ONE ON ONE || D.SWING

38. Full Circle.

Katrina.

5:52pm

"Alex, how many times do I have to tell you that the fork goes on the left and the knife and spoon goes on the right side?" I huff as I fix the placement for the third time.

"Does it matter? It's all gonna end up on the plate anyways." he places the napkins on the plates across from me.

"I don't see why it's a big deal," he continues, "it's just Elijah."

"To you. He's my boyfriend and I want to make a nice impression since he's never been inside my house."

"Tuh, we both know thats a lie." his eyes cut at me, "He's been all up and through here, more than once." he projects his voice purposely.

A slick grin appears on his lips, "If you don't shut your mouth I'll rip it off your face. Finish the table while I go in the kitchen." I glare at him as I make my way to the kitchen.

I peak at dad chopping onions before heading over to the pot of red sauce for the baked ziti. I opened the top, taking a spoon out the drawer to taste it, the steam covered my glasses as I tasted the sauce.

I wiped my foggy lenses, the overwhelming taste of spice took over my mouth. I turned my head to see dad still chopping vegetables. Opening the cabinet on the side, I poured brown sugar into the pot and stirred it.

"Katrina, I know your not over there messing with my food." dad makes his way over to me just as I hide the sugar.

"I'm just tasting and making a few adjustments." I smile.

He slightly pushes me to see the box of sugar, "Katrina!"

"I'm sorry, Elijah doesn't like his food spicy and the sauce is kicking with it. You don't want your guest disliking the food."

"I don't care if he likes it or not, he's going to have to eat it. It'll be disrespectful if he doesn't." he tells me, putting a dash of garlic salt in the sauce.

"Whatever. When will everything be ready? I told him to come at 6:45 and it's," I look down at my imaginary watch. "after 6."

"It's only 6:05, bambina. Everything will
be done on time, if it's not, y'all just gonna have to wait." he shrugs, cutting off the eye and dumping the ziti in with the sauce to stir.

I lean against the counter, "I know I've been on everyones butt today but I want everything to be perfect. Elijah deserves it with everything he's been through these last few weeks." I pull on my arm hairs as I watch dad put the pan of food in the oven.

"You really like him, huh?"

"Yes. He's special." I see him roll his eyes while chuckling.

"He is! I know you think I'm too young to have this much affection for a guy but he's done everything right. He doesn't do the bare minimum like most guys do, he's different." I could feel my body warm as I reveal my feelings for Elijah.

"Do you see yourself loving him one day?" he goes to wash his hands.

I think to find my words, "Yes, I do. I like him a lot but I'm not at that stage of loving him yet. I can definitely see myself saying the words "I love you", only if he says it first." I disclose, surprised at myself opening up to dad like this. We typically don't have talks about my romantic relationships.

"I guess your right. I don't think I ever told you this before, your mother was the one who said I love you first. I was shocked because she wasn't the type to say something so serious first. I was so shook that I didn't say anything, we were on the phone and she started crying, she hung up in my face."