Mitchell left for Chicago yesterday, and Ben was left feeling pretty bummed out. Last night, I decided to take advantage of an empty house (Brad is in D.C. for work), and make him a fancy dinner to cheer him up.
After spending my entire lunch break looking up recipes online, I decided to go half-decadent and half-healthy: spicy lamb burgers in whole wheat pita with yogurt sauce, oven fries, and a green salad with a lemon vinaigrette. When he arrived, the burgers had just gone into the pan, and the fries had been roasting for about 20 minutes.
“It smells amazing in here,” he said, brandishing a bottle of rosé and giving me a lingering kiss.
“Let’s hope it tastes as good as it smells,” I said.
I had set the picnic table in the backyard with a nice tablecloth, candles and a sunflower in a vase. Ben played around with Spotify on my laptop while I cooked.
“You better not be filling up my Spotify with sensitive indie rock!” I yelled from the kitchen.
“You need something to balance out all the Katy Perry and Pink!” he yelled back.
When the food was done, I shooed him off my laptop (and vowed to unstar all of the sensitive indie rock he’d added to my library), and ushered him outside. Luckily, the food did taste as good as it smelled. Ben seemed pleased, but still bummed out.
“How are you doing?” I asked, mid-fry.
“I’m okay,” he said, unconvincingly. “I just really thought Mitchell was going to stay, and that he and Ursula would get back together, and everything would go back to the way it’s supposed to be.”
“Maybe that’s not the way it’s supposed to be,” I said gently. He nodded, in a way that said he knew I was right, but wasn’t happy about it.
“So I have a week off before I start the new job,” he began. “I was thinking of going out to Chicago. Do you think you could come?”
“I could probably swing the weekend, with maybe an extra day? I definitely can’t take a whole week off with less than a month’s notice. Plus, our cable special is due that week, and we’ll probably have a few late nights leading up to it.”
Ben looked disappointed, but didn’t push it. Suddenly, his cell phone, which was out on the table, vibrated. He picked it up, read and sighed.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Ursula.” Then he began reading the text out loud. “Would it be messed up for me to go on a date with Neil? He won’t stop asking, and he’s starting to wear me down.”
“Oh dear,” I said.
“Yeah. Remember when Mitchell said that he wasn’t worried because Neil didn’t have a chance?” I nodded. “That was pretty hilarious, huh?”
After dinner, we moved into the living room. I was debating whether or not to start putting the moves on Ben, when he interrupted my thoughts.
“K.? Would it be okay if we just went to sleep tonight? I just don’t think I’m up for it right now.”
I suspected that I could have changed his mind, but I didn’t try. His best friend just moved across the country, and clearly he needs time to process that. For once, I didn’t even take it personally! For the record, I really don’t think Ursula should date Neil. That just has “messy” written all over it.
Posted at 7:01 AM
Find your date here
Who says you have to be Miami to have a South Beach night out? Say adios to cabin fever with these vacation-inspired dates.