Lunchtime Crush

Chapter 3

After a long day of work and strong sales of custom bouquets--with the weekend and the hope of "getting action" fast approaching--I'd staggered my way to Penny's apartment exhausted, with Anna's advice to join the gym still ringing in my ears.

My first attempt at hot yoga had been a challenging but often thrilling experience, so it only seemed natural to continue the adventure by getting a membership. And yet...here I was, sprawled out on Penny's couch at seven p.m., with an array of snacks spread around me, as I made a mess of her otherwise tidy apartment.

I had long been known as a fan of both savoury and sweet, which explained why I was making sandwiches with potato chips as the "bread," and chocolate-covered peanuts intermingled with marshmallows as the filling. This was my tenth such sandwich.

Just as I took another crunchy bite, the apartment door flew open, and Penny struggled inside with a large bag of groceries. She froze when she saw me laid out like that, surrounded by snacks...half-eaten chip sandwich in hand.

"Uhh...hi" she said.

I finished chewing and smiled. "Hey!"

"Didn't you get my text that we're having salmon for dinner?'

I laid a napkin on the coffee table, before carefully setting down the tasty chip sandwich. "I saw your text and it sounded pretty good. I even started chopping the asparagus." I pointed to the nearby kitchen counter, where a cutting board was scattered with asparagus pieces. "But then I remembered there was a half-eaten bag of those thick-cut crinkle chips," I went on. "Oh, and some leftover marshmallows; from that time I made s'mores last week." Penny slowly nodded. "The next thing I knew I was lying on the couch, enjoying all these snacks and watching a show about an animated horse who's a washed up sitcom star." I shook my head. "I don't even know how I'm already three episodes in. I think I blacked out."

Penny set the groceries on the counter, before slowly advancing to the couch. Ever so gently she lifted a bag of cheese puffs off the couch, setting it on the table before taking a seat beside me. "Lina..." she said, "you need to tell me what's going on now."

I could feel the truth bubbling underneath the surface, but I couldn't let it out before finishing my chocolate-covered-peanut chip sandwich. So I did. "It was weird..." I said, grabbing a bag of cookies and clutching it against my chest like a pillow. "Ever since Ben flew out of the picture, guys just became these grey faceless blobs that were totally irrelevant to my existence. And yet today... Antonio comes out of the gym and I realize...he's not a grey blob."

Penny nodded in agreement. "He is very un-blob-like."

"And it's not like I have a crush on him, because first of all...I've talked to him for all of two minutes. And second of all..." I frowned. "No wait, there isn't a second. But there is a 'holy crap,' as in...holy crap: he's the first guy I've had a conversation with since Ben."

Penny's eyes widened in amazement. "That's big."

"So the fact that he has 'first conversation' status?" I went on. "That not only gives Antonio a face beyond the blob, but it reminds me that the last guy who had a face was Ben; i.e. Ben who was awful and the worst." I sighed. "I'm not ready for guys to have faces again...hence this party platter of snacks."

Penny reached under the table, and what she found was a bag of mysterious-looking nachos. "What the heck are these?"

My face lit up. "Oh yeah! So I not only blacked out when I was watching that horse cartoon, but I also blacked out when I was on the way home, and during the black out I apparently went wild at the convenience store." I pointed at the bag. "Those are three-dimensional nacho chips."