Secrets

Laughing Boy and I had been going out for six months when he dropped the bombshell.

I was going through a rough patch, working three jobs and trying to pick up the pieces of my life after a messy divorce the year before. I was so tired, my body was craving strange foods. And what it wanted most of the time, for every lunch and every dinner, was sushi. Spicy tuna rolls, fresh water eel, salmon sashimi. Mercury be d*@%mned, my body wanted protein and not the kind with legs.

One evening, I got out of work too late and my favorite sushi place was closed. It was then that LB said it. "I could make you some."

Excuse me?

"They sell sushi grade ahi and salmon at Hole Foods. I could make you some spicy tuna rolls. I took a class."

He took a class. And he kept this from me for how long?

He doesn't just make sushi. He approaches making sushi with the same attention to detail as the rest of his life. That weekend, he went to three Asian food stores to find Japanese mayonnaise and fresh wasabi. He tracked down the freshest avacado and pickled ginger. He bought sushi grade ahi and salmon from four different sources, to make sure what he ended up using was absolutely fresh. And then he made spicy tuna rolls, california rolls, rainbow rolls. He made some rolls with the rice on the outside, sprinkled with roe. Salmon sashimi. Ahi, thinly sliced and buttery soft.

Wow!

And after I'd eaten everything in sight, I asked him. Why did you keep this from me? All those sushi lunches and sashimi dinners, and not a word.

"It never came up."

It's official. He's a guy.