“Another riveting night in the James household,” Alicia muttered to herself. Looking around, she couldn’t help but wonder how she had gotten here. Five years out of college, and all she had to show for it was a nine-to-five desk job—albeit a great-paying one—and an empty apartment. She had never really been close with her family, and all of her school friends had just faded quietly out of her life.
It’s not that she didn’t like her life. She had moved to the city as soon as she started school, and never looked back. Being out of the suburbs was a welcome change for her. There weren’t any material things that she had to go without, either. And even though they might not have been that close, she was friendly enough with her coworkers that if she ever felt the need to go out she had people to fall back on. She was in a city full of people with all the options in the world.
But being successful had come at a price. She’d thought that getting to the right place in life for her career would just make all the other pieces fall into place. She thought that being successful was the be all, end all.
But it wasn’t.
She hadn’t just fallen into a group of friends by being surrounded by coworkers. She hadn’t found some immense happiness in knowing that she had picked the right path for herself. She hadn’t made scores of friends and contacts while climbing her way up the ladder.
And she definitely hadn’t found a family.
But at this point, she was pretty resigned to the fact that her life wasn’t going to change. She wasn’t going to magically find her perfect group of friends, or the man of her dreams, or people she loved so much she could call them a family. At least living alone meant she had plenty of time and money to spend on cooking.
By the time Saturday rolled around, Alicia was rushing to get to cooking class. She had started the classes with a few of her coworkers during a speed dating night, but had really just found that she loved learning new dishes and techniques. Every time a new class opened up she would walk down to the studio and sign up. They were usually filled on a first come, first served basis.
Tonight though, all the spots were filled by the time she got there. Pulling out her cell phone, she realized why. Valentine’s Day.
“I can’t tell what’s worse,” a voice said from behind her, “the fact that neither of us have plans on Valentine’s Day, or the fact that we thought coming to a cooking class would be a good plan.”
“I can top both of those things. I didn’t even realize today was Valentine’s Day,” Alicia moaned. Turning around, the man in front of her seemed oddly familiar. Then again she could have just seen him on the bus.
“Yeah, you win. I’m Matt.”
“Alicia,” she said, holding out a hand. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she somehow knew him. His auburn curls and green eyes were just so memorable. “I’m sorry—do I know you from somewhere?”
“I don’t think so? I just moved here,” he said. “But that being said, do you know of any good places to eat around here that won’t be jam-packed with Valentine’s dates?”
“Is it wrong if I say McDonald’s?” Alicia joked.
“Wow. That is not something I’d expect to hear from a person taking cooking classes,” he teased. Watching Alicia pick up her messenger bag, Matt realized that there was something familiar about her. He had thought it was just that she had one of those faces, with her brown hair and brown eyes, but seeing her smile made him second-guess that.
“Hey, for all you know this is my first cooking class and I’m taking it because I can’t even make Kraft Mac and Cheese. I could be living off of McDonald’s.”
“If you’re living off of McDonald’s then please do share how you’re still normal human-sized,” he gibed.
“I guess I’ll just take that as a compliment,” she said, pausing on the sidewalk outside of the studio. “So most of the fast food places are down there about a block. And there are a couple diners a few streets over.”
“Well I had been hoping you’d come along.”
“Oh,” she said. Come on. What do you have to lose? Just say yes. “Sure.”
