Elevator Talks

Chapter 2

"Woah!" Matthew exclaimed as we walked through the door of my 2000 square foot open layout home. When you walk in, you see a newly remodeled living room that flowingly leads to the kitchen where there is a silver granite breakfast nook at the beginning. I have sparkling appliances so clear I could see myself in them. It was big enough to hold everything I own, but small enough so it still felt warm when I live on my own.
"What? Something wrong?" I asked him.
"No, the exact opposite. This house is, well, amazing!" He announced as though the whole world were listening to his words.
"Well thank you." I replied modestly. I don't want to seem cocky, but I already know my house is quite amazing.
"This must have taken a lot of care and hard work." He noticed as he looked around at the particular placement of items throughout the house.
"Well, yeah. Plus a lot of planning. Almost every item in here has some kind of family meaning behind it."
He looked around in amazement, not yet having taken his shoes or his jacket off. He looked like he wanted to roam around and explore every square inch of this house to see if there were undiscovered secrets. It was like a castle to him; he was like a little kid in a candy store.
"Go ahead and make yourself comfortable." I offered. "Can I get you anything to drink or eat?"
"Water maybe? Please." He shyly answered as he slowly removed his shoes and unzipped his jacket to hang it from the nearest hook on the door.
I go into the kitchen to get him some water. I grab myself a Dr. Pepper and crack it open to pour it in a cup with some ice. I go back into the room and Matthew is still standing up, by the door, looking afraid to move.
"Come on in and sit down." I plop down on the couch and begin to sip on my soda as I grab the remote and flick on the television.
Matthew walks slowly toward the couch and sits down across from me and sits very politely with feet on the floor. Just then, he looks up with a surprised face. He takes a second to recover from his shock and then leans forward, grabs his water, and settles in to watch an episode of Bones with me.
I look over and he really seems to be engaged in the show because I haven't seen his eyes stray from the screen since I started playing it. I can't stop thinking. He never went into detail as to why he got kicked out of his house. What if he stole? What if he never helped out? What if he didn't have a job and wasn't able to help out financially?
I turn my attention back to the television and finish watching the show regardless of being distracted. Once the show was over, Law and Order came on the television and it was clear that he had seen that before because he watched almost more intently than Bones. I got up from the couch and headed into the kitchen to cook myself some dinner.
"Would you like anything?" I yelled into the other room where Matthew still sat, watching the television closely to ensure that he didn't miss anything.
He jumped as my words broke his concentration. "What?" He exclaimed as soon as he was able to take his eyes off the television.
"Dinner. What would you like for dinner?" I repeated, slowly and louder this time, walking around the corner to look at him and see what he was doing.
"Oh, sure. Sorry about that. I guess I was just a little entertained." He looked at me and responded politely. "Maybe some chicken?"
"Okay." I said as I nodded my head to inform him that I had heard. I turned around and started back to the kitchen swiftly.
I pull out the cast-iron frying pan from my bottom right cupboard. I grab the chicken out of the freezer and wrap it in some paper towels and put it in the microwave for about ten minutes or so, just enough to defrost it. I grabbed the pan and put it on the stove as I reached over to grab the tongs I planned to use to flip the chicken when it was deliciously golden brown on the first side.
When I pull the chicken out of the microwave, it feels completely different than it had when I pulled it out of the freezer. It was soft, almost like a pig's nose. I unwrap the paper towels and take it out of the seran wrap it was stored in the freezer in. I plop the chunks of chicken on my cutting board I had already used this morning for cutting a piece of cheese for my omelette. I sliced it into decent sized cubes, just small enough to be classified as bite size, and picked up the cutting board. I brought it over to the stove where I already had my pan preheated on medium high heat and dumped the chunks inside. I threw the cutting board in the sink and walked over to the pantry where I grabbed out some spices to make the chicken taste better.
I walked back over to the stove where the chicken was and sprinkled on a little bit of garlic powder, onion powder, chicken seasoning, and even a little bit of minced garlic that I managed to find in the fridge. Once I could hear the sizzling of the chicken, I set the timer for ten minutes and walked out with timer in hand to go socialize with my new guest.
"Hey, how's the show going?" I asked, trying to sound interested.
"Pretty well." He responded without hesitation this time.
"That's good to hear. There's about 20 minutes left until dinner is finished." I informed him as his face lit up.
"Sweet. Thank you!" He exclaimed, acting as though he was going to give me a similar embrace to the one we had earlier this morning.
"No problem." I answered as I shot back a smile, turned around, and walked slowly back into the kitchen to check on the chicken even though the timer hadn't gone off yet because there was still a few minutes left.
I walk over to the stove and what I smell is delicious as ever. It makes me so hungry right this very second. I lift up one of the pieces with the tongs and look at it. It is golden brown, just as I was hoping for to I quickly flipped them over and placed the tongs back down.
"Hmm I wonder if I have anything to go with this in the fridge?" I wondered to myself as I briskly walked from the stove over to the fridge and flung it open.
I found mashed potatoes and some leftover carrots from my dinner I had last night. I pull them out and place them on the counter next to the fridge. I reach into the top cupboard and grab out a few bowls and dump out the contents of the containers into the bowls. I grab them and walk over to the microwave, stick them in, and set the timer to 2 minutes.
The chicken started making a popping sound so I decide it would be a good idea to go over and check on it. I cut open a small piece and the inside is cooked all the way through, so I shut the heat off and walk back over to the microwave where a beep began to sound.
"DINNER'S READY!" I yell loudly, loud enough that I had a grown man at my heels not even seconds later.
I grab down two plates as Matthew goes and sits down at the table. I dish out his first, and then mine. I gave him a bit more since it was something he asked for and he looked as though he hadn't eaten in awhile.
I grab the plates from the counter and bring them to the table, placing them down next to the glasses of water Matthew had brought in from the other room with him.
"Enjoy!" I said to him as he lifted up his glass to toast with me and then dug into the juicy chicken and succulent mashed potatoes and crunchy carrots.