Chapter Five 13 Going on 30, dir. by Gary Winick #2
“Sorry, guess I left one on.” Peter swipes at something on his phone, and then very obviously goes to his messages to type something quickly before hitting send.
“It’s okay,” Eli tells him.
For a moment, both of them stare at each other, almost as if they’re unsure of how to continue. Eli has to remind himself
that he’s supposed to be acting, that right now he isn’t Eli meeting Peter. He’s Eli meeting a man that he’s been set up with.
“So... how was your day?” Eli asks him, desperate to get the conversation going.
“Iced Americano!” Peter blurts out, almost as if he’s been dying to say it for hours now.
“Already?”
“I’m sorry.” Peter hides his face. “I’m just... I’m nervous, I don’t want to mess this up. Are you sure this is the best
way to go about all of this?”
“Peter, we can be honest. This situation is weird, very much so. Even all the movies I watched to prepare for this didn’t
make much sense when you gave them more than three seconds of thought. Why would adults ever agree to fake-date?”
“You watched movies to prepare for this?”
“Yes.” Eli dares to reach for Peter’s hand, closing the distance between the two of them. “But maybe it’ll help to keep in
mind that you’ve already messed up?”
“I have?”
“Yes, last week. You already messed up royally, and it’s not like I was perfect either. So, what does it matter if we mess
up again?”
“But what if I say the wrong thing? Or spill food on you again? Or miss the movie, or—”
“You already did that,” Eli reminds him. It might not sound like the pep talk that he wants it to be, but he has a point to make. “You can mess up around me, Peter. I’m not going to be offended. That’s why I’m here, to help you work through what’s going on in that brain of yours.”
There’s the hint of a smile through the nerves, and Eli can’t help but smile back at him.
“So, we’re okay, right?”
Peter nods slowly.
“Good, okay. We’ll start fresh, right?” Eli takes his hand away, letting it hover in the air above the table. “I’m Eli Francis.
It’s nice to meet you.”
Peter takes his hand gently. “I’m Peter Park.”
“Peter Park?” It occurs to Eli that he didn’t actually know Peter’s last name before now.
“Yes, like Spider-Man ,” Peter says to him before Eli can even complete the thought, like he’s been dealing with this for his entire life. “Just
without the ‘er,’ and the webs.”
“Color me disappointed.”
“Well, my name is Ho-Seok, but when my parents came here, they were told by teachers that no one would be able to pronounce
my name. And my dad is a big Spider-Man fan, and he thought it was cool, I guess.”
“I like Peter, it’s a good name. But do you prefer to be called Ho-Seok?” Eli’s all too familiar with the idea of being called
a name that isn’t yours, how it eats away at you slowly.
Not that the experiences are the same. They might be similar, sure, but their reasons are miles apart. Eli never had someone
tell him that either of his names was impossible to pronounce.
Peter shrugs. “It’s okay. Only my immediate family uses my Korean name, really. And I feel like a Peter.”
His ears turn red.
“I feel like I’m named Peter. Not that I am a Peter.”
Eli can’t help but laugh through his confusion. “Was that supposed to be a joke?”
“Well, no, but where I’m from ‘peter’ is another word for... you know.” Peter looks down at his own crotch. “Dick.”
Eli swallows his laughter. “You can say penis in front of me, Peter. We’re both adults.”
“I don’t think my mom would appreciate me saying that in front of you.”
That’s when Peter’s phone begins to ring, and he steals a glance at Eli before he grabs it.
“I’m so sorry, this will be quick.”
Eli doesn’t say a word, just lets the waitress leave his glass of water, refilling Peter’s own while she’s at the table. Eli
tries to make anything out of the conversation that Peter’s having, but tech talk has never been his area of expertise.
“So run the test again with the changes I made, watch to see where it stops if it fails. Then send the report to me. I can
take a look at it later.”
Peter pauses, listening.
“No, I, um... I’m out right now, so I can’t run them. Sorry.”
Eli relaxes back into the booth, still annoyed, but marginally less so given that he already expected this to happen again.
Still, it doesn’t make the night any less tense.
“Okay, yeah. Yes. Yeah. Okay. I will. Thanks.” And finally, he hangs up. “I’m so sorry about that,” he apologizes, setting
his phone down.
Eli just stares at him.
Peter sighs. “Iced Americano?”
“Didn’t realize you were psychic.”
Peter hides his face. “I’m sorry.”
“What is it that you do, exactly?” Eli asks, deciding that brushing past the situation might be for the best.
Peter hesitates before he asks, “Are you asking me that as first-date Eli? Or as real Eli?”
“Real Eli, but explain it to me like I’m first-date Eli.”
“This is confusing,” Peter says.
“You’re telling me.” Eli picks up his water again.
“I work at Zelus, the tech company.”
“They’re not into AI, are they?”
“No, Zelus mostly does UI design. Like the databases I make, and they helped to create the new readers for Muni.”
“Oh, right, right.” Eli vaguely recalls reading an article about the new card readers making their way throughout the city
on the electric buses. “So, what do you do for them? And don’t just tell me you code or do stock or whatever.”
“I create and test the code for some of their clients, mostly chains who need to keep track of their inventory. But we’re
taking on new companies all the time, designing all kinds of things for them; there’s a project starting in a few months with
Lucasfilm.” It strikes Eli that none of Peter’s words are being said with any enthusiasm at all. Not that he has much room
to talk.
“And that requires you to answer the phone during your off time?”
“It’s not really that...” Peter says.
Eli folds his hands together carefully. “Then what is it?”
“One of my supervisors had a question about a test I ran earlier today.”
“Okay, but it’s seven o’clock at night on a Friday; they shouldn’t be calling you when you’re not on the clock.”
Peter shrugs. “I don’t mind answering their questions.”
“Are you getting paid to do that?”
“No, I’m technically off the clock.” Guilt hangs heavy in his tone.
“That’s not fair, Peter.”
“I guess not, but... like I said, I don’t mind helping out or answering their questions. It’s for an important project
we have to have done by January.”
“Well, they’ve got enough time to let you have a social life.”
“They want the timeline moved up, though.”
“That sounds like their problem,” Eli says to him. “Do you enjoy doing that free labor during your off time?”
“Well... no. Who would?”
“Exactly.”
“But it’s just one phone call.”
“In the middle of our date.” Eli feels like he’s talking to a brick wall. Again.
The phone buzzes, this time just once. Peter looks to Eli, as if asking for the permission he has to know he won’t get, picking
it up slowly and staring at the message.
“It doesn’t make the other person feel good,” Eli says, “when you’re so caught up in work that you can’t even have fun, or
get to know them.”
“I know.”
“It doesn’t seem like it.” Eli doesn’t want to sound mean, but there’s really no other way to get it into Peter’s head.
“I’m sorry.”
“Let me ask you, Peter... What is a date?”
“Like the fruit, or the thing that we’re on?”
Eli has to resist the exhausted laugh that wants to slip out. “The thing that we’re on.”
“Two people, or more, I guess, go and spend time together and get to know one another?”
“Yes. And what part of that sentence you just said involves taking work calls and fielding Slack messages?”
Peter pauses, staring at his phone as it buzzes again. “None. I guess I just... I guess I’m just so used to working off
the clock that it doesn’t bother me.”
“But if your date told you it bothered them, what would you do?”
“I guess... I’d stop answering work calls?”
Eli nods. “So, try and ignore your phone for the rest of the night. No more calls, no more Slack messages. Just focus on me, on the night we’re having.”
“Here.” Peter picks up the phone and tries to hand it to Eli. “Keep it for me.”
“No.” Eli leans away from him, his back straight against the cushion of the booth. “You won’t learn anything if I do all the
work for you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Do what you have to, put it on mute, or turn the phone off. But you’ve got to make the choice to not let work bother you.”
Eli watches as Peter stares at his phone, another message popping up on the screen. For a brief moment, Eli can see the picture
that serves as the background, two older-looking people with their arms wrapped around each other’s waists. Eli has to assume
these are Peter’s parents.
“Let me just respond to this, make sure the test went well.” Peter unlocks his phone and types something quickly.
Eli tries to hide his disappointment, but he promises himself that it’s fine.
Rome wasn’t built in a day , he thinks. And twunks can’t be fixed over just a single date. Then where would he get his fake article for Michael?
“Okay.” Peter shows Eli the screen again, holding down the power button until the Apple logo shines on the screen. “The phone
is off. I’m done with work.”
“Good!” Eli picks up his menu. “Now are you finally ready to get this date started?”
He watches Peter swallow, his throat bobbing up and down. “Yes, please.”
Despite it all, despite his annoyance with Peter, and despite the incredibly odd circumstances that led to this date, he does
like Peter. At least what he’s seen. He seems like a genuine guy, earnest—maybe to a fault—and despite his addiction to his work, he seems like he does care.
And for the rest of the night, without the distraction of his phone, and with more than a little prodding from Eli, Peter
manages to open up. Peter even dares to pull out a folded piece of notebook paper where he’s written basic facts about himself
that he shows to Eli.