“What do you mean help—” I move behind her, and she holds her breath. Taking one of her hands, I lead it to the handle of the pan, and we both grab on. She peers over her shoulder, her cherry and vanilla scent filling my senses, and I do my best to play it cool, but on the inside my heart rails against my ribcage.
“We’re going to pick up the pan and flick our wrists upward. If we do it right, the sandwich will flip and land on the other side in the pan.” I’m trying to keep my breaths steady, and even though I’ve done this a dozen times, I really hope I don’t mess it up and ruin her dinner. “You ready?”
She nods, and we pop the pan upward, flipping the sandwich perfectly.
“Oh, my god! We did it,” she squeals.
We set the pan down, and she twirls to face me. There are mere inches between us, and I don’t know what I’m doing. She’s too good for me, and so, despite the urge to close the space between us, I take a step backward.
“Told you we make a good team,” I say, running my hand through my hair and clearing my throat. “So anyway, you let that go for a minute or two, and then it’ll be ready to eat.”
She nods and turns back around to watch it cook. I move to the kitchen table, trying to shake the feeling that being so close to her left me with.
Pull it together.
“So, how was dinner?” she asks, plating the sandwich.
“Surprisingly, it went well,” I explain. “I finally met with my dad today, and he actually liked my new proposal for the Cedar Hill project. He said it had promise, which I never thought I hear him say, and he wanted to go to dinner to talk more about the CEO role.”
“That’s good.” She takes a seat across from me.
“It’s really good. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do after he bailed last Wednesday, but I think I’m doing the right thing and that he is starting to see that I can be the CEO.” I can feel myself smiling as I talk.
“That’s amazing. I knew he’d like it.”
“I honestly can’t believe it. Never in thirty years has he become remotely close to saying he was proud of me, and he said it showed a lot of promise. Which feels kind of like he was proud of me, right?”
“I think so.” She blows on the sandwich, and my eyes lock on her lips. My cock twitches below my pants, and I shift in my seat.
She tries a bite, and a smile erupts across her face. “Wow, this is so good.”
“Told you. The secret is multiple types of cheese and extra butter.”
“Thank you for teaching me how to make it.”
“Any time.”
She starts to say something but stops herself and takes another bite of her food instead.
“What is it?” I ask.
“I was just thinking about your dad and the dinner.” She pauses. “Are you really sure you want to be CEO? Like I know you’re feeling good about it after today, but is it going to make you happy?”
“Yeah, I think so. I’ve waited so long for him to be proud of me, and the fact that I finally did it feels really good. I know my granddad would’ve wanted this, so it feels like the right move.”
“I know. I just can’t shake the feeling that you’d be really good at the bar. I’d hate to see you give something like that up.”
The Local flickers in the back of my mind, and for a split second I wonder if she’s right, if I’d be happier there, but then I push it away.
“How was work?”
“What?” she asks, quirking her head to the side. “Come on. We’re not talking about my work. We’re talking about you.”
“I don’t want to talk about me. I’d rather hear about your day.”
She exhales. “It was fine, I guess. No one really showed up to my art group, which sucked, but chair yoga had a big crowd, and I had lunch with the girls.”
“That’s cool y’all are all so close and work together.”
