Like Crashing Waves

House of Burrito

Jonathan

"Dude, I'm telling you, she wants me."

I sat across my brother in our Mom's kitchen, eating a microwaved burrito amongst the varied takeouts on the counter.

Mom went on a trip last night, telling us the barest minimum.

"Nature is calling me." She'd hurriedly said in a flurry of scarves as she went out the door, bags in hand.
"I'll be back soon!"

I told you guys.
My Mom is weird.

So now we're stuck house-sitting,

indefinitely.

"That's exactly what you said 5 minutes ago."

"Yeah, cause what we have is real, man."

"You keep saying that, like it'll make it true."

"But it is."

"You always think everyone is in love with you!" Ivan pushed off the table and brought the dirty dishes to the sink.

"Just because Cara was nice to you, doesn't mean she's into you. For all we know, she could just be naturally flirty."

"Well, is she?" I asked, doing the same "she is your patient after all, you tell me."

"Dude, I can't tell you that." He answered, giving me a dirty look, then pointing at the rinsed dishes with his chin. "Doctor-Patient confidentiality, remember?"

Following his silent command, I'd started loading the dishwasher while he wiped down the counter.

Silence fell on us as we focused on the tasks at hand.

But for real, come on...That can't be all there is.

I contemplated for a moment, before telling Ivan about what happened last night.

"We slept together- Cara and I..."

"WAIT, WHAT?! You slept with my patient? Someone I'm seeing, and you didn't think of opening with that?! Wow."

I chuckled.

"No, it wasn't like that." I said turning around, wiping my hands on the back of my shirt. "We fell asleep on the couch. Relax, nothing sexual happened."

"Wait, I thought...how did you find her? I never gave you her details! And what did I tell you about engaging my patients?!"

I didn't know how to react to this.
"Dude, chill out! Even Mom isn't like this!" I said still chuckling.

Irritated, Ivan faced me and playfully flung the kitchen rag at my chest.

"Cause Mom's a hippy get over it!"

I caught the rag and threw it right back at his face.

"So? How did this," Ivan made a show of gesturing at all of me "happen?"

"What, you mean with Cara?"

"Yes! Yes! When did you guys get so close?"

Should I tell him? He's probably gonna flip, but okay...

"She's my nextdoor neighbor."

Ivan looked taken aback, shock evident in his eyes.

"No, wait. No! No, no way!"

"Yes! Yes, way!" I said smirking "she's Victoria."

I nodded at him, waiting for him to fully digest the news.  "But you - and Cara? You're sure she's Victoria?"