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Would wonders never cease?
“My parents died when I was 18, it was either learn to cook or starve,” she said as if it wasn’t something that had probably scarred her for life.
I stared at her, lost for words for a moment before I mumbled a response. “I’m really sorry to hear that.”
“It wasn’t the best time of my life, but you do what you have to, don’t you?” She answered, taking the steaks out of the fridge before she started to rummage in cupboards. I sat down on one of the stools around an island where the cooking range was situated to watch her.
This was the most she’d ever spoken to me without hissing at me to fuck off.
“Can I ask what happened to them?” I asked softly, she was bustling around, staying busy while not looking at me. She could pretend the conversation didn’t affect her, but I could tell it did.
“They died in that plane crash on Lake Michigan a few years ago, you remember?” She stopped and looked at me, her brown eyes steady but without any emotion at all.
“Yeah, I do. Over two-hundred people died. It crashed right after takeoff.” I could understand a little more about her now, but I didn’t dwell on it for the moment. “I’m sorry.”
“Thanks.” Mandy replied, still avoiding my eyes.
I wanted her, I wanted her in my bed, but that memory must be weighing on her mind. And she’d managed to get on an airplane after that? She’s brave, I decided, another notch coming out of the wall of derision I’d put around her. She’d had a tough life, but she’d faced it head on, without shying away from reality. More respect.
“What do you want with this? I saw a bowl of potato salad in there and some coleslaw. Do you want something else?” The questions came with actual eye contact this time and I felt the tug of a smile.
“No, that’s fine.” I knew that was one of her favorite meals, it had been on the answer sheet Ginger gave me when I bought the beautiful young woman in front of me at the auction.
That was a strange thought, but I lived a life that came with things that were far outside the realm of normal. Buying a woman’s company while paying for a vacation for the pair of us wasn’t anywhere near the strangest thing I’d ever done.
“Alright, I’ll cook these, and we’ll eat. Want to set the table?” She pointed over to a table for two by the large windows that were spread around the entire floor. There were sixteen windows in total, tall and wide to let in all the sunlight and allow us to see all of the views of the mountains around us.
“Sure.” I got up and started digging around in cabinets and drawer until I had everything we needed. “Red or white? Or beer?”
“Red, please. But I’ll only have one glass, so if you open it, you’ll have to finish the rest. I don’t drink a lot of wine, or alcohol at all, really.”
“No worries.” I could handle a bottle of wine, it was the harder stuff that might make me sloppy if I had too much of it.
I watched her use a grilling pan to cook the steaks after she’d seasoned them lightly with salt, pepper, and garlic. Once they were on, I got out the side dishes, took off the plastic wrap over the bowls, and put it on the table.
“Candles?” I asked, wondering at her response.
It didn’t wonder for long.
“Fuck off, Brian,” I heard her say with a kind of glee. There’s the Mandy I know. “This isn’t a date.”
“Sorry, I just thought I’d ask.” I gave a sheepish smile, but she didn’t stop glaring at me with the fork in her hand. A fork could be a deadly weapon if used properly, that glare said.
“Well, you can keep those kinds of questions to yourself. I’m not sleeping with you.” That was blunt enough, there was no doubt of that, I decided and sat down at the table, well away from that fork.
I glanced over at the knife at her place setting, wondering if I should take it away form her, but she surprised me and smiled. “Now that that’s out of the way, we can eat.”
She brought the sizzling pan over and deposited one steak on each of our plates before she took it back. I filled her glass of wine and once she was in her seat, she raised the glass to me. “To a week of peace and quiet.”
“Indeed,” I said, loving the smell of the steak, hungry for it, but more curious about Mandy than ever.
Forceful could come across as snobbish, I thought. Tough could come across the same way. As could brave and every other adjective that kept popping into my head. Maybe I’d misjudged her all this time?
