The Visit

Jack made sure to help me carry the plates to my dining room table, then we sat down with our glasses of wine to enjoy our meal.

All throughout the dinner, Jack continued to commend me on my choice for the evening. Beef Wellington and hollandaise? What a brave combination! I insisted that these were dishes I'd been cooking since my early teen years, and that only served to fuel him further. He seemed to think I was a superwoman or something.

"Absolutely delicious," Jack said after he swallowed another bite of the Wellington. "You seem to be a jill-of-all-trades."

"I wish," my laugh was a little heartier than usual, but I chucked that up to the three glasses of wine I'd had. "Watching cooking shows has taught me more than I should know."

"Is that right? What's your favourite one?"

Our trivial conversation extended until long after we'd finished our meal, which was nice because we could spend a lot of time simply enjoying each other's company. Jack was a fascinating person to talk to, and we shared a lot of random knowledge in common, like our love for true crime podcasts and documentaries. He confided in me how he'd often watch true crime videos on YouTube whilst going about his day, and how he'd listen to podcasts to and from work. I confided in him how I sometimes listened to true crime podcasts whilst going about my day or when going to sleep.

"My co-workers tease me about how weird it is for me to listen to these podcasts while I'm working. Some people just do not understand what it's like to be interesting," he sent a sheepish smile my way.

"Truly. I'm so glad to have found a like-minded person, finally," it was really nice to have an actual connection with someone after so many bombed dates with Sabrina. After the incident with Tony, we never contacted each other again. After five dates, I think we both figured out that we weren't compatible, no matter how attractive we held each other to be in the other's head. It didn't seem like this would be the case with Jack, and I found myself hoping that it wouldn't be the case either.

"you know, it kind of baffles me that people wouldn't want to know about true crime stories, but want to know about how a black hole is denser than our sun," Jack took a sip of his wine and chuckled with a shake of his head. My smile was uncontrollable at this point. I couldn't believe talking to someone could be so easy! 

"Absolutely, What am I supposed to do with that information? Avoid black holes? Impossible and a waste of time, I'd rather be told how to not get murdered." 

We literally sat at the dining room table talking about absolute nonsense for two hours, and the best part was that our political views aligned completely.

Jack was about to say something else, but his phone went off, causing him to pull it out of his pocket to take a look. His eyebrows furrowed immediately, and the apologetic look he sent my way said everything I needed to know. "I'm so sorry but they need me at the hospital."

He was too modest, "It's no problem, go save some lives." I understood how demanding his job would be. He helped restore normal life functions to so many people. It was only natural that it would take up most of his time. We stood up so I could walk him out.

"I know this ended a little too son, but how about we see each other again?" he took hold of my hand, and lightly kissed my bandaged finger. "I had a great time."

"So did I," I smiled at him softly. "Whenever you have time, just let me know. You have my number, right?"

"Hmm.." he nodded. "Take care of yourself, Amaria," He gave me another charming smile before turning to walk away. I closed the door behind me and leaned against it, letting out a deep sigh. Something about him was stuck in my mind. That smile of his was enchanting, and it took my breath away.

"Get a grip, Amaria, you're acting like a love struck teenager," I berated myself, going off to the dining room to start clearing the dishes from the dining room table. Sure the man was handsome, charming, eloquent, a gentleman, and attentive, but that didn't give me the right to go all gooey over the bare minimum. And even if it did, it was still way too early for me to obsess over him. I'd had a good time on our date and that was it. "Hey Alexa, play my chill playlist on Spotify."

"Playing, Chill Vibes on Spotify," Alexa resounded through my flat as the indie music softly took over the atmosphere. My taste in music had slowly gone through so many phases, and even though I'd sworn up and down that I didn't like indie music a month or two ago, the soothing vibes of the songs really put me in such a good mood.

I was softly humming along to the music as I started clearing the pots and baking tray from the dining table, thoroughly enjoying my own company and recalling the lovely moments of the date that had happened less than half an hour prior. The remaining wine in my glass was currently making its way down my throat when my doorbell rang yet again. Could it have been Jack? He did leave the wine bottle here, was he coming to take it back?

'That would make sense, this bottle is like four hundred dollars,' it really was amazing wine and it would have been a shame if he was here to collect it. 

Making sure to bring my glass with me, my feet carried me to my front door so I could answer it. The moment my hand pulled the door open, I wished I had ignored the bell. 

"What are you doing here?"