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“Not in the mood for exploring?” I probe.
She shot me a sour look. “It’s not like you would have left me here alone if you had anything to hide.”
“True,” I said with a chuckle. And part of it was also a test. I wanted to see if she would run the second she was given space. Of course, I knew she still wasn’t comfortable with this whole thing, but the fact that she hadn’t run away meant something, I supposed.
“But you could have at least tried,” I added.
“I’m not in the habit of doing things that only waste my time and energy.”
“That’s a great policy to have,” I murmured, placing the takeout bag on the table. “Hope you like grilled chicken wings. The chef only comes on Wednesday, and I eat out most days.”
“Isn’t that wasteful?” she blurted out, then seemed to blush as she pondered more about the question. How cute.
“It is,” I agreed. “But thankfully, I can afford it. Now, I got chicken, fries, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and a bunch of other stuff. What do you want?”
She was silent for a while before she quietly said, “Mac and cheese.”
But when I took it to her, she frowned when she saw the logo on the bag.
“Wait, is this from the chicken place across the street from the pawnshop?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I answered. “Best fried chicken I’ve ever had in the city.”
Her horrified gaze shot up to meet my own. “The owners are completely unhygienic and inhumane. You know, I once saw them kill a chicken behind the building. They just chopped off its head, nice and easy.”
“So? At least you know it’s a real chicken, not like the other manufactured crap they put in whatever a big mac is.”
She shook her head. “I can’t eat that.”
“Are you determined to be difficult about this?”
“No, it’s not me being difficult. It’s just….” She shook her head. “I can’t get the poor chicken out of my mind. I can still hear it screeching, and I can still see the body running around after the head was chopped off.” She shut her eyes and shivered visibly at the memory.
I blinked at her and felt something like a smile tickling the corner of my lips. “Are you serious?”
She nodded and rolled her eyes. “Are you going to laugh at me now?”
“No, it’s just….” I shook my head. “It’s adorable.”
She blushed and glanced away. I sighed.
“Fine,” I said and headed to the kitchen. “I guess I can whip something up for my new wife.”
She frowned at the ‘wife’ part and then cocked her head. “Wait, you cook?”
“Well, it’s not like I enjoy it, but I can make a mean sandwich. I’ve been a bachelor for two decades already. What do you think?”
I opened the fridge and considered the ingredients I had and my options. “Okay, so do you want a chicken wrap with only lettuce and tomato or possibly ramen noodles?”
She shook her head. “Chicken wrap is fine.”
“Right.” I started pulling out the ingredients and placing them on the counter. She frowned again as she watched me and then got up and made her way toward me.
“Can I…” She seemed to not know how to complete the sentence but then finally ended with, “Let me help.”
It was the first statement she’d made today that didn’t hold animosity. We were getting somewhere.
I nodded and moved over so she could assist me with shredding the lettuce.
