foodie, chapter 8

written by Christy

Malorie heaved a long, heavy sigh and pressed her back into the door, as she closed it behind Jack. They had all finally decided to call it a night, and Malorie could not have been more relieved. She could hear Evan in the other room, inching his way toward the kitchen using his crutches. She knew he was probably trying to clean up before she could get back in there to help him, but she just stood there, feeling all the stress of the evening beginning to seep into her; she was exhausted. Oh, my aching head. She closed her eyes and began massaging her temples in an attempt to ease some of the tension of this seemingly endless night.

“Well, that was an absolute disaster” Malorie said quietly as she moved away from the door. She opened her eyes, and was startled to see Evan standing in the hallway with her.

“So that was him?” he asked, leaning over her with his chin propped on one of his crutches. “That’s the guy that took off without so much as an ‘it’s not you, it’s me’?”

“That would be him, yes.” She studied Evan for a moment before looking down at the floor and trying to catch her breath. She wasn’t sure how much of this story she was prepared to rehash just then. She had told Evan about Jack—sparing him most of the gory details, but now that Jack had shown up, Evan had a name and a face to place with the story of the guy that didn’t even have the courtesy to inform her that she was being dumped. “What?” Malorie questioned, noticing Evan’s sideways glance.

“I don’t know. It’s just…don’t take this the wrong way or anything.” Evan stammered a bit and then grinned, “I guess I just wasn’t expecting him to be so nice.”

Malorie felt her chest tighten a bit; a sure sign that she was about to play defense. “Oh, he’s nice all right. Just a little uncommunicative is all.” She knew that her words came out sounding a lot more sarcastic than she had intended them to, and she averted her eyes from him. Why did I use that tone?

Evan pulled her chin up so that she had to face him and gave her a wry smile. “Hey…you wanna know what I think? I think a couple of years have gone by, maybe Jack has grown up a little bit, and he realizes what a shit he was to you. My guess is that he wanted to stop by as a gesture to set things straight, and maybe give you some closure.”

“That’s very generous of you, but I’m not so sure he’s that deep” Malorie said, suppressing a little laugh.

——————————————

The next few days went by without incident. Professor Talbot had given Malorie and Evan some obscure recipes to create menus around as part of an exam, and Malorie tried to remain focused. She didn’t want to allow Jack and that piece of her past to be an intrusion into her life and her work at the Culinary Institute but she was failing miserably. It was almost all that she could think about. And the situation brought up and endless amount of questions. Why would he show up out of the blue like that? What was he playing at? What did he really want? She had a hard time believing Evan’s theory that Jack simply showed up to make amends and then intended to run along on his merry way. That didn’t seem quite his style—at least, not the style she remembered. But then again, she thought maybe it just is what it is—people change, Mal.

Later that week, Malorie spent the afternoon at the library, pouring over 19th century cookbooks and doing research for their exam, when her cell phone rang. She looked around quickly, embarrassed that she hadn’t remembered to silence her phone when she came in. She grabbed the phone, abruptly flipped it open, and whispered a distracted, “hello?’ into the receiver.

“Hey. Malorie, it’s Jack…obviously. Uh…I wasn’t sure you’d pick up, honestly. Listen, I really need to see you. Can we maybe meet, later tonight? No chaperones this time?”

“Jack?” Malorie questioned. She didn’t want it to be him on the other end of the phone. She felt her pulse quicken a bit, and her palms were sweaty. That familiar feeling in the pit of her stomach had returned…it had been so long, she had almost forgotten about it. This is not good, she thought to herself. Not good at all.

——————————————

Malorie meandered down the sidewalk toward the restaurant where Jack had suggested they meet. All she could think of on the entire walk over from the library was what the hell his motives could be. I shouldn’t be here. I should be with Evan. She admitted to herself that she was more than a little suspicious of the possibilities, and she was in no great hurry to get in there and find out. She approached the entrance to the restaurant and hesitated a moment before ducking inside.

Once inside, a smiling hostess greeted Malorie. “How can I help you?” The hostess asked eagerly.

“Uh, I’m meeting some—“ Malorie started.

“You must be Mr. Finnigan’s guest.”

The hostess led her through a warm and dimly lit room filled with cozy little tables for two. Malorie felt uneasy. The two of them finally stopped at the very last table in a far corner of the room near the kitchen. There was Jack. He thanked the hostess as she hurried away and gestured for Malorie to sit.

Malorie sat quietly, not at all certain what to expect. She didn’t have to wait long before Jack began to explain his sudden appearance.

“Listen. I’ve been waiting a long time to say this, so I’m just going to get to it. I was hoping we’d have a chance to talk the other night when I came to your apartment, but you’re roommate was there; it was awkward…and he wouldn’t leave us alone. I need to tell you…”

“Evan is more than a roommate. He’s my…well…he’s a really good friend.” Malorie interrupted. She knew that those words sounded lame as soon as she uttered them. She hoped that Jack wouldn’t pick up on the reluctance in her tone and assign some self-satisfying meaning to it. She needn’t have worried—he didn’t seem to notice. He held up his hand to silence her and continued with his speech.