Page 39 of Somebody To Love

“I’ve been on a health kick lately. I eat too many burgers.”

“I guess I’ll take whatever you have.”

He started pulling out fresh fruit like strawberries and grapes. I immediately reached for some strawberries when he said, “Oh yeah, I have cool whip. Would you like some?”

“Sure,” I said with a shrug.

I took a moment to look around his apartment as I chewed slowly on a strawberry. It was spacious, but warm and welcoming. It wasn’t what I expected from a bachelor.

“So is this an apartment or condo?”

“Condo.”

“It’s nice.”

“Thanks,” he said.

“Did you decorate it yourself?”

“Yeah, with some help from my assistant.” He seemed like he was about to say more, but then he reached for a strawberry instead.

I shrugged it off and continued to look around. I spied a pile of papers and a laptop open on a table. Clearly, he had been working. I kind of felt bad. Kind of.

“What do you for a living exactly? You said you run a start-up.”

He popped a grape in his mouth and thoughtfully chewed. I tried not to look at his lips, but I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t even watch him chew without getting turned on. I was a mess.

“It’s similar to a consulting firm.”

“Really? And you consult on what, exactly?”

He seemed to carefully consider his response, “Human relations, I guess you could say.”

“Hmm, I figured you would be more into the sales and marketing side of things.”

“That’s definitely not my forte.”

“Hmmm… then what is?”

“Come here and I’ll show you.”

I looked up from the strawberry I was chewing and finished it slowly.

For some reason, it was like I was frozen in that spot. I couldn’t move now that I had an open invitation. “Show me what?” I said.

He motioned for me to come sit next to him and I rose slowly and slid on the barstool next to him.

“So what are you good at?”

He leaned towards me and I leaned in too, knowing that this was the moment. Finally. But I was wrong. He reached right past me, took a strawberry off my plate and grabbed a little knife. And then, to my surprise, he carved the strawberry into the shape of a flower.

“Where did you learn to do that?” I was impressed. It was something I’d seen on the cooking channel but I’d never seen anyone do it in real life.

“I worked as a line cook while in college, so I picked up a few things from the chefs.”

“The only useful thing I learned outside the classroom in college was how to chug a beer.”

He looked pointedly at the beer I was holding. “I guess that’s a skill you lost in your youth.”