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“Like earlier today. When I went to get your money, you made the joke about me not fall-”
“Oh my God, that was such a lame joke,” Cara interrupted.
“Well, I won’t argue with that,” Coop laughed. “It was pretty lame, BUT… you weren’t afraid to say it. Do you know if I had done that in front of Simon he would’ve pretended that it never happened? Or he would have blamed the maintenance crew for waxing the floor too much!”
“Well, it’s never been an issue for me. Unfortunately, not everyone is as accepting of my audacity as you.”
“Well then, I guess that’s their loss, isn’t it?” Coop countered, his steely eyes locking in on Cara as she glanced up.
“Thank you…” Cara managed to reply, almost forgetting what she was trying to say.
His eyes give him an unfair advantage…
“I have enough people in my life who I have known for years and I am pretty sure that I have never seen most of them let their guard down around me,” Coop explained. “That’s probably what I miss most about playing. My teammates were always genuine because they didn’t have any other reason not to be. We were all in the same boat.”
As they stood just feet from the kitchen, they held each other's gaze for a few seconds.
Then Cara broke the silence, “Coop…”
“Yes…” Coop replied.
“That was the most pathetic thing I have heard in a long time!” Cara said as she busted out laughing, “Oh my God… poor me… people only want to kiss my ass…”
Coop, staring in utter disbelief, could only manage to say, “Well, yeah, when you put it that way it sounds pathetic…”
By this point, Cara was almost crying from laughter, and Coop was certain that while he was on the receiving end of the joke there was also no place else he wanted to be in that moment.
Her wit gives her an unfair advantage…
“Hey, you asked for it!” Cara managed to calm down enough to remind Coop of his earlier request. “You told me you never wanted me to change.”
“Yeah… about that…” Coop replied, with no intention of finishing the thought.
“Listen, I know what you mean,” Cara said. “I just couldn’t help myself. I warned you… no filter...”
“Like I said, don’t ever apologize either,” Coop reminded her. “I deserved that.”
“Well, on another note, I’m freaking starving,” Cara changed the subject. “And whatever you got going on in that kitchen smells amazing.”
“Well then,” Coop said, “Let’s get after it. Mizz-ippy style. Follow me...”
Coop led Cara into the large kitchen area, and instead of plates and silverware on the kitchen table, there was beige colored newsprint-like paper spread out like a tablecloth.
“Don’t worry,” Coop said, noticing Cara’s odd expression as she saw the makeshift tablecloth. “It’ll all make sense in a minute. Have a seat.”
As Cara sat down, she noticed two plastic bibs like one would typically wear while dining on lobster at a seafood restaurant.
“You are going to want to wear one of those,” Coop said as he poured the contents of the pot into a large metal strainer.
“Fancy!” Cara joked.
“Only the best!” Coop replied as he carried the large metal basket to the table and proceeded to dump the contents right in the middle, directly on top of the paper.
Cara stared at the steaming pile of food before her. There was enough shrimp, corn, sausage, and potatoes to feed 10 people.
“Are there more people coming over?” Cara asked, wide-eyed.
“This is just the appetizer,” Coop deadpanned.
