“How do you like This Big City?” The Applicant asked, smoothing out the wrinkles of the napkin in her lap. She deftly plucked another section of the sushi roll from the platter with her copper-colored chopsticks, gingerly dipped the morsel into the murky puddle of soy sauce, and popped it into her mouth.

“Oh, it’s great—the food here is great, the clubs are fun, and the beaches are great,” The Girlfriend replied, unaware that she said the word “great” three times in one sentence.

“There’s a lot of stuff to do, but it’s hard to get out and do things when you’re an intern,” The Resident replied, still chewing on the remnants of the seaweed roll in his mouth. “The schedule opens up a bit the second year, though, and then you have the time and energy to go out and party.”

“Yeah, it’s great,” The Girlfriend said. She gently wrapped her thin fingers around The Resident’s forearm and tapped her long, coral-lacquered nails against his skin. He leaned into her, brushed a lock of her brunette hair from her face, licked the residual wasabi from his lips, and kissed her on the cheek. She smirked. “I didn’t see him much during his intern year; it sucked.”

“That’s too bad,” The Applicant said, using her chopsticks to select a slender slice of ginger. “How did you two manage?”

“Oh, there’s ways around the schedule, you know,” The Girlfriend replied, squeezing The Resident’s forearm. Apparently unaware of her touch, he continued to place sections of sushi rolls into his mouth at a regular rate of a piece every twenty seconds.

The Applicant raised her eyebrows, tacitly asking The Girlfriend to continue.

“You know, I’d bring dinner to him at the hospital on his call nights; sometimes I’d bring him coffee and a muffin in the morning. Little things like that,” The Girlfriend said, tucking an errant wisp of hair behind her ear with her bejeweled hand.

“That’s sweet,” The Applicant mumbled as she nibbled on the ginger.

“Yeah; the beds in the call room aren’t all that comfortable or stable, but they do okay for us, you know?” The Girlfriend remarked.

The Applicant choked and began to cough.