Trauma

Part 13 "Hey There, Stranger"

Someone knocked on my door. A strange sense of deja vu came to me.

I opened my door to find someone unexpected. No, It wasn't Jack. 

"Hey sis." 

"Rick..? What are you doing here?" I said as I ushered him inside.

"Just wanted to check in, See how you are doing." Rick smiled as he hugged me.

"Well, good. I missed you. It gets a little lonely here living alone." I said as I hugged back.

Rick tutted his tongue as he checked the refrigerator. 

"Is this only food you have? No wonder you are so skinny! That's it. We are going out for groceries."

I forced a smile. "That's not really necessary. I shop online and the food will be here in a few days."

"But you don't have any right now. What will you eat for dinner?" Rick said, crossing his arms. Sometimes he really did act like a dad.

"I eat dinner with a friend. So there's nothing you have to be worried about."

Rick's eyes bulged out. "You made a friend?!" He half shouted.

"Yes. Is that really that surprising?" I said like it was insulting, but the truth was it was really surprising to me, even.

"Ooh. How did you guys meet?" Rick asked, his eyes sparkling.

"He moved in next door and passed around the food he made. He's a really good cook. He asked me to eat dinner with him every day and tell him whether the food was good for his cookbook or not and I said Yes." I explained with a smile.

Rick's eyes immediately narrowed. "Hold up a second. He? As he is an opposite gender to you?"

"Yeah. He is male. The opposite of Female. Do we need to make you take basic biology lessons again?" I said, chuckling.

"I want to meet him." Rick said as he crossed his arms.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." I said as I averted my eyes from his, making my way to the living room.

"Why? I want to meet the guy." Rick pressed.

"It'll be way weird. I mean it's not like we are that close of a friend." I said.

Rick scoffed. "Yeah right. You guys eat dinner together every day. I wouldn't be surprised if you guys were dating...Wait. Are you?"

"No!" I said, jumping off the couch.

"That overreaction...You ARE dating him!!" Rick said, pointing an accusing finger at me.

"We are NOT dating!" I said in frustration. 

"Then let me meet him!" Rick said, smiling mischievously.

"I have to ask him. If he says no, that's it. You are not going to bother me about it." Why did I forget he was such a pain in the ass? Seriously.

"Fine. Go ahead and ask him. We might be able to have dinner together tonight." Rick said.

I groaned. I really hoped Jack would say no.