Destined

Special Friends

"Here we are." Mari declared when we arrived in front of the door to my condo. "I'll see you in a bit. I'll just wash up." He said while playfully rubbing his thumb on the back of my hand.

"Okay. Sure. I'll wash up too. We stink. Haha." I joked to distract myself from his touch. Good thing he laughed at my comment too.

He then carefully let go of my hand and went to his condo next door.

I ran to my bathroom to take a quick shower.

After the shower, I put on sweatpants and a hoodie. I combed my hair then I just let it dry on its own.

When I'm done, I proceeded to my kitchen to prep for the sardine pasta. Good thing it will just take at least 20 minutes to cook this.

I was sauteing the ingredients when the doorbell rang.

I quickly opened the door then ran back to the kitchen.

"Mari, come in! Make yourself at home. I'm almost done." I called out.

He entered and followed me to the kitchen.

"Hmmmm..I can smell it already." He said. "I brought wine." I glanced at him and he smiled. I just smiled back.

Damn. Why does he look so gorgeous in his hoodie and casual shorts? I must look like a mess.

I turned my back to him so I can focus on what I'm cooking. "Make yourself at home. This'll be ready in a bit."

"Can I help?" Mari asked while walking towards me in the kitchen.

I looked back at him. "Uhm, you can set up the plates?" I asked.

"Good idea." He said.

He got the plates and utensils then set it up on my dining table. He found the wine glasses too and started pouring the wine.

Moments later, I joined him and served our dinner.

"Alright. Bon apetite." He remarked. "This looks and smells yummy, Eli. Hmmm." He smelled the dish before tasting it.

"It tastes yummy too you know?" I said proudly. This is one of the first dishes I learned so I know I did well.

"Wow. Eli, this is sooo goooood!" His compliment made me feel good about myself.

I smiled.  "I told you. I already perfected that recipe since its one of the first dishes I learned."

I watched him eat. He is definitely enjoying it because he got himself a second serving.

We ate comfortably together and chatted about the dance class. I thanked him for introducing me to the class and to his other friends. I really enjoyed their company.

"So.." he started. "How are you liking life here so far?"

"Well, it's definitely better than I expected so far..I mean, I didn't think I would make friends honestly." I stopped eating and took a deep breath. "I left because I was trying to move on from something." I looked down. Trying to control my emotions.

He probably noticed my change of mood. "Hey..It's fine. You don't need to tell me if you're not comfortable." He held my hand and looked me in the eyes. "Just know that I'm always here for you okay?"

For a few minutes we just sat there doing nothing but looking at each other. He held both my hands now and his thumb is again rubbing the back of my hands.

He is trying to calm me down. Slowly my breathing became normal.

I cleared my throat and slowly pulled my hand back. "Uhmm..thank you. I'm fine, I just haven't talked about this to anyone but Mitch. Maybe I was just uneasy."