“Jude!”
Carmen’s terse voice startled me out of my fretting, making me jump up and almost drop my laptop. “Carmen, why do you need to yell like that? I’m five feet away from you.”
She was standing by the couch, holding a plastic container of the braised short ribs and polenta she made for dinner, and tapping her foot like she was about to lose her patience with me.
“Here’s some food you can take with you to Nesto’s. Now get your skinny ass off my couch, and over to his house before this gets cold and he can’t appreciate my mastery of the short rib,” she said, thrusting the tub at me.
I backed up without taking it. “First of all, I haven’t even decided if I’m going to do this drink. Second, I am not showing up there with a tub full of meat.”
She shook her head at me, widening her eyes more and more with each swivel. “Don’t start with me, Jude. You’re taking this food, going over to his place for a drink, and hopefully some sex.I don’t even know why you need to make this so difficult. Take him the food! Who doesn’t want free short ribs?”
I squinted at her, trying to convey just how over-the-top she was being at this particular moment. “Someone who makes and sells food for a living? He probably has tons of stuff to eat at home already.”
“Wrong.”If possible, her eyes got even wider. “You’ve seen Chef’s Table, people who cook for a living have no food at home. He probably only has condiments in his fridge. You’d be doing him a huge favor. Also, who’s not into a beautiful man bringing him a late-night snack?”
I pursed my lips before answering. “That sounds really seedy.”
She just waggled her eyebrows at me.
I don’t even know why I argued with her.
“Exactly. Besides, what are you even doing right now? Sitting on my couch, working. Please tell me you didn’t let Misty freak you out. Don’t let her intimidate you.”
I took advantage of a potential distraction and changed the subject. “Speaking of Misty, she was in rare form at the market today. I ran into her while getting some lunch at Nesto’s stand and she was so rude to him.” Just thinking about how she was looking down at Nesto got me heated all over again. “She’s so ridiculous about her son and that stupid food truck. She thinks she’s in a war to the death with everyone in town trying to make a living selling food. Her son’s business is failing because his sandwiches suck,” I said, exasperated.
Carmen was looking at me with a scowl on her face. “That woman is too fucking much. I bet you she was seething because Nesto’s stand was busy. I hope he didn’t let her get to him.”
“He looked pissed, but he was polite to her. I left him with her standing there fuming, but he seemed to have things under control.”
Carmen shook her head in disgust. “She’s something else, and I would love to bitch about her more, but I know what you’re doing,” she said, pointing a finger at me. “I’m not letting you distract me. We were talking about you taking this food to your future boyfriend.”
I should have known she wouldn’t be deterred for long. She handed me the container and then went over to the couch to stuff my laptop in my bag, because the word “boundaries” wasn’t even a concept for her.
“Let me know how it goes. And don’t worry too much. He’ll love the food! Dominicans are suckers for aman who can cook!”
I threw my hands up as she zipped up my bag. “I didn’t make this though, and I’m not sure about the drink, Carmen,” I said, standing there like an idiot until she almost physically pushed me out the door.
“He’ll appreciate you have friends who cook, and you’re making too big of a deal out of this, Jude. It’s just a drink, hon.” She looked at me like she had no clue what to do with me.
It wasn’t unfair though, because Iwasmaking way too big of a deal out of this. Why couldn’t I have a drink with someone I liked?
I deflated and turned to open her door. “Fine. I’ll go.”
She immediately perked up, “Finally! I was starting to think I was going to have to take matters into my own hands and go to his truck tomorrow for a chat.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Ha.”
I let her have the last word, because goading her was not going to help, so I walked to my car, trying to text Nesto one-handed. I was going to do this. I wanted to see him and that was the end of it.
Jude: Hey, so I’m just leaving Carmen’s if you’re still up for that drink.
I got a response almost immediately.
Nesto: Yes! You know where I am. My place is the first door on the left.
Jude: Great, I’ll see you in twenty minutes. Warning: Carmen made me take some leftovers to bring you.
