Help Me Heal

Chapter 33

Every time Hank dined at Kalinda's place his appreciation of her hosting skills increased. She had the table set, drinks ready to go, and the curry almost ready to serve when the intercom rang, signalling Erin and Jay's arrival.

"Get that for me, please," she said to Hank from the kitchen.

Hank had eventually been persuaded to relax on the couch with a beer. He got up, bottle in hand, and went over to the phone handset that would allow him to speak through the intercom. "Erin?" he asked.

"Hey. Let us in, please," came Erin's voice in reply.

He pressed the button which would unlock the building's main door. With that done, he opened Kalinda's door and stood in the doorway to prevent it closing. It wasn't long before Erin and Jay appeared. It struck Hank how happy they looked together. Erin being with Jay still grated on him a bit, but he knew he was going to have to accept it and be supportive of her if they were going to continue becoming closer as father and daughter. That was what he wanted.

"Hey," Erin said. "We've been looking forward to this. Smells amazing already."

Hank greeted her with a hug. That was still relatively new for them, and it still didn't feel quite natural. He knew the only way to make it feel natural was to keep doing it.

"Thanks for coming. We've been looking forward to it as well," he said.

Next came Jay, who offered a handshake. "Hank. Thanks for the invite."

Hank shook his hand. "It wasn't my invite. Thank Kalinda."

"I will," Jay confirmed before Hank ushered them into the apartment.

Inside, Kalinda had emerged from the kitchen to greet the guests. Erin went to her first, and the women exchanged a hug and a peck on the cheek. Seeing that made Hank happy.

"Hey, Kalinda. Wow, the curry smells so good. I'm almost salivating."

Kalinda laughed. "Well, that's good. Thanks for coming over." She moved on to Jay, with another peck on the cheek. They had met the previous night at Molly's, but hadn't spoken much so far as Hank could recall. "Jay, welcome. Guests are at home when they visit me, so treat the place accordingly. The food will be less than five minutes."

"Thanks, Kalinda. I really appreciate the invite, and I agree with Erin on how amazing it smells. Should I call you Kalinda or KR?"

Hank figured Jay had heard Kevin using the nickname. He had really taken to it, and never called her Kalinda.

"You can use whichever is your preference. KR is a nickname I'm comfortable with."

"I'll go with KR then," Jay decided.

"And I'll stick with Kalinda," Erin said. "I think it's a really nice name, so I'll use it."

"Not as nice as the accent," Jay said, adding a little humour to it.

Kalinda happily flicked the tea towel she happened to be holding at him. "Away with you, and your flattery. Hank, do you want to show them through and you can all get seated at the dining table?"

"Will do," he said. There wasn't much showing through to do since in practice it meant walking a few steps towards the dining table, but he knew that she meant go away and let me serve up the food. He was happy to help out.

Erin and Jay followed him to the dining table. Jay's eye was immediately drawn to Kalinda's framed and signed Reservoir Dogs poster on the wall.

"Woah, look at this," he said, drawn to it like a bee to honey. "Is this signed by the whole cast?"