Sakura cracked open her beer and took a long swig and then sighed.

“I’d love to write a book like that one day,” she said, clasping her hands together like an adoring teenaged girl at a boy band concert. “One about star-crossed lovers who battle the odds and end up together in the end.”

She sighed once more as her fantasy floated away from her. “But that will have to wait until I retire from being a climber. As much as it would be nice to pursue, I have the ability to protect others, so I must honor and respect that power.”

Max nodded his head. He got the distinct feeling Sakura may have been speaking more to herself than to him, but he wasn’t going to say anything.

The woman plopped down on her couch and turned to him.

“So,” she said. “I’m realizing I’m doing a terrible job at hosting. Are you hungry? I don’t have much beyond instant noodles. They’re in the cupboard over there.”

Max stepped over the dirty carpet to the small kitchen area. He opened up the cupboards to find an impressive array of Styrofoam instant noodle cups, but not much else.

There was a pack of bacon in the freezer and some leftover eggs in the fridge.

I can work with this, Max thought to himself.

He turned back to Sakura. “Thank you for letting me stay with you. Let me cook us some dinner.”

Fifteen minutes later, he placed a bowl of fried bacon and egg ramen in front of Sakura.

Her eyes widened at the sight of the bowl.

“Amazing,” she said. “You’ll impress a lucky lady one day with such culinary prowess.”

Max nodded awkwardly. He was no romantic expert in any way whatsoever, but he had a pretty strong inclination that instant noodles poured over sizzling bacon and eggs was not the meal to a lady’s heart.

Sakura scarfed down her whole bowl in less than a minute.

“Dee-licious!”

She burped and fell back on the couch and placed her hand on her stomach.

Despite her being quite older than him, Max had no problem admitting Sakura was a very attractive woman. That is, until he stepped into her apartment and met this other Sakura.

“Let’s make a deal,” said Sakura. “You can stay here in my extra bedroom for as long as you want. I won’t take any rent from you, but here are my conditions: you’ll keep this place tidy, cook dinner, and—this is the most important part—three of those meals must be bacon and egg ramen.”

She stared him dead in the eyes. “Do we have a deal?”

Her zealous love for bacon and egg ramen kind of freaked Max out a little, but her offer was more than fair. He was quick to nod in agreement.

“Amazing,” said Sakura. “My new teenaged roommate. Makes me feel young again.”