Personal Chef

Chapter 8

It was such a relief when Kat finally went home to LA. She'd made at least one snarky comment about every meal I'd prepared.

And the desserts on New Year's Eve? She'd flipped out about them.

Ben and I had just set the mini cupcakes on the table when she came rushing over to me.

"What is this!?" she asked loudly, causing those nearby to turn their heads towards us.

"I thought some sweets would be a nice complement to all the savory finger foods," I said as I felt my entire body tense up.

"I hope you don't expect Shawn to pay for these since we did not ask for them. Your job was to follow directions!"

Shawn walked over right as she was saying this. "Shit, Kat. I forgot to tell you that I asked Chelsea to make dessert. Totally slipped my mind."

He then grabbed a cupcake and popped it in his mouth. "Delicious!" he exclaimed after chewing and swallowing it.

Kat looked at him and then looked at me. She turned on her high heel and went to the bar.

"Thanks," I whispered to Shawn.

He just winked and grabbed two more cupcakes while Kat wasn't looking.

So yes, it was a nice to have her gone.

"Tell me the game plan," I said to Shawn as he sat at the counter eating a bowl of vegan black bean soup several days after Kat's departure. "Are you eating carbs? What am I aiming for this week?"

"This is fantastic soup," he said. "And I guess low carb but not zero carb. I want some carbs."

"Gotcha."

"Ben asked me for your number," he said as he stood up to wash the bowl. "I told him I couldn't give it to him without your permission."

"Oh. You can give it to him."

Shawn quirked an eyebrow. "You're interested?"

"He seems nice, though it's not like I got to know him at all at the party."

"He's a good guy. He just got out of a really serious relationship, but that's probably not a big deal. Right?"

If it wasn't a big deal, why would Shawn bring it up? I wasn't interested in being someone's rebound. Was he trying to give me a warning?

I changed the subject by running a couple meal ideas by him.

~~~~~~

Several weeks passed before Shawn brought Ben up again.

"I talked to Ben today," he said as I was cleaning up after dinner.

"How's he doing?" I asked.

"You'd know better than I would. He told me you two have been out several times."

I couldn't really put a finger on what was different, but Shawn's tone changed slightly when talking about Ben.

"We've only been on two dates."

Both dates had gone well. The first had been a coffee date on a Saturday. We'd sat at a coffee shop a couple blocks from Shawn's condo until it was time for me to go to work. We'd talked about the very basic components of our lives: work, school, family.