Salad Days Season 2 Novels & Stories

“You’re not the man I remember.” “I don’t blame you,” Julian replied. “I haven’t been the same for a long time.” There was no regret in his tone. Just fact. They moved to the main course: seared salmon and a quinoa salad with citrus glaze. It was a simple, elegant dish. Nothing extravagant. Nothing distracting. Just food. And talk. Evening light from the chandelier danced across the crystal glasses—low refracted gold against the walls. And then Charlotte shifted the conversation.

Sam trailed Elliott after slipping on her jeans, pulling her sweater over her head, to the kitchen and did as he asked. He went out the door onto the deck and she could hear him cleaning the grill. She set the table for two, making herself at home, opening and closing doors and drawers in the kitchen. The salad from the fridge and salad bowls from the cupboard were placed on the table. Using tongs, she placed some salad in each of their bowls. Now, for salad dressing, there was a ranch-like dressing, the only one in the fridge, and she placed it on the table, as well.

Even though he knew the purpose of Anne's steps towards the kitchen, he couldn't stop himself from undressing her with his neutral gaze. "Golden melon, papaya, grapes, apple, Sunkist, chopped lettuce and corn. Since I have some leftover chickpeas and carrots in the fridge, I threw them in." Anne smiled broadly as she served her salad on the glass-topped table. "Do you want to eat now or should I make coffee first?"

He nods at me before going to the fridge and pulling out some chicken breasts. “Hot chicken salad good for you?” Taylor asks. “Sure,” I respond, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. Taylor flicks on some music, which I immediately recognise as the album 'Mimosa' by Fun Lovin’ Criminals. The soothing sounds fill up the silence and help to dissipate some of the tension. I dig through the fridge, pulling out things to throw in the salad while Taylor browns off the chicken. All the while I am hyper-aware of his every move.

She liked her salad green like normal people. She placed her napkin in her lap and used her fork to push it around on her plate. The other people seemed engrossed in their dry conversation to even notice she wasn't eating it. She was perfectly ok with that. She was feeling more and more out of place as the dinner went on. She was beginning to worry. It wasn’t like she could give him his money back. The second course was served. The salad was removed. It was replaced by a plate of beautifully cut fish fillet, in a yellow sauce topped with dill and red bell pepper. It looked delicious. She ate it and immediately regretted it.