One-Shots ✧ COLIFER

When Chicken Tikka gets steamy

Jen's POV

"The MasalaWala, can I help you?"

"Eh— yes." I quickly dropped my keys on the counter top and my bag on the ground, still a little out of breath from running up and down the stairs. "I'll have the... Chicken Tikka Roll, the Fresh Garlic Naan and..." 

I ran my finger up and down the side dishes, feeling my stomach rumbling as I tried to decide what else I was going to get. "The Basmati rice, please."

"Okay," the employee said, sounding rather worn-out and annoyed— but I couldn't really blame him, since it was almost midnight. They stopped delivery at eleven forty-five, so I barely made it in time.

"Will that be all?"

"Eh..." I bit my lip, skimming all the other dishes on the menu. I hadn't eaten anything since eleven o'clock that morning, so for a split second I considered to just take everything in the menu... but that would just leave me with more food than I could ever eat.

Only, at this point I felt like I could eat an entire horse and still be hungry.

"I'll have the Hakka Chilli Chicken as well, please," I said, and then I slammed the menu shut before I would do something stupid.

"That's coming right up. Can I have your address, please?"

I passed him my address and when I ended the call, I finally pulled out my jacket. I'd been at meetings the entire day, because there was a possibility I was directing a new movie in a few months. In my excitement I'd forgotten to eat, which left me hungry until midnight.

I put all my stuff away and then I finally plopped down on the couch, feeling tired but satisfied. The living room was more or less box-less now, which was quite the progress in comparison to two weeks ago.

I leaned back, staring up at the ceiling; I didn't hear a single sound except for my own breathing. There were no little footsteps on the hardwood floors, or Colin playing soft tunes on his guitar next to me, or some toy making noise in the background.

The house was completely silent, and I was all on my own.

I dropped Asher off at Jamie's the previous day, since I knew I was going to be busy today. He was staying there another night, and Colin was only supposed to get back from Ireland in a week. Right before Asher's birthday.

I bent over to grab my phone and got a ridiculous smile on my face when I called him on FaceTime. It took him a while to answer, but when he did, he was grinning and holding his phone close to his face— way too close. I couldn't see anything but his eyes and his forehead.

"Hey, stranger," he said, looking down on the screen to see me.

"Hey," I said, getting comfortable on the couch. I balanced my phone against one of the cushions of the couch and lay on my belly, leaning my chin on my hand. "Dude, move back. I love your eyes, but I can't see your face."

"You're quite demanding, aren't you?" He got even closer to the camera, his right eye covering the entire screen now.

"Oh, whatever," I sighed. "You're like a five-year-old. Hey, have you seen your parents today?"

"Yeah, we went up to visit them. I took Evan and Millie with me. I'll tell you what, they were over the moon when I told them that they can come to New York with me in a few weeks."

I immediately felt a jolt of excitement when he said that, because I couldn't wait to see them again. Asher had never even met them, and they didn't know that they both had a room in the new house.