Dinner for two

River 

By the time the last board member walked out of the conference room, I felt every minute of the day settle heavily across my shoulders. 

“Tomorrow at nine, you have the Hendersonville meeting,” my assistant reminded me as she handed over a folder. 

“I know.” 

“And your lunch with the Singapore investors.” 

“I know.” 

“And your interview with—“

“I know.”

She offered me an apologetic smile before stepping aside. 

The office slowly emptied around me. 

Outside the floor to ceiling windows, the city had begun to glow beneath the fading evening sky. Headlights stretched endlessly along the roads below, weaving through traffic like ribbons of light. 

I loosened my tie as I walked towards the  elevator. 

Oliver caught up with me just before the door closed.

“Tough day.” 

“They usually are.” 

He grinned. 

“At least you’ve got something waiting at home now.” 

I looked at him. 

He raised both hands.” I’m just saying.” 

The elevator door slid shut. 

A few minutes later, I was behind the wheel of a car, leaving the office. 

Driving had always been my way of unwinding. Especially at night. The hum of the engine usually cleared my mind. 

But tonight it didn’t. 

I was thinking about what Oliver said. 

I wasn’t going to an empty house anymore. My mind keeps going back to her everytime I am alone. 

Why was I thinking about her like that. And I noticed that she hadn’t used the card I gave her. There’s literally no limit to that card. Why hasn’t she used it yet?

I turned my attention back to the road. 

Traffic crawled through the city center before gradually easing as I approached home. 

By the time I pulled up into the garage, the sun had disappeared completely. 

I stepped into the elevator, rubbing the back of my neck. The silence was familiar. It had always been waiting for ma after a long day. 

The moment I unlocked the front door…..

I heard laughter. 

A bright, carefree laugh drifted from somewhere deeper inside the penthouse. And for some reason I could not explain the exhaustion weighing on me seemed just a little lighter. 

I closed the door quietly. 

She was talking to someone and she didn’t realize that I was already in the house. 

“…I’m telling you, Herbert, if you keep leaning like that, people are going to think I don’t water you enough.” 

A pause. 

“Don’t judge me. I’m trying my best.” 

I slipped off my shoes and kept it on the shoe rack close to the door, loosened my tie completely and headed to the living room. 

A smell reached me before anything else. 

Something roasting in the oven. 

I stood for a second and realized she was talking to a plant. And she had even given it a name. 

She looked over her shoulder, a bright smile instantly appeared on her face. 

“You are home.” 

“I am.” 

Did she not want me to come back?

“Perfect timing.”

She stirred whatever was in the pan before turning the heat down. 

“I was just finishing dinner.” 

“You cooked?” 

“I did.” 

She pointed the wooden spoon at me. “And before you ask, no, I did not burn anything yet.” 

“I wasn’t going to ask.”

“You were thinking about it.” 

“I wasn’t.” 

“You definitely were.” 

She had a habit of asking questions and answering it herself. 

“Well……I made pasta and garlic bread.” 

She lifted the lid of another pot. 

“And roasted chicken.” 

I looked at the size of the food. “You were expecting guests?” 

She laughed. Then she looked at me as though the answer were obvious. “I made dinner for two.” 

The words settled somewhere I wasn’t expecting. 

“I appreciate it,” I said. “But I’m not hungry.” 

The moment the sentence left my mouth…my stomach growled. Loudly. 

Zara froze. The. Slowly looked down at my stomach before looking back at me. 

I closed my eyes for a brief second. 

Traitor. 

She bit down on her lower lip, clearly trying not to laugh. “It appears that your stomach disagrees.” 

“It has poor timing.” 

She couldn’t hold it anymore. Laughter filled the kitchen. 

“You haven’t eaten all day, have you?” 

I didn’t answer. 

She folded her arms. 

“Go and take a shower.” 

“Zara….”

“I’ll keep everything warm.” 

I looked at her. 

“Please.” 

I don’t know why that single word changed my mind. Maybe because she had spent the whole evening cooking and it would be rude. 

Either way, I turned toward my room. 

The shower should have taken fifteen minutes. 

It took seven. 

As I buttoned a fresh shirt, I caught my reflection in the mirror. 

I had rushed. There had been absolutely no reason to rush. 

Yet somehow, I had. 

Shaking the thought away, I headed back to the dining area. 

Zara was setting up the last plate on the table. “There you are.” 

She handed me a plate and I sat across her. 

For a few minutes neither of us spoke. The food was surprisingly good. Very good actually. 

Halfway through the dinner, I glanced toward the kitchen island. 

“The black card.” 

She looked up. “What about it?” 

“You haven’t used it.” 

She shrugged before twirling another forkful of pasta. 

“I haven’t really had any use for it.” 

There wasn’t the slightest hint of greed in her voice. She wasn’t trying to impress me. She simply meant it. 

I gave a small nod and continued eating. 

“You are really quiet.” 

I looked up. 

“I’ve noticed.” 

She leaned forward. “I mean…you are really quiet.” 

“I like eating in silence.” 

“But that’s boring. And eating doesn’t have to be boring.” 

Before I could respond, she stood up, picked her plate and then mine. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Eating.” 

“We were already doing that.” 

“Not properly.” 

She carried both plates into the living room and set them on by coffee table in front of the television. 

I watched her find the remote, switch on the TV, and sit comfortably on the ground. 

“There.” 

She looked over at me. “Now we can eat like normal people.” 

She patted the ground for me to join her. 

“You were eating like a man serving a prison sentence.” 

Apparently, I no longer had much of a choice. 

With a quiet sigh, I stood and walked toward the living room. 

Zara’s smile widened in triumph as I took my plate and sat on the sofa instead. 

“I can work with that.” 

There was no way I was going to sit on the floor, no matter how clean it was. 

“What movie would you like to watch?” 

I don’t even put on that TV to know what movie I would watch. 

I just looked at her and she understood immediately. 

“Oh my god!”