The Loneliest Stars

Chapter 17

She didn't know what had possessed her to invite him over for dinner. Maybe it was the tired look on his handsome face, he looked more brooding and withdrawn than he usually did.

When he got closer she saw the dark circles and the dull shine to his pretty green eyes, he looked dreadful. She wanted to reach up and cup his face in her hand, feel his stubbly cheek and make him tell her what was wrong.

They were at school and she couldn't do that instead she settled for inviting him over. Food was her language of care, when she wanted to take care of someone it usually involved feeding them.

Her stomach had been in knots the whole afternoon. She had set her students up with some worksheets and looked out of the window, you couldn't see the football field from her classroom and she sighed partly in disappointment and partly in relief. Her students wouldn't see her moon over the football coach, that could only be a good thing.

Natalia had woken up at an ungodly hour that morning, sleep evading her for some reason. She got up and marinated some chicken, in a homemade jerk sauce she kept in a jar that she had made in the evening before, intending to satisfy a craving but she had never got round to it, instead choosing a quick dinner of grilled cheese and soup.

When she got home she took a quick shower, washing the sticky heat of the day off her. She got dressed in leggings and an off the shoulder sweater, she spritzed her hair with an oil mist to reactivate the curls and finished off with brushing her brows, mascara and a tinted lip balm. Things she could take off easily later with one swipe of the makeup remover.

She made a spiced vegetable pilau rice that she had learnt from Lima's mother; since she didn't have time to make rice and peas from scratch and also prepare the chicken.

She had reserved some marinade from the jar, that she heated up and made into a basting sauce. She also put together a quick salad and fried some plantain. You couldn't have jerk chicken without any plantain it was sacrilege. For dessert, there was rum and raisin ice cream that Natalia always kept in the fridge.

She was so engrossed in cooking, Natalia didn't have a chance to get nervous about being alone with Gabe in her home. She was just setting the table when her doorbell rang. She didn't get many visitors so the noise made her jump.

Gathering herself with a deep cleansing breath she opened the door and greeted the man on the other side. He had a bottle of wine in one hand and flowers in the other, and a lopsided half smile on his lips. He still looked tired but there was a fresh tint to his skin, the kind that you can only get from a recent hot shower. He was dressed in a soft looking cotton white shirt and dark blue jeans that clung to his muscular thighs.

He leaned in slightly and Natalia stepped forward into his embrace, on tip-toes, her arms going around his torso, tightly. His forehead fell into the crock of her neck with a long, deep sigh. She felt his body relax into hers.

"Come in, dinner's ready."

She was barefoot, so he followed her in, after taking his shoes off. Natalia was impressed, she had been internally debating asking him to do so and weighing up how awkward it would be. Wearing shoes indoors was one of her pet peeves.

"Smells good in here," he complimented. "Can I help with anything?"

"No, just take a seat. And thank you for the flowers," Natalia said with a backward smile in his direction as she put the flowers in water and dished up dinner to put on the table.

He blushed, "They're what I could do on short notice."

"And they're lovely, I love tulips," she said taking a seat opposite him when all the dishes were on the table. "I hope you like Jamaican food."