Well, I’ll start at work tomorrow. Maybe my coworkers have some leads.”

    Lex entered her tech manufacturing company in the morning to the melodious sounds of the Gorgon and the intern screaming at each other.
    “If you make the mess, you clean it up!” The administrative assistant’s bellow resonated from the entrance foyer down the hallways to the managers’ offices.
    “I had a family function to go to!” Cari, the newly hired intern, had plenty of the head-wagging thing going on.
    Lex’s entrance through the glass doors didn’t even pause the argument.
    The middle-aged woman gave the hip intern a look that lowered the air-conditioned area to below freezing. “You spilled the entire bottle of soda. At least you could have gotten paper towels!”
    “Somebody pushed me! It wasn’t my fault!”
    “It doesn’t matter! Grow up and take responsibility or don’t come to the afternoon office parties.”
    Cari’s blue and purple glitter eye makeup glinted in the fluorescent overhead lights. “Even you can’t keep me from going to the office parties, you old hag.”
    Good going, girlfriend, insult the Gorgon. Make her difficult to work with all day for everybody else.
    Lex kept to the periphery of the foyer and managed to nip back to her cubicle. She guessed she wouldn’t be asking Cari about her favorite singles’ hangouts this morning. Maybe this afternoon. She wouldn’t be able to hold a civil convo