Heart Menders Chapter 4

November 6, 2015:
Roasted

Ever since that day at the theme park, my relationship with Lisa has been entirely different. It was much easier to talk with her as she could still be a touch shy from time to time but the fear she used to have was gone. She would never hesitate to smile and wave at me if we passed in the hallways, and to my surprise we even had begun sitting together in class.

I was thankful to have a friend like Lisa. She was funny, smart, easy to relate to, and just always seemed to know what to say. Whenever we talked it just felt… right. I felt like I was talking with someone I had known my whole life. That being said, I had begun watching myself to make sure I didn’t talk to her too long at a time lest I scare her away again.

It was a sunny Friday evening which we had decided to spend together in the library working on our project. Being a group of two had resulted in a lot more of a workload than we had expected. We decided to make a social media app which would combine multiple social networks in one newsfeed. The concept was steady, but execution was proving to be difficult.

“What if we added a feature that let them post on multiple platforms at once?” I asked while debugging our latest version of the code.

“Good idea!” Lisa replied, “I’ll add that to the images needed for the new UI design.”

We were actually turning out to be quite the effective team. Wherever my skills were lacking, Lisa made up for it and vice versa.

“You two are together again?” I heard a voice from behind us exclaim. “Man, I’m better at matchmaking than even I knew!”

“Sarah?” I cried out turning around. “What are you doing here?”
My sister let out a laugh. “Don’t be cruel bro! You may not believe it but I can actually be quite the avid reader when I want to be!” Sarah leaned against the backs of our chairs looking at what we were working on.

“That’s not what I meant!” I tried to explain. “I just am surprised your work hasn’t called you out of the country again by now!”

“Well I had to settle down eventually…” Sarah replied as she picked up some of our notes. “Work wants to keep me close to home for a bit, so Trevor and I bought a condo and moved in.”
Sarah stared at the paper for about a minute before growing bored and turning her attention back to us. “So! You two are still hanging out even without big sisters’ begging you. That seems like a good sign!”

I felt my cheeks beginning to flush. My sister’s bluntness was always embarrassing to deal with, and I didn’t want to scare Lisa away after finally making it to speaking terms. “It’s not like that…” I managed to get out looking away. “We were actually assigned to a project together before you introduced us.”

“I see…” my sister replied intrigued. She held a thoughtful expression on her face for a second before turning to Lisa and asking, “Hey! Has my brother cooked you dinner yet?”

“WHAT!?” Lisa and I both cried out in unison. Rash or not, that question was a bit out of the blue for Sarah to ask!

“Oh! Didn’t you know? My brother’s actually quite the professional chef.” My sister chuckled. “We often have him prepare the meals for us during family events. Don’t know where he got it from… definitely wasn’t me.”

Lisa smiled as she shook her head. “No, I can’t say I’ve ever had the treat.” She turned her face towards me with a look halfway between mischievous and intrigue. “Your brother seems to be full of surprises the more I get to know him.”

“That’s what I keep telling him!” Sarah laughed. “Alright then! It’s settled!” my sister shouted.

“You and I are going to be treated to an amazing roast tonight courtesy of my brother! You had best not have anything planned tonight as this is something you do NOT want to miss! I know my brother is available! Besides, he still owes me for the fair ticket!”

Lisa thought for a second before looking at me and smiling. “I think I’d like that!” she replied to Sarah. “I’ll just need to call my parents first to explain I won’t be home for dinner!”

I managed to fake a smile until Lisa walked out of sight. Then turning to Sarah who had the most satisfied grin I’d ever seen on her face I whispered, “What are you trying to do!? I just got her to finally talk to me about a month ago! Now you’re going to scare her away again!”

Sarah gave out a chuckle. “Don’t worry bro.” She replied. “I know what I’m doing. A woman LOVES a man who can cook!” Giving me a proud smile she added, “You’re going to thank me for this one day!”
I leaned back in my chair and let out a heavy sigh. “You don’t get it. We’re not like that. She’s just a friend. I really good friend who I don’t want to lose.”

“Oh don’t give me that!” Sarah teased. “You totally like her! You can’t hide that from your sister! I know you too well!”

“I’m not like that!” I cried out. “I’m allowed to have a female friend I care about and respect without having a crush on them!”

Sarah shook her head before scruffing my hair. “Bro,” she chuckled in a surprisingly calm voice for her. “How can you be so intuitive about those around you, and yet so clueless to your own emotions?”

“We’re just friends!” I whispered loudly. I was about to continue arguing but quickly caught myself as Lisa jogged back up to us covering the receiver of her phone.
“Would I be able to get a ride home from one of you?” she asked, thankfully unaware of our previous conversation.

“Of course!” I replied anxiously. “I can take you home. Least I can do! Anytime really!”

A gentle smile came across Lisa’s face as she nodded and then walked away back to her call.

Once she had walked away I realized I had a stupid giant smile stuck on my face. “Subtle me, very subtle…” I thought to myself. Turning as cautiously as I could. Much to my chagrin, Sarah sat staring at me with the largest ‘I told you so’ face she could manage.

“Shut up Sarah….” I replied thoroughly defeated.

We decided to cook the dinner at Sarah’s condo as it had the most room. Her husband and kids were out finishing closing down their old house so it was just the three of us. Sarah’s condo was very different from my small apartment. Two levels, three bedrooms, full amenities, a balcony
overlooking the lake. My sister and her husband had done well for themselves in life and I was somewhat jealous.

Sarah showed me to the kitchen which looked like it could have been from a show home and then grabbed Lisa by the arm. “Let’s go have some girl time while the maestro makes us a work or art!”
The girls left and I began to work preparing the meat. I had just begun cutting the vegetables when I was startled by hysterical laughing in the next room. “Well that doesn’t bode well…” I thought to myself as I wondered just what stories Sarah was telling.

The girls returned arm in arm just as I began to take the roast out of the oven. “Well they’ve gotten chummy rather fast…” I thought to myself as they took their seats at the table.

Lisa looked towards me. She had the sweetest smile on her face. “At least she’s having a good time then.” I thought as a smile crept along my face as well. Her eyes continued to drift towards me until at last we locked. “What does that look mean?” I wondered as her mouth opened a little. The expression lasted only a second though as she couldn’t hold back her giggling any longer. “Ah…” I thought, the thrill of our eyes locking having completely vanished. “Sarah WAS telling her about me then…”

I handed out the servings and then took my seat. The moment of truth had come. Would Lisa like the meal? Did I maybe use too much seasoning? Is it too dry? Maybe I cooked it too long. I hope it’s not too fatty. “Maybe I should sneak a taste to be certain…” I thought to myself looking at my plate. “No! That would be horribly rude! The guests should always get the first taste on a chef’s honor! What would Lisa think of me if I did something so uncivilized?” A piece of my mind broke a little when I realized what I was doing. “What am I thinking!?!?” my thoughts cried out. “What should I care if she loves the meal or not? It’s not like I’m trying to win her heart or something. I mean we’re not like that!”

“Hey bro? Are you… okay?” my sister whispered to me. “You’re chuckling and it’s freaking me out!”

“Eep!” I thought to myself. How could I start laughing without even realizing it? Just how up tight was I right now?

“MM!” I heard Lisa exclaim causing my heart to stop. Looking up I saw Lisa sitting with a look of shock and her fork in her mouth. Was it good shock? Bad shock? My sister and I both leaned forward awaiting her response.

“This is… Amazing!” Lisa exclaimed. “How did you learn to cook like this?”

Never had a sentence sounded so sweet. She liked my cooking. I had no logical explanation for the happiness and pride that I felt and put all of my energy towards making sure I wasn’t smiling too obviously. “Do you eat like this all the time then?” Lisa asked still smiling.

“Well not quite.” I chuckled. She liked it, she really liked it! “It’s just not as much fun cooking for yourself as for others.”

“Well then!” Lisa laughed, “You can cook like this for me whenever you want!”

I laughed in reply, but in my head all I could think was “Don’t go red! Don’t go red! Don’t go red!” I wondered if I should look up. If I did then I might show my hand that I was embarrassed, but if I didn’t it might look suspicious or like I was upset at what Lisa said. I just had to do it subtly.

Carefully I raised my head, willing myself to not draw attention to my actions. Slowly I saw her chin, her smile, and then… Wait! Was she blushing too? No! She couldn’t be. That would be silly after all. These feelings couldn’t be mutual. I mean! There weren’t even any feelings TO be mutual right??

We talked a bit after the meal as Sarah began to pepper Lisa with questions about her family, her schooling, her dreams, and more. The clock thankfully struck 10 before it Sarah began asking about relationships, and we all decided it was time to call it a night.

True to my word I drove Lisa home. The trip was fairly quiet. Several attempts were made to start a conversation but all seemed to fall short. It normally didn’t take any effort to keep a conversation going with Lisa, but it seemed as if we were both on edge after this night. For most the drive Lisa sat deep in thought looking out the car window. Her face was too far turned away to tell if she was smiling or not, but she didn’t seem upset per-say.

Finally we arrived at her house. Her family owned farmland outside of town on which they raised a few animals but mostly vegetables. Putting the car in park, I turned to see Lisa already looking at me.

“I had fun tonight.” She said with a smile.

“Yes! Me too!” I agreed.

Lisa looked at me a little while longer as if there was something she wanted to ask but wasn’t sure if she should. Then, with a slight shake of her head she smiled again and said, “Well, I guess I’ll see you Monday then!”

“Right!” I called out, slightly curious and disappointed that that was all she said. Could I have been looking into things too much?

Lisa stood outside the car for a second before turning to head back in.

“Hey Lisa?” I called out before I could even think of what it was I wanted to ask.

Lisa stopped and then turned towards me. She looked caught off guard but also a little curious. “Yes?” she asked.

“We…” I began. “We should do this again some time.”

Lisa’s mouth opened a little in surprise. Meanwhile in my head I was having a complete melt down. What was I saying? ‘We should do this again sometime!?’ That is totally going to be taken the wrong way! But then again. What’s the right way? GAH! Of course I don’t mean it in that way! I’m being way too familiar with her and I’m totally going to scare her away again!

The corner of Lisa’s mouth turned up into a tiny smirk. “We should!” she called out now in a full smile. Lisa then waved goodbye and ran back up to her house.

I waited until she had closed the door to her house. Falling back in my seat I let out a sigh. Since when did this friendship become so complicated?