Mr. Mendes

IX - Dinner

When school was over I got a call from my mom, asking me to stop at the grocery store on my way home. By the looks of the list she texted me, it was gonna take some time.

As I was going up the down the other isles, I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"Maggie?"

Of course he was here, why am I not surprised?

"Hi Shawn," I said, turning around and carefully leaning back against my cart.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, putting a box of crackers into his basket.

"Grocery shopping...?" I replied, laughing slightly.

"Of course, stupid question," he laughed. "I just didn't expect to see you here."

"Same could be said about you," I replied, pretending to scan the isle for something to avoid eye contact.

"Well Elena always did most of the shopping, but it's all up to me now," he said, sounding a bit upset.

"What do you mean?"

"I broke up with her yesterday morning, and by the end of the day she was all packed up and had left. She moved back in with her parents, almost everything in the house was mine anyways so it was a quick process."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't know. You just seemed to be in a good in school today so I figured everything was fine," I said, fidgeting in place due to the slightly awkward topic.

"Well, you put me in a good mood I suppose," he smiled, "I'll be fine. It wasn't fair for me to continue on with a relationship that I wasn't certain about, especially if she thought I was taking things to the next level soon."

We began to walk down the isle, and head into the next one together walking side by side.

"I would usually cook dinner anyways so you'd think grocery shopping would be easier than this," he laughed, "I just can't figure out what I want to make tonight."

"Do you want to come over for dinner?" I asked without thinking, "My mom is a professional chef. When she finishes her cookbook next week she'll be going back to work at the high end Cuban restaurant in town, actually."

He thought for a moment before he answered my question, "That's a very kind offer Maggie, I just don't know if it would be the most appropriate thing to do. However, dinner company does sound lovely. Would you like to come over for dinner instead?"

I knew that it was wrong, but a hot guy just offered to make me dinner. What was I going to do, refuse? As if.

"Um, sure. What time?"

"How about seven? I'll make pasta and garlic bread if that's okay with you. I make some pretty amazing homemade garlic bread," he added with a chuckle.

"Sure," I laughed, "I'll see you at seven."

-

I told my mom I was going to Ronnie's for dinner. Yes, I felt bad for lying, but there was no way I could tell her I was going over my teacher's house for dinner.

I wasn't sure what to wear, so I put on a pair of white jeans that made my butt look good, and a thin, maroon sweater. I put on some mascara and concealer wherever I needed it, and made sure my hair looked okay. I sprayed on my favorite perfume and slipped on my black flip flops, then headed downstairs.

Luckily, mom was in the office so she wouldn't question why I got ready. I called out to her that I was leaving, then got into my car.

When I pulled into Mr. Mendes' driveway I put the car in park, taking a deep breath. Why did I agree to do this? This was so wrong. Then I saw him step outside his front door, waving to me from the top, white granite step. That's when I remembered why I came. It was simply because he's amazing, and I can't help but feel some sort of way around him.

"Good evening Maggie, you look nice," he smiled, stepping to the side so I could enter his gorgeous house.

"Dinner is on the table, you already know where the dining room is," he said, closing the door behind him.

I slipped off my shoes and headed towards the dining room, taking a seat at one of the ends. He sat down at the other end, sipping his water.

"I have wine, would you like any?" He asked, getting up from the table and heading towards the kitchen.

"Sure," I said causally, trying not to think about the fact that I just accepted wine from my teacher.

He came back a minute later, pouring the plum colored liquid into each of our glasses.

The dinner was nice, and tasted amazing. The conversation was a bit awkward at first, but by the time we were done eating we both had tears in our eyes from laughing so hard.

"Here, allow me to clean up," he said, pushing his chair back and standing up. He picked up his plate and walked towards the other end of the table, coming to take mine.

I stood up and grabbed my own plate before he could. "Allow me to help you," I said, mocking him slightly.

We walked into the kitchen and put our dishes in the sink as I turned the water on. 

"I'll wash, you dry," I said, grabbing the sponge. After washing the first couple of glasses, the sleeves of my sweater were getting wet.

"Could you please roll my sleeves up?" I asked over my shoulder, since Shawn was putting dishes away across the kitchen.

He came up behind me a moment later, and I could feel his light breathing next to my ear. He reached forwards, an arm coming around both sides of me, and rolled up each of my sleeves.

"Maggie?" He said just above a whisper, both of his hands gently coming down to rest on my waist.

"Yes?" I replied, swallowing hard.

"Just tell me when to stop."

Before I could process what he had just said, his soft lips came in contact with the skin of my neck.