The Game

Chapter 53

Tori

It's thursday and my mom and Brad are going out today. They want to talk things through. My mom got angry over him throwing Serena out, and then even more angry at the things he said during breakfast. So it's just me and Neal. Carrie isn't here either since Brad told her they were going out. The house seems much bigger now that everyone's gone. I walk over to Neal, he's sitting with some work.

"How many hours do you work? And how can you be at the lawfirm, the school and working here all at the same time?" I ask him.

"I only have your class in school, which is 6 hours in a week, 1 ½ hour a lesson, and the rest of the time I spend at the lawfirm. And I do that while you are at school and when you come here, I watch you and still work on whatever needs to be worked on." He says.

"So basically, you're working all the time. Like literally." I say standing behind his chair.

"Not all the time, sometimes I read a book I actually want to read. Like in my spare time. And being your babysitter doesn't feel like a job, I mean- I get to go to parties and make out with you, right?" He says and chuckles. What he just said made me smile.

"I was wondering- Carrie is gone and I don't know how to cook. Unless you want me to make something for you, but that would not be very safe." I say truthfully.
"What can you make? That doesn't require the oven?" He asks me.

"I tried making scrambled eggs once, but let's just say it ended up very crunchy - My dad normally cooks. I can make a killer salad."
"Well.. then make a killer salad." He says and smiles.

"I think we'll need more food than just the salad, should I order something?" I ask. I hate ordering food. I don't like fast food. And I don't like chinese. So the choices are limited. I love food believe me. But there's nothing like my dad's home cooked meals.

"How about you make salad, and I make food?" He suggests.

"Cool" I say. "How about we make it a little fun?"

"Fun? How?" He asks confused.

"You dress up. I dress up, then we'll meet downstair at 6:30" I say. 

"Dress up? I don't quite follow... like nice clothes or... you know?" He says.

"What else could it be?" I ask looking at him confused.

"I don't know, I just thought you meant something else. Never mind." He says and stands up.

"Let's dress up then.." He says and walks up to his room. What did he think of when he said something else. I'm curious now. I walk up to my closet. God I have nothing to wear. Wait a second. I pull out a black tight fitting dress. I bought this if K.C or I ever went to dinner somewhere nice. It has the perfect length. Just above the knees. I pull my hair out of the ponytail and the hair has a perfect waves, so I just let it be. I put on some mascara, some liquid eyeliner and give my lips some color. That should do it. I have one problem though. The back of my dress is halfway open. I couldn't zip it all the way. Fuck that. I walk down, to find Neal in the kitchen. He's wearing a white button shirt, which he's got stuffed in his dark blue pants. He has his sleeves rolled, since he's cooking. He's got three pans turned on, making something that smells good. He turns around as he sees me coming towards him. He just looks at me, first in the eyes then looking down and up again.

"God.." he whispers but I hear it. He starts walking closer to me and stops when he stands very close. "You look...good" he says it almost comes out as a whisper.

"Thank you much, Mr. Celtic. You don't look so bad yourself." I say. "So what are we cooking?" I say walking past him and over to the stove. He walks beside me and look at the differents pans.