When Siobhan got home with the groceries, she was greeted with the sound of tone-deaf singing coming from the kitchen. The thing about Jessica was she actually had a really beautiful voice … she just didn’t know how to use it. It didn’t help that she tended to make up her own songs to sing while doing housework and she couldn’t invent a melody any better than she could follow one written by someone else.
“Hey, I’m home!” Siobhan had found the best way to get Jessica to stop singing was just to start talking so she’d be too busy with a conversation to keep singing.
“Hi, honey. How was your day?” When Jessica wasn’t singing, she sometimes liked to pretend she and Siobhan were a married couple out of a 1950s sitcom, except Jessica usually played the husband role, which meant this particular line didn’t work with their usual role play, especially since Siobhan was carrying in groceries, which she was pretty sure made her the wife. When she pointed this out to Jessica, she just said, “No, that definitely makes you the husband because you are literally bringing home the bacon.”
“Not this time.”
Jessica’s head whipped around, and if her neck had craned any further, she would have been doing a frighteningly accurate imitation of the girl from The Exorcist when her head spun 180 degrees so she faced backwards. “What do you mean?”
“I’m making dinner for Josh tonight and he’s a vegetarian.”
Jessica’s smile slid back onto her face. “Because you liiiiiiiiiike him,” she sang.
Siobhan dropped the bag of groceries on the counter and contemplated them, hands on her hips, as she thought about what Jessica had just said and what it could mean for her future. “Yeah, I guess I do.”
Jessica squealed and clapped her hands, jumping up and down on the balls of her feet. “It’s finally happening.”
“What? Me falling in love and moving out, leaving you to pay the rent on this whole place by yourself?”
Jessica’s face fell. “Well, when you put it like that.”
Siobhan hugged her friend, immediately regretting the remark. “I’m sorry. You know I’m not moving out anytime soon.”
“Promise?” Jessica hugged her back tightly.
“Promise.”
“Good. Now, what are we making?”
“I have no idea. I grabbed some pasta and a bunch of random vegetables because I don’t know what else vegetarians eat. I figure I’ll just stir fry them and serve them over the pasta.”
Jessica started pulling groceries out of Siobhan’s bags and placing them in groups on the counter. Then she started rummaging through the fridge. “You said he’s vegetarian, not vegan, right?”
“Correct. I’m on the fence about dating a vegetarian as it is. I could never handle dating a vegan, much less cooking for one.”
“Great. Vegetarian I can work with. What about wine?”
“What about wine?”
“He’s a vegetarian personal trainer, so I’m guessing his body is a temple and all that. Do you know if he allows alcohol into his body?”
Siobhan froze as her mind raced through the few conversations she’d had with him. Had he ever mentioned alcohol? Had she seen him drink alcohol? She hadn’t seen him drink any, but that didn’t necessarily mean he never drank alcohol.
Jessica took one look at Siobhan’s face and said, “Never mind, we have a lemon. I can just use that.”
“Use that for what?”
“The stir fry. What else? What are you waiting for? Start boiling some water for the pasta. This dinner isn’t going to make itself.”