BUTTERFLY FEELINGS

Croque Monsieur Party

  Mael

My phone rings, and I rush in almost catching my legs on the carpet.

"Hey! I'm down at the apartment. I brought some groceries for dinner."

"Okay, I'll open the door for you!"

The front door is slowly pushed open and a head appears,

"Six o'clock sharp! We have an hour to prepare the meal. Come on sir, "I hate to eat cold", get to the kitchen!" she said cheerfully. So cute. Cute? But what's happening to you? Pull yourself together Mael!

"You didn't have to go to the store, we probably have enough food in the fridge...if Leo didn't finish it all yesterday..." he said suddenly panicking.

"I thought making croque monsieurs would be easy and fun, so I bought bread, cheese, and ham."

"That's very nice, thank you! Leo is at the gym, he'll be home soon and Anna is in the shower."

She walked into the main room: our kitchen, living room, dining room, movie theater, and dance floor as we call it.

"All the colors living room... I love it!"

"Yeah, we're not into simplicity here. We've caught the Anna bug I think."

"Have you always lived in Caen?"

"No, we've all lived in Trouville, a little further north, we came here for college. Same region, big change."

"Childhood friend then?"

"Pretty much since birth yes, our parents are friends."

There was a pause, none of us had a clue what to say, I laughed nervously, "Tell me a little about yourself, I'm curious. I need to know you to decide if I can trust you." I try to relax the atmosphere, it does the opposite. I definitely suck at the whole socializing thing.

I can see that she is not comfortable talking about herself. Without realizing it, she plays with her fingers and squeezes them. It's strange, she is usually so outgoing... right now I see a part of her that is quite shy when the conversation becomes too personal for her.

"Oh? Uhh... I don't know. I'm an only child and I have a cat named Fluffy. Oh, and I love poppies and cornflowers! But I hate cauliflowers!" Once again a blank. Her eyes smiled. These are the first things she chose to tell me. Fluffy? Poppies? Cornflowers? Cauliflowers? I tried not to laugh but this time her laughter joined me.

I think I like her. I can see why Ana adores her now.

***

While taking the groceries out of the bag she asks me, "Friday is Rom-Com night, right? So today?"

"Well, we don't have a special name for Tuesday, but we have planned to play board games, get to know each other a bit more, and eat together. A simple evening with friends." "Perfect. I love the program."

Her smile is tremendous.

Can you fall in love with a smile?

I put the bread to toast, Grace tries to catch the plates on her tiptoes but she is too small and can't even reach them with one finger.

"Let me do it, you might get hurt," I tell her right behind her, she doesn't move anymore. Neither do I. We are almost pressed against each other. I take the plates and move away quickly. She turns around, and thanks me but doesn't look me in the eye. In a moment of embarrassment, she hurries to the toaster. Did I imagine things or did she blush?

That's when Anna chose to join us, "Hey guys! I'm hungry, let's hurry up and eat, too bad for Leo!"

At that very moment, we heard the key in the door, and Leo came storming in, "What do you mean you're going to eat without me? That's really nonsense, I mean betrayal!"

Ana stuck her tongue out at him and helped us set the table.