Page 34 of Little Paper Games
“What is that?” I was salivating.
Literally salivating.
“That’s why I knocked, actually. I was in the mood for better food and so I cooked myself up some curry, but —”
“I’m sorry, you cooked yourself up some curry?! Like, sure, yeah, no bigs,” I scoffed, hiding the fact that I was impressed as hell.
“Yeah, but I went overboard. I can’t eat this much and I’m not a huge fan of leftovers if I can help it,” he admitted almost sheepishly. I didn’t know if I liked this version of Jude.
Nice. Normal. Thoughtful. Like he was hiding something or pretending to be decent.
“You’re going to let me have some of that?” I asked, clarifying as I pointed behind him to where the delicious scent was wafting from.
“Yes, Kenna. Please eat some of my food,” he chuckled. I didn’t need to hear another word. I walked around him as he let me through and stood in the center of his kitchen with my eyes closed. I took a deep breath, breathing in the scent of spiced curry. It was a food I didn’t have often. I hadn’t even realized I was craving it until I smelled it.
He chuckled again as he lifted the lid on the pot and stirred the deep yellow concoction. He held out a plate for me and I fixed myself a good portion. I paused, looking between the table and the coffee table. I usually ate at my coffee table because it was just me and it was a lot easier than sitting at a lonely table. But there were two of us.
It wouldn’t be lonely. Maybe he wasn’t okay with eating in the living room.
Then again, he was fine setting up a temporary bar there the other night.
“Earth to Kenna. Come in, Kenna,” Jude chortled from the table. He’d sat at his table, a gorgeous black metal and stone table that I would imagine weighed a ton and cost even more.
“Sorry,” I mumbled out sheepishly before sitting across from him. I took a tentative bite after getting settled and immediately blushed when I moaned like a whore.
“That good?” he chuckled, but his smile was genuine. I nodded, unable to speak. I was still in the sultry land of curried deliciousness and words just were not important at this moment.
“I’m glad you like it,” he added, taking a bite for himself. “Oh, fuck, thatisgood.”
I didn’t even take it as him inflating his own ego. It really was that good. I nodded slowly and gave him a thumbs up.
We ate in silence for a good portion of the meal. Only making the smallest of small talk as we passed napkins and he retrieved bottles of water for each of us. It wasn’t as awkward as I’d thought it would be.
“So, how have you been?” I ventured, having eaten the majority of my plate of food. Small talk seemed to be the least I could do in thanks for such good food.
“Not too bad, I guess,” he answered, somewhat awkwardly. “You?”
“About the same, I guess.” This felt weird. I wanted to go back to just eating good food.
“Good. How are your folks?” He had finished eating and was absentmindedly folding and unfolding his napkin as I finished my last few bites.
“They are good. Overly worried as expected,” I answered with a bit of a smile.
“Yeah, same with mine. Constantly calling to ask what I need,” he admitted, shaking his head.
“Not surprising. They are basically the same couple,” I agreed.
“They really are.” Silence hung in the air for a beat longer than felt comfortable.
“Well, I should head back to my place,” I stated awkwardly, taking my plate as I stood.
“I’ll handle the dishes,” he replied, standing with me and picking his own plate up.
“It’s the least I can do after you fed me,” I laughed.
“No, really, it’s fine,” he insisted. Guess he wanted me out of here.
“Oh, I gotcha. Well, um, thanks for the food. I’ll just…” I trailed off, dumbly pointing towards the door. I waited a tick before walking away.
