“He had a departmental meeting he needed to attend,” I told her.
“Man, he’s such a grown up.”
I laughed. “He’s amazing.”
“You are so lucky, Nat.”
“Oh, I’m aware,” I said. “Even after all these months, I can’t quite believe that he’s actually interested in me.”
“Interested in you?” she repeated. “He’s in love with you, Nat.”
“I know,” I said, and I sounded like an infatuated teenager.
“When do I get to meet him?”
“Urgh…”
She laughed. “Oh, come on, you’ve been dating him for months now. He took you to freaking Paris, you guys are well into relationship status, and the next step is meeting the friends.”
“I know,” I nodded. “But I don’t want to spook him. It was hard enough for him to admit he loved me.”
“The brooding types can be like that sometimes.”
“He’s not brooding,” I said. “He’s just serious.”
Missy laughed. “So anyway, if he’s not at home, what are you doing all by your lonesome?”
I groaned in exasperation. “I’m attempting to cook a meal for him.”
“And by that tone, I’m assuming it’s going well,” she said sarcastically.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” I admitted. “I think I’ve destroyed his kitchen.”
She laughed. “You really do love this guy, to have braved the kitchen for him. What are you cooking?”
“Pasta,” I said. “In memory of our Parisian adventure. And chicken with veggies.”
As I finished my sentence, I remembered the chicken that I had put on the stove just before Missy had called. “Oh no,” I gasped, as I ran towards the stove. It was only then that I became aware of the warning signs my other senses were giving me.
By the time I reached the stovetop, the chicken was well and truly burnt. “Fuck!” I yelled at myself.
“Disaster in the kitchen?”
“I burnt the chicken,” I sighed. “What do I do?”
“Stay away from cooking,” she advised me seriously. “And next time, order in.”
I stared sadly at my burnt chicken and nodded. “That’s good advice,” I said. “Especially for me. I guess I’ll have to find another way to make this up to Chance.”
“Take out?”
“Sex.”
Missy was quiet for a second and then she burst out laughing. “Man, you are a changed woman. I’m so proud.”
Burnt chicken aside, for just a moment, I was proud, too.
Chapter Twenty-Six