Beachwood (h.s.)

Dinner For Two

I pull my hair back and clip it up. If I was cooking for someone else, I had to make sure my food was good. I salted the water and stirred to dissolve it before pouring some shell shaped pasta into the water. I set the timer for 10 minutes before heading around the apartment to tidy up. If there was one thing that my parents instilled upon me, it was the need to have a tidy house for guests especially. I mentally pat myself on the back for going around and cleaning up the night before, and make a note to tidy my place up more often since I did kind of tell Harry he could come over whenever he wanted. I windexed the table and cleaned up the bathroom before heading back to the kitchen. I took out a serving bowl and also put some of the frozen pesto into the microwave to defrost. I also took out a pan to begin cooking the zucchini. I was pretty trained in terms of cooking efficiently and quickly due to my mom always insisting I help her when I could so that I would be proficient by the time I was on my own. I have to say, it did help a lot. I was almost done with everything when there was a knock at my door. Sweeping the last of the cheese into the bowl I was holding, I set it down to go answer the door. "Hey Harry!" I say pulling him into a hug before beckoning him into my apartment. I didn't really notice it earlier, but boy does he smell good.

"Wow El, it smells amazing in here. Thank you for letting me come over." His dimple appears once again.

"Oh it's no big deal, I was cooking anyways. Can I get you anything to drink? I have lemonade, water, wine, etc." 

"Just water is fine, thank you love." 

"Okay well the table is set and everything is ready so you can just take a seat over there and I will bring the food over." I say walking over to the fridge to get us both glasses of water. 

"Oh please, let me help, I can grab the bowls." I nod and he walks over to counter, grabbing the bowl of pasta as well as the sautéed zucchini. He makes his way over to the table and sets the two bowls down in the middle before taking a seat. I head over, grabbing two serving spoons for the food. "El, this place is lovely." Harry's green gaze scans the small studio. 

"Thanks Harry." I say appreciatively. "So how was the studio today?" I hand him the spoon for the pasta.

"It was alright, it's good to get some stuff off my chest." He says as he scoops pasta onto his plate. I nod as I start serving the zucchini. "I think that therapy is happening me discover some depths about how I'm feeling. Jenna has been a great help to my writing so far." 

"Yeah, she's a good one." I take out my phone and press play on the dinner party playlist that I have. A speaker starts playing 'Can't Take My Eyes Off of You' by Frankie Valli softly. "I think that mental health is really important, so I'm glad that I have Jenna as a sort of personal therapist." I take the pasta spoon from Harry and begin serving myself some pasta.

Harry nods, taking a bite of his food. "El this is amazing." He says swallowing and taking another bite. 

I take a sip of water. "Aw thanks, it wasn't super difficult, I just prep the pesto in advance and defrost it when I want it."

"That's pretty smart, but wow this is so good. Can you teach me how to cook like this? Nothing I cook is even remotely this good." 

"Yeah of course Harry, I'd love to." I smile at him. "It's really quite a simple meal, it's better to focus on the components rather than the complexity of things."

Harry nods looking thoughtful. "Sounds kind of like writing music." 

As the night went on, we chatted aimlessly and enjoyed the music playing. Silence was comfortable when Harry was around. His strong presence satiated the need for conversation. It was nice to have him there and be present with him.