Spring has sprung, and with it, smiley faces. When yellow crocuses bloom all over town in the shape of an emoji during April’s first warm days, reporter Nero Storm is sent out to discover their meaning and origin.<br><br>Nero has little to smile about himself, what with dysfunctional family drama and a tragic love life. The previous fall, it seemed as if he might have finally met the man of his dreams in dog daddy, ride share operator, and charity organizer Z. Though the two spent but ten morning and evening car rides together, sparks flew. Unfortunately, at the end of that time, Nero witnessed a crime, and Z disappeared.<br><br>Now, as the rest of the world looks forward to a new beginning promised by spring, Nero is left to wonder. Are the smiley face flowers a message for him, and will he ever see Z’s smile again for real?

21 Smiles

Soon enough, we were on our way over to Irvington, to investigate another happy face sighting, one from a woman named Dina Dunn.


“He was into you.” Carmen had a keen sense of the obvious. “Even if you’re both bad at flirting.”


“You’ve never seen my game,” I huffed.


“Yeah, I have.” She relented, signaled, and then changed lanes, as we headed down 9A in light midday traffic. “Last October at the walkathon. It’s okay, I guess.”


“Maybe Adam and I can take a college course in it.”


“You should date more…date again. It’s been a while.”


“I should date more. I should eat more. Is there anything else I should do more, Carmen?”


“I’m guessing sex,” she said without a beat. “What’s it been? Six months? More than that?”


I had no desire to count back for an accurate number.


“Get some takeout from Summer Storm’s, go back to Adam’s dorm room, and kill three birds with one stone. A little food, a little family, a lot of fu—”


Chapter 6