Domestic Bliss

Chapter 2

A month into their new living arrangement, Teri came home carrying a bag of groceries. Her employer had again had her running ridiculous errands and she was planning on washing the day away with a gourmet meal. She entered her favorite room in the condo, the gorgeous gourmet kitchen to find her new roommate leaning against the counter eating a bowl of cereal.

"Really?" she asked as she set her bag on the counter.

"What?" he asked around a mouthful. "It's food, isn't it?"

She rolled her eyes and started to lay out her purchases. "How'd your audition go?"

"Meh," he mumbled around a mouthful.

She sighed. "Seriously with the cereal?" She put her hands on her hips and looked him over. "Come to think of it, you keep almost no food. Do you ever you know cook?"

"Not if I can help it," he waved at her stove with his spoon. "I burn water."

"So you eat cereal? How did you keep up your energy when you played football?"

"I don't always eat cereal. There's take out. Generally a lot of take out. And when I played football we got meals during the season and off season, well Titus' Aunt Pearl."

"Oh," Teri chuckled. "Well okay, Aunt Pearl is pretty good. But sweetie," and Teri knew she probably sounded like Aunt Pearl or maybe Dean's mom, not that she'd met his parents, she was just guessing. "You are never gonna survive living off take out and cereal. It's not healthy and you're an actor."

"Well, I don't see what options I have," he shrugged.

Teri looked at her food, well she was cooking anyway and recipes always made more than she could eat. If she could get him to kick in for food, then she wouldn't worry about leftovers.

"I happen to be an excellent cook. I'm cooking for myself anyway, why don't I just cook for both of us? If you'd kick in for the groceries, I'd be happy to do it. Starting tonight?"

Dean immediately put the cereal bowl down. "Real food?"

"Real food. Not quite Aunt Pearl, but I bet I beat your best take out."

"Then you're on, Hatcher."

She half expected him to wander off while she cooked, but instead he stood on the opposite side of the kitchen and watched her work. He didn't get in her way, didn't say anything, just quietly observed. Once he got something down from a high shelf for her when she asked, but otherwise, he just hung out.

"It's almost done," Teri said as she checked on the fish. "Can you set the table?"

"Wow, the table, just like we're grownups," Dean grinned at her, but grabbed two forks out of the silverware drawer. That was the drawer he used most in the kitchen after all.

"Can you open that bottle of wine I bought too?"

"Sure," but Dean hesitated when he picked up the bottle. He turned it over and then looked on the rack where she kept her small collection of wines.

"You do know how to open one right?" She asked, not understanding his hesitation.

It was his turn to roll his eyes. "Of course, I do but . . ." he pulled one of the other bottles out. "Just a suggestion, but I think this one would go better with what you made."

Teri blinked at him. "Uh, sure, why not?"

He grinned at her, grabbed the corkscrew and went through to the dining area next to her kitchen.

Over a dinner of perfectly prepared salmon topped with a tomato relish and a rice pilaf, Teri had to admit that his choice of wines was spot on.

"This is amazing," Dean said, trying to slow down his pace of dinner. He hadn't had food this good in months, but he could hear his mother admonishing him to slow down to show courtesy to the cook.

"Thank you," Teri blushed. "I'm impressed with the wine suggestion. How did you know?"

"Oh,"it was Dean's turn to blush. "Min- my ex and I took a wine class. " He made a face. "It was her idea but she was bored and more interested in getting drunk. I found it fascinating. I should take another one. Though the wineries aren't exactly down the road here."

"Huh." Teri said. "You know, I should broaden my knowledge in that area too. Maybe we can find one to take together, split the cost?"

He shrugged. "Might be fun, plus you know all the food stuff, you can help me."

"Yeah," she grinned. They continued to eat and Teri reflected on the different side to her new roommate. He'd come across as naïve and helpless as Tiffany had described him, with a big helping of pretty dumb jock. But his food choices aside, he'd shown he had hidden, sophicated depths to him. She'd wondered why he watched her cook, now she was beginning to see why. Another guy might flaunt his wine knowledge to get her into bed. But Dean had a skill that he hadn't gotten a chance to practice and he just wanted to do it. So he'd watched her cook because he was curious as to what they were eating and made an informed decision. And his agreement to go to a wine class with her was a total buddy thing too. He'd never made a pass at her, not even a half hearted one. She probably wasn't his type.

That was a good thing though. She needed a roommate not a romance. And okay, she liked taking care of people. Dean really needed taking care of. He was like a puppy, he was really appreciative of her efforts, but instead of making unwanted advances, he smiled at her and told her she was awesome. She liked that. And his money didn't hurt. But the wine class did seem fun, lots of people she knew would be more like his ex, more interested in the wine. She and Dean would be interested in the discussion and that was pretty cool. Maybe he wasn't such a dumb jock after all.