City of Kinetics

FORTY ✴ Taking It Slow

       Mila picked at the last of her sushi with her chopsticks, desperately wanting to eat it but completely full. She stared at it as if willing her brain to make room in her stomach for one more small piece, but it just wasn't working.

       Then, she watched as the sushi suddenly shot off her plate and right into Hunter's chopsticks, which he greedily ate without a moment's hesitation.

       "I was going to eat that," Mila said with a pout.

       He raised an eyebrow while he swallowed it. "You were starting at it for five minutes."

       "So?"

       "You snooze, you lose."

       She chuckled at that phrase, shaking her head at him before looking down at her empty plate and setting it down on the coffee table in front of her.

       They were currently sitting together on the couch in her apartment. Hunter had gotten busy with work, so he offered to bring her dinner to make up for their missed lunch plans.

       "When's Evelyn moving in?" Hunter asked, putting his plate away as well.

       "She texted saying Jason would drop her off in the morning," Mila said. "I cleared out the spare room the best I could but until she gets a bed, she has to sleep on the couch."

       "I'm glad you've got a roommate, now," he said. "Living alone isn't all that fun."

       Mila smiled. "The privacy is nice, though."

       He shrugged. "I guess it is. My place would be quiet without Leila around."

       "Speaking of, did you honestly ditch her to have dinner with me?" Mila asked, pretending to be unimpressed.

       Hunter smiled. "I left her money for takeout. She'll be fine."

       She hummed in response. "When do you work in the hospital again?"

       "Tomorrow," he said. "I promised Jason I'd go over some case files with him after my shift there."

       "Sounds hectic," she said.

       Hunter shrugged. "You get used to it."

       "Do you ever get tired of running back and forth between jobs?" Mila asked him.

       "Sometimes," he admitted. "I'm lucky, though. I like what I do, so it's bearable."

       Mila was glad he felt that way because most people would honestly drown working two crazy jobs like his.

       "Speaking of work," Hunter started, "do you know when you'll officially be back at the diner?"

       "Whenever Harold calls me back, I guess," Mila said. "I'm thinking about looking for a new job, though, just in case."

       He nodded in response, giving her an encouraging look. "Good luck."

       Mila let out a breath, trying to push the thought of being jobless out of her mind. She didn't want the possibility of not having a job wandering around in her mind while she was trying to relax. It was a problem for later.

       "Enough about our jobs," she said. "Let's do something else."

       Hunter's lips pulled up into a small smirk. "Do something else? Like what?"

       Realizing what she said, Mila immediately felt embarrassed and immediately backtracked.

       "Oh, that's not what I meant," she said quickly. "I, um, I meant like change the topic of our conversation."