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Chapter Two
Theo
When the knock sounds on my front door, my hands are a mess of chicken goo, egg yolk, seasoned panko crumbs, and flour. “Come in, it’s unlocked!” I call out, knowing there’s at least a 99% chance that it’s exactly who I’m expecting.
And if it isn’t, I have a multitude of very sharp knives in easy reach, so I’m not too concerned.
“It’s me,” a familiar feminine voice calls, “Where are you?”
“I’m in the kitchen.”
“I should have figured, it smells amazing,” she says, her voice growing closer until a familiar freckled face with a curly halo of brown hair pokes into the room. “Whatcha cookin?”
“Chicken parm. Come on in, sit, there’s some cheese and crackers on the table.”
“Aww, you really rolled out the red carpet for lil ol’ me,” she remarks, “What’s the occasion?”
“Do I need one? Maybe I was just sick of pizza and beer.”
She eyes me. “You need a girlfriend.”
“Oh, shut up, Bex, just eat. Since when is it a crime for a guy to put together a nice meal for his little sister? Besides, you just got that raise at work, it’s worth celebrating a little.”
Rebecca snickers a bit, but smiles. “Well, thank you,” she says, and sits down at my kitchen table, nibbling at the cheese and crackers I put out.
I finish getting the chicken prepped and into the oven and give my sauce a stir, but with everything else already prepped, I’ve got nothing to do for the moment but wait and join her, so I grab a cracker and stack it with three different types of cheese before taking a bite.
“So how was your week?” she asks me.
I have to take a minute to finish chewing before I can give her an answer. “Pretty good,” I reply when my speech is no longer in danger of spewing her with powdered cracker crumbs, “Uneventful.”
“So…boring.”
I shrug. “It’s peaceful.”
Rebecca sighs. “You know, I wasn’t just being shitty before when I said you need a girlfriend.”
My jaw tightens and I shake my head. “You know why I don’t do relationships anymore, Bex.”
“And I think you’re an idiot,” she mutters, “But okay, fine, even if you don’t want something serious, you still need a freaking life. When was the last time you even went on a date?”
“I don’t-”
“How long?” she presses, cutting right through my bullshit effortlessly.
I sigh. “Eight months ago.”
She raises her eyebrows. “Shit, I didn’t even think it had been that long. And when was the last time you hung out with friends?”
“I’m hanging out with you right now,” I protest, “And we went bowling last week with Maggie.”
“Okay, that’s kind of sweet, but it’s also bullshit,” she replies matter-of-factly, “No offense, but Maggie’smyfriend. She likes you, sure, but hanging out with your baby sister and her buddies isn’t what I would call a social life, Theo.”
“It’s been a while since I went out with the guys, I get that. I should probably make some new friends, too,” I admit.
I know she’s right, I’ve become a little bit of a hermit lately, but it just doesn’t seem worth the effort to go out, spend a ton of money at a bar or whatever just to shoot the shit, and that’s assuming I can actually get anyone to come out. More and more of my friends have gone off and gotten married or had a kid or two, so it’s become a little harder for them to just skip off to party than it used to be.
“That’s not what I mean, though, Theo,” Rebecca sighs and picks up a cracker, placing a piece of cheese atop it and fiddling with both for a moment, aligning the edges perfectly before taking a mouselike nibble off one corner, “I’m worried about you,” she says finally in a small voice.
