MALLORY
Fridays would always be Mallory’s favorite day of the week. It was date night with Dan. Dan had been there for her when she broke up with her boyfriend of ten years. For the most part, they had only seen each other in passing, but one day Dan went up to check on her. He hadn’t seen her in several days and wanted to make sure she was okay.
She had been struggling with depression before the breakup. With no one there to remind her to take care of herself, even if the reminders were to avoid having to actually deal with her mental health concerns, finally feeling the weight of all the emotional trauma she’d suffered, she quickly spiraled into a very dark place. She went from missing a few days of work here and there, to calling out sick once a week, to not showing up at all. It didn’t take long for the school she worked for to send a letter that she was no longer needed. It didn’t matter that she didn’t like the job. That job had been her last reason to even considergetting out of bed. Until Dan became her reason. And so began their morning coffee routine.
She moved around the kitchen wearing her favorite comfy jeans and cropped t-shirt. The best part about having date nights with Dan was that she didn’t have to dress up. Healthy eating was another thing she started doing when she pulled herself from the black hole of depression. It wasn’t a cure, but it was something she could control, and sharing it with a friend made it even better.
“What’s on the menu?” Dan asked from behind her, causing her to jump.
“Vegetable lasagna. I just took it out of the oven, so we have a few minutes while it sits. What’s new?”
“Since this morning?” Dan asked with a laugh. “Not a whole lot. I finished reading that book I started.”
Dan took a seat at the island, while Mallory cut up fruits for dessert. He no longer offered to help. Mallory hated anyone near her while she cooked, so he was lucky to be allowed to sit in the kitchen at all.
“Just feels like I haven’t seen you in forever. It’s always like that when we don’t ride in to work together,” Mallory said.
“Oh, I did get engaged.”
Mallory nearly dropped the bowl of fruit. “What?”
He started laughing immediately. “You are way too easy. No, I did not get engaged. But I do need to introduce you to Ian. I won’t call things serious, but …”
Mallory only partially recovered from his betrothment joke and was equally caught off balance by the thought of him being in a serious relationship. His relationship with Ian wasn’t secret, but she hadn’t met him. As close as they were to each other, they respected each other’s privacy. Aside from their regular scheduled coffee and dinner dates, there was to be no barging in. That was the reason they’d scheduled morning coffee. A wayfor him to make sure she was doing okay without crossing her boundaries.
“I would absolutely love to meet him. I’m excited for you!”
Dan waved her off. “I said things aren’t serious, but I think I’ll keep him around for a while. The two of you would probably get along.”
“If you like him, I’ll love him.”
Dan took two plates and two bowls down from the cabinet and silverware from the drawer, while Mallory finished cutting up the fruit and made place settings for them. She didn’t mind that sort of help because he didn’t get in the way. She served up two hearty portions of lasagna and took a seat next to him.
“Have you seen your sexy mystery patient lately?” he asked.
She shook her head as she finished chewing her food. “I should have never told you about him.”
“I think what you meant to say was that you should have gotten his number,” Dan teased. “This is delicious, by the way. Thank you.”
“You should really come with me to that new gym tomorrow. They have Pilates and hot yoga,” Mallory suggested.
It was Dan’s turn to shake his head as he ate. She was always inviting him to take Pilates and yoga with her, and he always turned her down. Going to the gym at the hospital with her a couple times a week was the most she could get out of him.
“You already know my answer,” he said eventually.
“This one is walking distance, so I thought maybe I could talk you into it.”
“I love your new outlook on life and your focus on health and wellness, especially the food, but those classes are not for me. I’m not about that woo-woo stuff.”
“Manifestation affirmations are not woo-woo!” she argued. “And Pilates builds strength and flexibility.”
Dan just looked at her with one raised eyebrow. They’d had this conversation over and over. She would never say it out loud, be he may have been right about yoga. She often mentally recited her positive affirmations while doing the breathing exercises.
“I’m plenty strong and flexible, just ask Ian.”
Mallory nearly choked. He had a bad habit of saying things for shock value while she was eating or drinking.
“I’ll take your word for it,” she said once she recovered enough to swallow her food.
