The shower was a great idea - the water was so warm that I'm totally relaxed. I was getting dressed - gray sweatpants and a white top - and blow-drying my hair when I heard James swear. Curious as I am, I go into the kitchen where I can hear him.
Bucky: Fuck! That fucking onion.
In front of him, on the kitchen counter, is a board with a sliced onion on it. James stands in front of it and rubs his eyes with a kitchen towel. The scenario is so cute I can't help but giggle. Former Winter Soldier defeated by an onion? As I giggle, he turns to me, his eyes red and watery.
Victoria: Poor James...... is the onion too strong for you?
Bucky: Never. I...I just have something in my eye.
He leans against the counter, his back to the onion, and blinks back tears.
Victoria: So there's no need for me to take over for you?
Bucky: It wouldn't be necessary........ but it would be damn nice.
Well then, let's save the poor guy. I go to him at the counter and push him aside with my hip so I can get to the board. James looks over my shoulder while I cut to the onion.
Bucky: Why aren't you bothered by the onion? Tears well up in my eyes just from watching.
Victoria: Didn't anyone tell you that? These are special superhero killer onions. You didn't stand a chance from the start.
Bucky: Aaaaahhhhh....... the famous killer onion.
After I'm done with the onion, I'm thinking about how to continue. Until I see all the ingredients that James has already put together. From the looks of it, he probably wanted to make pasta with tomato sauce. Perfect, I should be able to do that real quick.
Bucky: Seems like you got everything under control here?
Victoria: Yep.
Bucky: Ok..... then...... then I'll take care of something I know something about.
I look after him questioningly as he goes to the fridge and takes out a bottle of wine. He fills two glasses with wine and hands me one. We toast and both take a sip. When the timer for the pasta is up, I pour them into a colander to drain. James silently watches me the whole time. I divide pasta and sauce on two plates and place both plates on the dining table.
Bucky: Where did you learn to cook so routinely?
Victoria: Well, the orphanage had cooking classes every now and then. And after Peter and I moved out of there, I just wanted to make sure that Peter had a good, balanced diet. It's also fun and I find it relaxing.
We chat about this and that while we eat.
Victoria: What are the plans for the rest of the evening?
Bucky: We could watch movies? A cozy evening before we go partying tomorrow night?
Victoria: Sounds good.
After dinner we clean up together. While James prepares everything for a cozy evening in the living room, I make popcorn in the kitchen. I put popcorn, chips, other snacks and the rest of the wine on a tray and take it into the living room. James has pulled out the couch, covered everything with blankets and pillows and is already zapping through the channels. I put the tray on the coffee table and then make myself comfortable on the couch.
Bucky: What do you want to watch?
Victoria: How about something fun?
Since there is absolutely nothing funny - or even remotely interesting - to be found on FreeTV, we switch to Netflix. There my eyes fell on the film "Grown ups". Perfect, there are two parts of this, so we can spend the whole evening watching these.
Victoria: Can we watch Grown Ups?
Bucky: Sure.
James starts the first film and we both make our selves comfortable on the couch. However, with a certain distance between the two of us. How I wish I could read minds. Would James like it if I scooted a little closer to him, even snuggled up to him? As much as I'd like to be closer to him, I won't do anything until I know for sure. Not that he thinks I'm some crazy chick in the end. But how will i ever know for sure? I'm definitely not going to just ask him if he likes me or even feels attracted to me. Who knows, maybe I can bring myself to ask him in the next few days? But what if he doesn't feel the same and he's just being nice? I know why I've always preferred casual relationships. You don't have that much to worry about. But right from the start, my mind knew there was no way James was going to be just something casual.