Matt and Sarah

Matt Can't Cook

Matthew Harrison Brady had a brilliant mind. He was the top of all his classes. He was on his way to becoming a successful lawyer. He could speak to hundreds, thousands, without a single stutter. He had no problem understand the King James Bible and could recite Shakespeare off the top of his head. One thing he struggled with was being a good boyfriend.

It wasn't quite like it sounded. He loved his Sarah with all his heart and he told her so all the time. She was possibly the greatest gift the good Lord had ever given him. It was the doing boyfriend stuff that was difficult. He never knew what type of flowers or chocolates or tampons to get her. His current task was his hardest challenge yet. Making dinner. Cooking had never been a strong suit of his, in fact, he wasn't really sure how he'd managed to not starve before he and Sarah moved in together. But now he was determined to do the proper boyfriend thing and surprise Sarah, who was currently at a class, with dinner.

His first thought was to make spaghetti, something easy, something simple. All he had to do was put the noodles in the water and let them simmer until they looked eatable. However, that didn't seem to be working out. If you could burn spaghetti, he was pretty sure he did. Spaghetti wasn't supposed to be black. The soon-to-be lawyer let out a hefty groan. Running a mock trial? Easy peasy. Making food? This was basically witchcraft.

Plan B, rummage through the cabinet, see what else he could find. Cereal? No, it had to be nicer than that. Toast? No, that was a breakfast thing. Eggs? Still a breakfast thing, why did they only have breakfast foods?

"Ah, shucks." Matt huffed, blowing some hair out of his face. At this point, he was seriously considering the cereal. Sarah would be home in the next half hour, he needed something he could make fast. He opened one more cabinet, his fingers, toes and hairs crossed. Then he saw it. A smile filtered onto his face. Jackpot.

Sarah Clarke entered the small apartment quietly, hoping not to wake her boyfriend if he was sleeping. It was 8:46 and many days Matt went to bed at 8:00 sharp and was out by 8:10. It almost came as a shock to her to find him puttering around in the kitchen, a proud grin on his face.

"Matt... I'm home, what on Earth are you doing in here?" She asked, setting down her salute and keys on the counter. Matt almost jumped, as if he wasn't expecting there to be a girl in his casa.

"Sarah! You're home! I made dinner!" While she couldn't help but smile at her boyfriend's excitement, Sarah was still a little confused and concerned. First he was up past 8, now he was cooking? Matt didn't cook! Did someone slip something to him? Before she could ask him what he was making, he had grabbed her hand and was leading her over to the table. "M'ah lady," He said smoothly as he pulled out a chair for her, "your fine dinner for tonight!"

Sarah couldn't help but laugh. Sitting before her, on the finest Fiesta Ware plate a college student could afford, was Top Ramen. Matt had made Top Ramen. Into a meal. She looked up at him. He was so excited. Sarah felt a sudden swell of love and appreciation rise up in her heart. She really couldn't believe how truly lucky she was. Matt raised his eyebrow, as if he was asking what she thought.

"I love it!" She manged to say through her laughter. Now Matt was laughing as well. Both of them were shaking uncontrollably, Matt clinging on to the table for dear life and Sarah doubled over her food. It only lasted for about a minute or two but it felt like years before they finally regained themselves. It was enough to make Sarah's whole week.

The ramen really wasn't the best. It was rather dry and there wasn't a lot of taste except for salt. But Sarah couldn't have asked for anything better. Although she did make Matt assist her in eating it.

_____
by aloe-Venezuela