The Unforeseen

Compromise

Chapter 4

Ace shut the door and sat down in the chair across from mine. "So, what kind of deal are we making?" He asked, putting a bite in his mouth.

"I would like you to leave this town." I said. "I don't know why you've stayed as long as you have, but you are disrupting my work schedule. I can't pay you anything, but I'm willing to prepare a few meals for you and your crew."

Ace swallowed. "That seems fair. But my ship is still being repaired."

"That's fine. Just swear that you'll leave when it's finished." I said.

"It should be done in two days time. We'll be gone by then." He told me.

I nodded. "Good." I stood up. "Now, since that's settled, I'll just be going."

Ace stood up. "Wait. Why don't you stay? We can be a pretty fun bunch. Especially during meals."

I shook my head. "No thank you. I have to go to bed early so I can get up tomorrow and start work."

Ace stepped toward me. "Please. I insist."

I sighed. "Alright." He opened the door and we stepped inside.

I expected wild and rowdy, but instead we walked into a room filled with laughter and high spirits. When they saw us, the men hollered.

"There they are! We were starting to wonder what happened to you!" Phil said.

"Sorry, fellas. Had some stuff we needed to talk about." Ace told them, taking a seat on the floor. "By the way, we'll be leaving in two days. The minute the ship is ready, we're gone. But we'll leaving with a few meals for the road."

The crew fell silent as Ace spoke. Then, they all turned to look at me. "You cooking?" One asked. I nodded. "Then that's fine with me! This stew is amazing!"

I tried to hide a smile. I didn't know why, but I was happy to hear that they like it.

The rest of the meal went smoothly, mainly because I just melted into the wall and stayed out of the conversations. When the majority of them had fallen asleep, I announced that I would be leaving.

"I'll help you carry everything back." Ace offered.

"Oh, thank you." I responded, surprised.

As Ace and I walked through the town, the quarter moon high in the night sky, Ace cleared his throat.

"I don't get it." He said.

"Get what?"

"If you wanted to talk, then you could have just come over. You didn't have to make a huge meal for me and my crew. So why did you?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I just felt kind of rude if I showed up unannounced."

"So, the solution you came up with was to make dinner, and then show up unannounced?"

I looked at him. "Yeah. Basically."

Ace chuckled. "Alright then." He said as we reached my front porch.

I opened my door and slipped inside. "I can take those now." He nodded and handed then over wordlessly.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He said as he turned and started to walk away.

"Great." I said sarcastically.

As I walked back to my kitchen to clean the dishes, I thought about tonight. It certainly was an interesting evening.