9 Dinner

Anya had been texting Callen over the next few days. Nothing exciting, just arranging when and where to meet up and what kind of food both of them would want to eat. They had decided on him coming up to her apartment at 7:00 P.M. and she would be making chicken alfredo. Anya was by no means a chef, but she thought she could pull that off. Embarrassly enough, she had been practicing the dish as soon as they decided on it. Maybe it would be edible enough by Friday night.

The day of, Anya deep cleaned her apartment while Comet slept on the couch. She had tried to get him up and moving, but he deciding snoozing was his day's mission. Hopefully Comet would not be insane when Callen came over, but Anya knew that was wishful thinking.

After cleaning up the apartment, she prepped the chicken so that she could throw it into the noodles at the end. She decided to do some light Italian spices that she found at the supermarket and tossed them in olive oil. Maybe Anya could host her own cooking show? She put the chicken bits in the fridge, and started to put the butter out on the counter to soften.

Now, it was time for her to get herself ready. This was the part that Anya had been agonizing over all day. What should she wear? What was Callen wearing? Without knowing what he was going to be wearing, she had no gauge as to how fancy she should dress. Were they talking cocktail party or an evening dinner at a nice restaurant. Anya looked around her apartment, the place was far from a nice restaurant. She had hosted parties here in the past, but that was with celebrities and socialites. Callen was... not that. Not that at all.

She continued digging through her closet as her phone chimed. She glanced at the screen to see a message from Alex. "Alex, I'm busy right now." The message went on ignored. A moment later, her phone chimed again. "Lord Alex, take a hint." She went to silence her phone when she saw Callen's name on the screen. Anya snatched up her phone and opened the message.

"Hey Anya, I was wondering if you wanted me to bring anything for dinner tonight?"

Anya quickly replied, "No, it's fine. I have everything I need here." She thought for a moment. "Just bring yourself :)"

"Alright then, I'll be leaving soon then. See you in a bit."

"Shit," Anya said to herself. She didn't have much time left, so she had to decide quick. She pulled out one of her red cocktail dresses and picked out a necklace and some earrings to match. Anya decided that she would wear some plain heels; she didn't want Callen getting the wrong idea.

She sat down and began to do her makeup. She went with her basic bottom layer and jazzed it up with a smoky eye. Anya found some red lipstick to match her dress. She might as well go with a bold look. She hadn't done anything with friends in a while, and with the crowd she usually hung around with, this was an understated look.

When she was done, Anya examined herself in the mirror. Her face looked a lot more alert than normal, and she felt that her makeup complemented her natural features. Her pert nose was highlighted underneath her big emerald eyes, and her cheeks were rouged to accentuate her high cheekbones. Her outfit was a good fit for the occasion she thought. The dress hugged her curves in all of the right places. It was a nice dress, but not too formal. It all came together to make her quite beautiful.

Anya received a message that Callen was on his way. Panic rose up in her as she rushed to the kitchen. She was always rushing at the last minute, but she wanted this night to go well. She NEEDED some social interaction, and this was probably her only chance for a while. She quickly cooked the noodles and made the sauce, dumping in butter and cream cheese. As she was mixing the side salad, there was a knock on the door.

Anya blew out a breath. Calm down, she said to herself. It's just a dinner with a friend, no reason to get all flustered. But, after her latest experience with "friends" she couldn't quite convince herself. Anya was a people person. She could make at least one person like her. Hopefully that person would be Callen.

Her heels clacked on the floor as she went to open up the door. When she pulled on it, she saw Callen standing awkwardly with a bottle of wine in the hallway. "Oh," they both said in unison while looking at each other's outfits. They were clearly not on the same page. He had a clean-shaven face, and his hair neatly combed, but his outfit was casual. Callen had a button-up flannel with the top two buttons undone. He had one hand in the pocket of his plain blue jeans and he was wearing black tennis shoes.

"Oh, I didn't realize there was a dress code," Callen spoke with a sheepish smile.

"I guess we may have different... uh, experiences when it comes to dinner with friends." She looked down at her outfit with a tinge of regret. Did she even own clothes that were less nice than this but better than her bum clothes? "Here, come in." She opened the door wider and gestured him inside.

As Callen stepped through the doorway, he shoved the bottle of wine into Anya's hands. "I didn't know your tastes, so I just got one that sounded good." Anya juggled the wine, taking a moment to get ahold of it. He looked at her kind of hopefully, "It cost over 30$"

It took a moment for Anya to understand what he meant by that. "Oh, you didn't need to bring anything that... nice." She brought him to the table and pulled out a chair. "I can get us some glasses." She headed towards her cooking and stirred the sauce. "Everything is done, do you just want to do salads first or the whole deal?" She reached for a cabinet above the stove for the wine glasses, getting up on her tip-toes.

She reached for a moment longer before she felt a shadow beside her. Callen reached over her head, opened up the cabinet, and pulled out two glasses. "Are these two O.K.?" Anya nodded. "Can I grab anything else for you?" He hadn't changed his position.

"No, that's fine." She turned her head to hide her blush. He was REALLY close to her. She watched as he turned back and sat down at the table. She brought out the food and sat down while he poured the wine.

"Wow, this actually looks pretty good," Callen said eyeing the food.

"What do you mean 'actually'?" Anya shot him a sarcastic glance. "I'll let you know that I have many, many talents." She began scooping pasta and salad onto her plate.

Callen laughed as he followed suit. "Maybe you should have your own cooking show."

"That's what I was saying!" Anya almost shouted. There was a moment of awkward silence as they began eating their food. "So," Anya started, trying to make small talk. "It's nice to actually spend some time with someone. I haven't had anyone to talk to besides Comet." She looked around for him but didn't see him. "Hopefully he isn't getting making a mess right now."

"I don't know if that's possible," Callen chuckled. He paused before he continued. "So, uh, what do you do for fun?"

"Oh, no one's asked me that question in a while." For a second, Anya almost felt nervous explaining her life to this guy. "I like to sing and dance."

"I was in choir in the sixth grade, but I was a soprano, so it isn't the most proud moment in my life." He flashed her a big smile. "But who knows? Maybe I could have made it big. Do you do it often?"

"Well, it kind of is my job." Anya replied quietly.

"Oh yeah, miss celebrity!" Callen joked. "I had no idea you were a singer."

"Do you really not follow any pop news?" She seemed a little skeptical.

"Well, I guess I do follow Nick Novao." Callen scratched his chin. "I like his stuff."

"You mean Nick Novao, the news guy?" Anya raised her eyebrows in quizzical look. "Like, the guy that is known for reporting in ridiculous situations?"

"Yeah, that's the guy. He runs a great meme page." He poured himself and Anya another glass of wine. "That's the quality content I'm looking for."

For the rest of the night the two of them just chatted, laughed, and drank wine. Callen didn't probe her about her troubles or her fame, and Anya didn't talk about her dog the whole night, for once. They had been so immersed in conversation, they didn't even notice that they had emptied the bottle. It came time for Callen to leave, so he helped her put the dishes in the sink and wipe down the table. He tried to do more, but Anya insisted that since he was the guest, she couldn't possibly let him clean anymore.

They said goodbye to each other and Callen left. Anya let out a deep sigh got ready for bed. She washed up and got dressed into her pajamas. Tonight was a good night. She touched her warm face, heated from the alcohol as she thought about the dinner. Maybe there was more to it than the alcohol, maybe there wasn't. However, Anya went to sleep in an amazing mood, thinking about how she just couldn't wait to do it again.