For a second, we move around the kitchen silently, comfortably. Until I go looking for a plate. I swear, I barely touch the cabinet, and the whole fucking door comes off in my hand. My head swivels in her direction, and I give her a deliberate look. I get an awkward smile back, all teeth.
"Oops. I noticed that one was a little loose."
Shaking my head, I set it near her back door and get back to the eggs.
"How about you?" she asks, thumping a loaf of bread on the counter before pulling her coffee maker away from the wall. "Did you have fun babysitting me?"
"Didn't feel like babysitting. And yeah. You're a great drunk."
She chuckles, and I find myself smiling down at the eggs. "Thank goodness. I really thought I was gonna be a mess. Or like, cry or something."
"Who knows. That sixth drink mighta done it. Do you remember everything?"
"I think so." She dumps scoops of grounds into the filter, then fills the pot up with water from one of those filtered pitchers from the fridge. "Let's see. I remember dancing with the girls, that was fun. I met a bunch of people…did I ask them all what their favorite book is?"
"Yup."
Another laugh. "Oh god, that's funny. I remember--oh." She pauses long enough that I look at her, but her head's down as she fills up the coffee pot. "I showed my ass last night, didn't I?" She says it lightly.
"Don't worry, even I didn't see anything," I lie, "and I caught it before you got out of the hallway."
"Well, thank goodness for that, at least. I line danced a lot. That must be why weird muscles in my legs are sore. And I laughed a lot. That must be why my abs are sore." Another pause, and she hits the button on the machine. "Maybe I should start working out."
I snort a laugh, filling up the four-slot toaster. "I'm glad you had fun."
"I'm sorry I begged you to stay like that. I've asked too much of you, and I…I'm just sorry."
"Don't be. Like I said, it was fun."
"Lucky for me you love teaching."
"Lucky for you."
She sighs and inspects the door that fell off.
"Why'd you buy this beat up old house?"
After taking a long breath, she says, "Well, it was cheap, that was the first point. And…I don't know. I just had a feeling like I belonged here. Like my life starts here. That probably sounds like some dumb kid stuff to you, doesn't it?"
"No," I say quietly. "No, it doesn't."
The toast pops, and she puts it on the plates. I add the eggs.
"I didn't know just how broken down it was. And nobody helped me. I didn't tell anyone, especially not my parents."
When she opens another cabinet, I flinch, but thankfully that door doesn't fall off too. She puts a couple of coffee cups on the counter and fills them up.
"Why not?" I head for the sink to wash the pan, turning on the water when I get there.
Water gushes out of the hose fixture, shooting up a little to splatter on my shirt before I can shut it off. Again, I pin her with a look, and she flushes with that awkward smile again.
"Oh, yeah. That's new. Remember at practice when my hair was wet and I had that goose egg? I was fixing the sink."
"Were you?Fixingit?"
"Yes, I was. I'll have you know I was doing a great job too. We're blaming my YouTube guru Dale for this. It's his fault."
My jaw is clenched, but I don't say anything, just grab the coffees and follow her to the little table where she put our breakfast. I can't even look around. I'll keep finding things to fix.
