Reluctantly Reconnecting

On Monday, Rae has created a hybrid bread between French bread and ciabatta bread. It has a crispier, lighter bite than traditional ciabatta bread, but has more substance than French bread.

After basically inventing a new type of bread, Rae put a few more different types on a tray and had Dan try.

"I really don't have much opinion. I think they all chew well in my mouth. I guess I would just say no on the French bread. I don't think it holds the meat well. But, I kind of like this one," Dan points at Rae's new creation.

"Great! That's the one I wanted to pick, anyway!"

Rae then scooped out just the right amount of the soft core of the bread, so the bread could absorb the chili gravy that Dan made and still had a crust.

"This is delicious. You should name the bread." Dan said with his mouth full.

Rae laughed, watching Dan's round cheeks, "I don't know if it's anything. Any person can make a different texture of bread."

"Come on, it doesn't hurt to give yourself some credit."

"Maybe I'll call it Novak bread." Rae smiled.

Tuesday morning, when Dan went to work at his fire station in Sudbury, he brought the Novak bread with him. He then assembled the bread and the chili at noon, and shared this batch of chili sandwiches with his fire fighters colleagues. They all really liked it.

"Dan, you're so going to win. This is genius!" One firefighter exclaimed.

"I didn't come up with that myself. My friend did." Dan said, smiling.

"You're going to blow this contest up! This is great. Gourmet! We need to get famous people to come. With food like this, they will donate more."

"Well, the mayor of Sudbury is already coming, isn't it?" Dan asked.

"We could get more. I'm going to tell my wife about it. Maybe she can rally more people to come." An older firefighter said.

"Ah, is your friend this one?" A younger firefighter suddenly approached Dan with a picture on his phone.

Dan took a look. It's a picture of him leaning close to Rae at the bakery a week or two ago.

"Where did you get this?"

"It's a picture that has gotten popular on a photo social app."

"What the heck?" Dan put his hands on his waist. He didn't really use these apps. He got married young and became a dad young. He had been off these social apps for years.

"Well, you're not like super famous. The app features some popular photos locally. So you're only Boston-famous."

"Oh. Geez. Thanks." Dan rolls his eyes.

"So is she the friend you just mentioned? The very helpful friend who created this delicious sandwich for you?" The young co-worker was persistent, laughing.

"Yeah, that's my friend. That's all."

Someone heard this comment accidentally. That someone was Zach Evans. He just finished installing some software at the fire chief's office, which was right next to all these firefighters' break room.

Zach Evans was surprised to hear that Dan seemed to not want to be associated with Rae too much. He wondered if Rae knew about this. Oh gosh, she would be crushed, wouldn't she?

*** ***

It's Wednesday night after 9 o'clock and Rae is now back home. She's been feeling much better since she has successfully made a great sandwich using the bread she created.

Also, Z is back.

"I've done laundry and folded clothes for you when you were at work today, Rae," Z says.

"Thank you so much, Z!" Rae pats on Z's back, and gestures him to come next to her.

"I'm glad you've been happier these past few days." Z sits down next to Rae.

"Yeah! Dan told me his buddies can't wait to eat some more of our food at the competition."

"So, you might get some fans at the competition this weekend. I've detected some interesting public posts from the internet about Dan and the competition." Z winks.

"What is it?"

"Apparently, a lady shared a picture of you and Dan at the bakery on her page. And she also foun a picture of you and him from high school year book."

"What!? Wait, I've never taken a picture with him at the bakery."

"From what I see, it was a picture taken by a random customer at the bakery. You weren't wearing the smart watch that day, so I can't be 100% sure."

Rae now remembers there was a customer who took a picture of Dan and her from behind. She thought she wouldn't be in the shot.

"And that post... kind of went viral. At least, it has made to a local news social media page. Not the actual new on TV, but their social media page. And the caption of the post says, 'This boy and this girl used to go to the same high school. Fast forward 12 years, they accidentally met again. She just invented a new type of bread for him for a chili competition. Aw, heart emoji. I am going to check out that competition. I hope they win and get together! Heart emoji'" Z reads the caption word for word.

"Really? Where can I find the post?"

"It's on local channel 8's social media page."

"How come Marina hasn't told me about this? She's usually the first to alert me anything shocking on the internet." Rae gets on the social site and scrolls through her phone, trying to find the post.

"I think it's because Marina doesn't follow local news."

"Does... does Dan know about it?"

"From what I can tell, he should know about this. Because many people who share the post are his friends and wives of his friends. Someone has to already tell him for sure."

"And... he doesn't want to tell me about it, I guess."

"Yeah."

"Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. He doesn't want to be known to have a girlfriend. He wants to keep his options open." Rae sighs and shakes her head.

Rae is frustrated. She knows she shouldn't invest any emotion in him. He is really just a friend who wants benefit from her. She has to remember this.

"I will not let this depress me though. I'm too excited for the competition." Rae forces a smile for Z.

"That's great. And, I...um...I'm still trying to find you a match. But, I hope you want to find a new man because you want to meet someone new, not because you want to fill a void, left by Dan."

"Oh, hell no." Rae quickly replies.

"Or the void left by... you know who." Z says softly. Z knows not to mention this name, Wes.

Rae doesn't protest. Z knows Rae just can't get over Wes yet.

Z sighs. He has to help Rae to see the misunderstanding between the two, that's what a good A.I. assistant is supposed to do. Zach Evans designs him so.

The truth is, Z really doesn't want to. Z thinks his ability to feel jealousy is only progressing. Why hasn't his other abilities developed that much? Just jealousy is growing?

Z now quietly searches a way for Rae and Wes to reconnect. He knows there's a connection to Wes Warren and Wind Chime not very far away from Rae's apartment. About 1.9 miles to be precise. And interestingly, two particular houses next to each other have generated quite a lot of internet search on Rae's name. They are both coming off in that neighborhood.

Z can tell from public social media profiles linked to those IP addresses that one is a woman named Samantha McConnell and another one is Joseph Dee. Samantha McConnell works for Wind Chime. Joseph Dee, who seems to go by "Joe," is a recent college graduate.

Z is slightly concerned, because both have done some thorough search on Rae. Joe has spent some time going through Gloucester University yearbooks and the rosters of the pre-law program. Samantha McConnell, however, seems to focus on Rae's social media presence, and she also tries to check if Rae has criminal records.

"What are you thinking, Z?" Rae asks, putting one arm over Z's shoulders.

"Oh, hey, do you know a Joe? Joseph Dee?"

"Um, I know a Joe, yeah. A college kid, right?"

Suddenly, a knock on Rae's door. Rae gets up, and looks through the peep hole.

"Oh gosh, speak of the devil," Rae growls.

"Joe is there?" Z stands up.

"Yeah, Joe is at my door!"