Roman smiled to himself, pleased with how well their random little date was going. Abigail was clearly excited about getting ice cream, so it had been a good move for him to bring her to Jose’s cart. He watched as Jose gave her two small cups of ice cream, recommending his best-selling flavor to her—as he did with all of the other women Roman had brought to him in the past. In fact, things were going so well, he was tempted to try and bring her back to his apartment afterwards. [i]Is it too soon though?[/i] He wondered, biting his lip impatiently. It was definitely too soon to tell whether or not she was still skittish around him. But he didn’t want to wait…

[i]Shit,[/i] Roman took a step backwards, suddenly struck with dizziness. He muttered a short string of curses under his breath and rubbed his temple, willing it to go away. [i]Not again. Not now.[/i] For as long as he could remember, he had suffered from occasional fainting spells. He had been to multiple doctors, and even some hippy natural-remedy believers—he had been desperate to try anything at that point—but no one could help him or find anything wrong. He narrowed his eyes, fixing his gaze on a nearby bush and fighting the urge to pass out. Fortunately, the spell passed within a few seconds, and he felt fine again. He sighed inwardly, [i]That was close.[/i]

It was perfect timing too, because in the next moment, Roman saw Abigail turn to ask him if he was going to let her eat by herself. “Of course not,” he replied. “It’s polite to let a lady go first. I’m gonna treat you right, doll.” He nodded at Jose. “My usual.”

“Peanut butter and rocky road,” the vendor said knowingly. “I always keep some in stock for [i]mi cliente favorito[/i].” He dropped one scoop of each flavor into a waffle cone and handed it to Roman, then took a step back and beamed at him and Abigail. “I must say, you two make a handsome couple.”

“Y’think so?” Roman chuckled. He appreciated Jose’s smooth compliments. It made his job so much easier. He looked down at Abigail and gave her a teasing wink, “What do you think, Abby? Would we be ‘cute’ together?”