Same Time Next Year

Chapter 16 - Year 4

As I follow Elle into the kitchen, I try not to let my eyes drift down her body to watch the sway of her hips as she walks in front of me.  Tried not to let my mind wander back to the last time we were in this house together.  I had no desire to fall back into our old ways.  Okay, so the desire is definitely there, I have a hard time seeing Elle and not imagining being with her again, but in my head I know that we can't jump back into bed together.  We have to figure out how to make something work between us long term.  Either we're together or we're not, but either way, we have to figure out how to co-exist so I can quit making excuses to skip out on family events and get my Mom off my back.  Mom will absolutely flip out if I make an excuse to miss one more holiday.

I stop short once we reach the kitchen and I see the countertops covered in real food, not junk food.  Like ingredients for a meal, the kind you chop and season and cook over a stove.  When Elle said she was about to fix supper, I thought she meant she was going to make herself a sandwich or heat something up in the microwave.  Other than the times she was helping my Mom, I don't think I had ever seen Elle in the kitchen for more than a few minutes at a time.  "You can cook?"  I ask suspiciously.

Elle shot me one of her glares and I had to hold back a smirk.  God I have missed those glares. "Yes, don't look at me like that's so hard to believe. I'm 22 years old and I've been living on my own for almost 4 years now. I'm a little more grown up than when we were around each other all the time."

"You're right. It's been too long."  I answered, trying to keep the regret out of my voice, not wanting to change the light mood we have right now.  It made me wonder how many other things had changed about her that I didn't know. 

I watched in silence as Elle started pulling bowls and utensils out of the cabinets and the drawers like she knew exactly what she was doing.  She handed me a knife, cutting board, and some vegetables as she rattled off what I needed to do to get them prepared.  We worked in silence as she started heating a pan on the stove, throwing something in it every once in awhile.  Once she got things going and was just stirring it occasionally, she turned to me and started talking, "Cooking has become sort of a stress reliever for me. I used to play video games when I needed to clear my mind and shut off my thoughts but now that feels too much like work.  Instead of just letting my mind go while I play now, I'm always thinking about what could be done better in the game or what I need to do in the game I'm working on.  A friend got me started cooking and I realized that did the same thing for me."

I couldn't stop myself from asking, "Boyfriend?"

Elle went on without answering my question. I wanted the answer but I knew better than to push her right now. "When I'm making something new I need to concentrate just enough that my mind clears of all the other junk running through it and I'm only thinking of what I'm cutting or how much I need to measure.  Now I really enjoy it.  It's been fun to try new recipes and Lee loves that I always offer to feed him when we're together."

"I know what you mean, I had to find a new stress relief also. Once football was done and I didn't have that release from the competition and the physical activity I started running more and more.  Once law school started, I didn't have time to put in all the miles I needed to clear my mind."

Elle was reaching for something in an upper cupboard, standing on her tip toes in her bare feet, as she asked, "So what is it?" 

I was busy watching the side of her shirt ride up exposing the skin of her stomach and had momentarily lost track of our conversation.  "Hmm?"

Elle stopped reaching and turned around to look at me, asking again, "What do you do for stress relief now?"

Her eyes on me pulled me out of the thoughts running through my head.  "I don't want to say."