“How many times have I poisoned you?”
“Zero,” she whispered.
I leaned in pointing to my ear. “How many?”
“ZERO!”
“Okay just wanted to get that on record.”
“Noted. Now what can I do?”
“Wash, oil, and salt the potatoes.”
“I can handle that.”
“You better because if you fuck up baked potatoes, I’m going to have questions.”
We moved past each other going about our respective tasks. Danessa would occasionally brush past me on her way to the pantry. And I think she may have washed her hands at leasttwenty times in the process. Cooking together wasn’t foreign for us. When we dated, I’d cook almost every weekend, in the shared kitchen in my dorm room. Danessa would drink wine and supervise because she was a shit cook. While other guys my age were going out to the club on Friday nights, I was at home in my happy place with my girl and good food.
I was working on seasoning the chicken when Danessa came up from behind me. Her hand landed on my back which caused me to flinch before relaxing into her touch. “It already smells good.”
I was tempted to kiss her like I’d done so many times in the past. Suggesting we cook together was probably a bad idea. Shit being around Danessa for any length of time was a bad idea. Her presence warped my reality, blurring the lines between our blissful past and the cold realization that what we had was most likely gone. Ruined by time and hurt feelings.
“I could get used to having a personal chef.”
Why was she standing so close to me?“Don’t.”
“I have a salad bag I can put together.”
“Sounds good.”
Put a finger down if you moved to a new city and your realtor is your ex from college. The one who got away, broke your heart, and never looked back. But after all these years you two decided to try to be friends and now you’re in her kitchen making dinner, but all you can think about are her teardrop breast and the voracity in which she used to suck your dick. Please note that I’ve put a finger down.
We settled into eating and watching a scary movie Danessa selected.
“See and that’s why you can’t go on a vacation with just anybody.” I gestured toward the television.
“What do you mean?”
“They heard a noise in the cellar and this dude is talking about let’s check it out.”
“It could be an animal.”
“Or it could be a homicidal killer ready to gut them like a fish.”
“They paid a lot for the house rental.”
“Fuck that house rental if it were me, I’d already be in the car and on the highway to the nearest civilized city.”
“You’d just leave?”
“I can guarantee you everybody in this movie is about to die. But not me, cause my ass would already be home.”
She licked sauce from the corner of her mouth. “I think you’re overreacting.”
“Danessa we are Black, we don’t do creepy cabins in the woods.”
“What if I wanted to stay?”
