Page 26 of New Year

Chase:Going great. Safe driver, very cautious. I’m walking him through a proper Bolognese sauce for supper.

Zack chuckled. Of course, Chase was going to try teaching Nat how to cook. But it also made sense. As Chase’s control over his own arms and hands failed him, he would need someone else to be those hands. To prepare his meals and help him dress. When Zack helped Nat up off the ground last night, he hadn’t intended to bring home a caregiver for his ailing friend.

But fate seemed to have other plans.

Zack:I hope he’s a good student. Save a plate for me.

Chase:You wish.

Typical.

Happy that Chase had someone to keep his mind occupied and confident that Zack’s instincts about Nat had been correct, Zack set is mind back to dinner service and got to work.

* * *

Nat was a terrible cook. He’d admit as much to anyone who asked—and probably even if they didn’t ask. Growing up, his mother hadn’t been much of a cook. They’d relied on frozen meals, takeout, and the generosity of others cooking for them whenever Nat was sick. Which was often, and by design.

In college, he’d relied on the cafeteria and various restaurants near campus. He could competently nuke anything frozen, and his old phone had every possible delivery app on it, but anything more complicated than opening a can of soup typically ended in something barely edible. So, the idea of making Pasta Bolognese from scratch, with a professional chef, was so far beyond intimidating Nat wasn’t sure he was awake and not dreaming.

After his appointment, Chase had asked to stop by a specialty grocery market that Nat had driven by but never shopped in. They’d picked up all sorts of ingredients, including fresh pasta and a bottle of wine. The total cost socked Nat right in the wallet, but it wasn’t his money. Not his place to judge how Chase spent his money in whatever time he had left.

Once they arrived back at Chase’s house, Nat had expected to be told his help was no longer needed, that he’d done well (or even that he’d sucked and Chase had no interest in hiring him), and sent away until Zack eventually came home. Instead, Chase had invited him inside and begun giving him step-by-step instructions on making dinner, starting with properly washing his hands.

Chase streamed music, an eclectic mix of songs, some of which Nat recognized and many he didn’t, but they were upbeat and fun. It was great background while Nat received his first crash course in semi-gourmet cooking. They didn’t talk about anything serious, for which Nat was grateful. He enjoyed spending time with someone who didn’t seem to want anything from him except his company.

Nat didn’t completely trust his instincts when it came to people anymore, but Chase seemed like a genuine person. He flirted up a storm, but Nat had no actual fear that Chase would attack him. Or demand sexual favors in exchange for his kindness.

Maybe even his friendship?

They ate the delicious pasta at the formal dining table. Nat wasn’t a huge fan of wine, but it tasted good with the meat sauce, so he drank the glass Chase offered him. Chase had his own, but he slowly sipped at it, leaving most behind when he went to relax in his recliner, while Nat filled the dishwasher and cleaned up the kitchen counters. In a strange way, it had almost been like cooking dinner with his father. Not that Nat remembered his father at all. Chase was simply the warm, funny, generous kind of person he wished he’d had for a father.

Zack, meanwhile, was the sexy next-door-neighbor Nat couldn’t stop thinking about.

Once the kitchen was clean and Nat had nothing left to do, he stood awkwardly by the dining table, uncertain. “Um, is there anything else you need tonight, Chase?”

“Come over here and watch TV with me,” Chase replied. “I’m used to spending six days a week with other people. This alone stuff is crap.”

Alone stuff really was crap. Nat smiled and shuffled into the living room. “Depends on what we’re watching.”

“Host’s choice, of course. Come sit, please. Zack won’t be home for a few hours yet, and there’s no sense in you sitting outside on the porch in this heat. You have been an exceptional companion today, Nathaniel.”

“Thank you.” Nat eased onto the couch. “It’s strange feeling needed.”

“No more strange than needing someone else around after being independent for most of my adult life. But as human beings, we’re social creatures, and not truly meant to be alone for long periods of time.” Chase fiddled with his TV remote. “At first, I hated Zack for suggesting I hire daytime help. I abhorred the idea of some trained nursing aide coming in here. Someone who’d monitor every drink of water, every shit I took, and act like a goddamn hospice nurse.”

“That’s what you were looking at applications for?”

“Those are the folks who were applying, and God bless them for their compassion and experience, but it’s not what I want. I just want…”

“A friend you can teach how to cook your favorite dishes, and then watch TV with after?”

“Precisely.” Chase ran a hand through his hair, leaving it messy and fluffed out, not unlike the photos of Albert Einstein Nat remembered from school. “How did you feel about today? Because you are not beholden to me in any way. I can’t imagine you ever gave this sort of companionship job serious thought.”

Nat tried not to bristle, but he was used to people underestimating him when they learned he hadn’t finished college, and that he’d been a server for years. He kind of was a stereotype, so he couldn’t fault Chase for thinking of him as one. “I’ve given a lot of different careers a lot of thought. My freshman year at Reynolds College, I was actually a journalism major. I thought I wanted to write stories exposing people for the horrible things they’d done, but I realized I’d probably only ever work in local news. I briefly flirted with medicine, but I’m not great in chemistry or higher math.”

“And then you were just trying to survive?”

“Pretty much.”

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