The Boy Who Didn't Love

40 - first guests

Ali stood back as she finished setting the dinner table, scrutinizing her work. A moment later, she stepped aside and watched him place each freshly prepared bowl on their designated placemats.

  "God, that smells good," Ali sighed dreamily, longing to sit down and devour everything inside of the bowls immediately. He pulled out his phone from his back pocket to check the time, then cast her a bored look.

  "I'm not waiting for more than three minutes," Sawyer warned, albeit he actually meant a minute, and she waved her hand dismissively. As soon as he was about to plop down on a chair, there was a loud knock at their front door.

  Ali rushed to the foyer, glancing back at him with an animated smile, before swinging the door open.

"City girl!" Brady exclaimed as he embraced her tightly, stepping past the threshold. He lowered his voice as he whispered into her ear: "Remind me to never accept another ride from Marina again. Her music taste made the urge to hurl myself out of the window grow stronger with every song."

Ali stifled a laugh as she pulled away from him, meeting his truly tortured eyes. Marina, too, stepped inside and smiled obliviously. "Hey, Ali. I brought you this non-alcoholic sparkling wine, I used to get it when I was underage and it's honestly tastier than the real thing."

"I, however, did bring the real thing because I am 21," Brady remarked, holding up the dark, elegant bottle like it was an award.

"You're older than me?" Ali asked incredulously, turning to toss Sawyer a questioning look as he appeared behind her. "Did you know this? Am I the only one who finds it surprising?"

"No," Sawyer replied, which made Brady wrinkle his nose in thought, but he wasn't allowed the time to further ruminate on the matter. "The food is getting cold."

"Right. Come on in, guys. Leave your shoes and coats here," Ali said with a naturally hospitable smile as she walked back into the dining room. Sawyer sat beside her at the table and waited impatiently for their two guests to be seated. He was very clearly not accustomed to having visitors, nor did he like it, but he had reluctantly agreed to it after learning how much it would mean to her.

"The place looks so nice and cozy. I love the paintings and the little decorative objects," Marina complimented as her eyes darted around, slowly settling down onto the seat across from Ali. "I assume this was your doing, Ali? Your knack for patterns and colors would be useful in designing a new look for the department store soon."

Brady groaned in protest, roughly planting himself on the chair next to his supervisor. "And your knack for bringing up work in every situation would be useful in nothing, Marina."

"Let's eat before it's cold!" Ali quickly interjected before their bickering began, and Sawyer grunted with approval. A moment of silence rolled over them as they lifted their spoons to their lips and swallowed, then hastily repeated the process with great vigor.

"This is delicious! Did you make this yourself?" Marina asked Ali in between bites.

"No, actually, Sawyer did," Ali answered with a proud grin. "He's a much better cook than I am."

"Nothing can beat candy, but this is real close. What's it called?" Brady inquired of Sawyer, who peered at him briefly through his dark eyelashes.

  "Udon soup with bok choy, scallions, egg, and chicken."

  Brady blinked. "I don't even know what half of those things are."

"I bet you can name all the existing lollipop flavors and the best brands in a heartbeat though," Marina muttered under her breath, which was supposed to come out as derisive, but he seemed flattered instead.