CHAPTER 9: JUST THE TWO OF US

“Terri, are you home?” I heard the door slam and Jess’ voice shouting from the living room.

“I’m in the shower. Give me a few minutes,” I yelled out from under the spray of water. Hurriedly I rinsed off the soap, stepped out of the cubicle and grabbed a towel to dry myself. Then I wrapped it around me and walked out of the bathroom, looking for her.

“Jess?”

“In here.” I headed towards the kitchen where the voice had come from. The sight gave me quite a shock. There were shopping bags, groceries, plates, pots and pans laid out haphazardly all over the bench. What a mess.

“What happened here? Pearl Harbour?”

Jess laughed. “No, silly. I just thought I’d cook dinner tonight.”

Jess, cook dinner? Oh boy, this I had to see. All this while I’ve known her, I can actually count the times she’s ever lifted a ladle. I chuckled to myself. We were both so alike in that sense – we both regarded the kitchen a place where one put the refrigerator.

“Hmm…should I make dinner reservations at a restaurant, just in case?” I teased.

Jess shrieked and lunged at me, her hand ready to give me a slap. But I managed to jump aside, dodging it. “Just you wait. I’ll show you,” she pouted. Then she looked at me and broke out in laughter. “Theresa Au! You could get arrested for indecent exposure, you know!”

Huh? What was she talking about? Oh, I had forgotten. I only had a towel on. I grinned at her mischievously. “I’m hardly indecently exposed…well, not yet anyway,” I chuckled as I threatened a tug at the towel.

Jess yelped again and started shoving me out of the kitchen. “Out. Out. And go put on some clothes before I rape you.”

“Oh really? Would you really rape me?” I teased as I pretended to wrap my arms around her.

She screamed as she avoided me. “Theresa Au! You’re incorrigible. Get out of my kitchen or it’ll be tomorrow by the time we have dinner!”

“With you in here, we’ll be having tonight’s dinner tomorrow anyway!” I couldn’t resist another jab at her before I ran out of the kitchen. My laughter drowned out the string of expletives she had let loose at me.

----------------------------

I stared at the clock. Jess had been in the kitchen for close to 4 hours now. I was starving. Whatever was she doing in there? I sneaked in for a peek. I found her at the stove, her hand absent-mindedly stirring something in the pot while her nose was buried deep inside a cookbook. “When can we eat?” I asked.

Jess jumped. “Shit. You gave me a fright.”

“Looking at the mess in here, I didn’t think anything else could be more frightening,” I giggled.

“Har, har. Very funny. Dinner will be ready soon. Now, out,” she said as she lifted the ladle from the pot and pointed it towards the living room. I grimaced at the sight of the sauce dripping off it. Whatever it was, it didn’t look appetising at all.

I plopped myself down on the sofa and switched on the television. There wasn’t anything else to do except wait. I grinned when I thought of Jess in that kitchen. Sure, she was the sort that liked doing things on impulse but cooking? I chuckled. I turned my attention back to the TV. It looked like some movie I had seen before. Terminator 2, I think. I sighed. Another rerun. How boring. My eyelids started to grow heavy and I tried to stifle a yawn. Maybe I’ll just close them for awhile.

“Terri.” I felt someone shaking me. “Terri, wake up. Wake up. Dinner’s ready.”

I opened my eyes drowsily and tried to focus on the blur in front of me. “Huh?”

It was Jess. “Dinner’s ready.”

Oh. Dinner. As I got up, I casually glanced at the clock. “10.15 pm!” I exclaimed at Jess in total disbelief.

She grinned at me sheepishly. “It’s only a teeny weeny bit late.”

I rolled my eyes and laughed at her pathetic excuse. “Oh well, better late than never I suppose. So what has the Sous Chef prepared this evening?” I asked as I sat down at the dining table.

Jess chuckled and skipped into the kitchen. She came back out carrying two plates and placed one in front of me. I looked at my plate, picked up the fork and gingerly poked it around. Phew! At least nothing was moving.

“Hey!” Jess pouted when she saw what I was doing.

I chortled. “I was just making sure it was safe to eat,” I said, teasing her. I cut a piece and put it into my mouth. Jess waited expectantly for my verdict. “Hmm…”

“So?” she asked impatiently.

I screwed my face. “You spent practically the whole day cooking this? What is it?”

“Is it really that bad?” Jess asked nervously.

“It’s awwwwful……ly good,” I chuckled. Actually, it was really bad but seeing how much trouble Jess had gone through to prepare tonight’s meal, I didn’t have the heart to tell her. I forced myself to swallow whatever it was.

“Really?” her face lit up. Only then did she attempt to try her own cooking. Immediately she spat it out and screamed. “Yuck!”

I cracked up laughing. She threw the napkin at me and in return I flung some peas at her. She reached for the glass of wine and that’s when I got up and ran. Jess followed chase. We were acting like schoolgirls, laughing and giggling away. I dodged as she tried to catch me. When she tried to reach me from the left, I went right. When she went right, I ran left. It was hilarious. Then as Jess managed to grab my shirt, I spun around and tried to make her release her grasp. But the suddenness of my motion coupled by the strength of her yank caused me to lose balance and topple towards her. Caught unexpected, Jess too fell backwards into the sofa with me on top of her. We were both laughing so hard, we were gasping for air. Only then did I realise how close we were. Her face was just next to mine. I guessed she must have realised it too because she stopped laughing completely. I looked at her and she gazed back searchingly albeit fixedly. I swallowed a gulp. Did I dare?