Invited

Thirty-Three - Chevelle

I'm pretty sure I heard Timber sniffling throughout the night. Unlike him, I didn't sleep like a log. The littlest of things woke me up, and it was amplified by my constant need to use the bathroom each time I was disturbed. For his sake, I held it as much as possible, waiting for him to doze off again before taking any trips. If he wanted me to witness his outpouring of emotion, he wouldn't put on so much of show in order to hide it from me.

While he was showering in the bathroom, I got out of bed and went straight to the kitchen. My goal was to make breakfast. Under Timber's tutelage, I'd learned how to make a decent omelet. Cooking up some food was the least I could do for the guy, especially after all he'd done for me. Nathan was already at the stove, however, making something that smelled like cinnamon and apples.

"Looks like we both had the same idea," I said. I went into the refrigerator and found freshly squeezed orange juice and what looked like handmade whipped cream. "Did you both go to culinary school or something?"

"Watched a lot of TV, read a lot of books," Nathan muttered.

I shrugged and pulled out the orange juice, followed by some glasses, and then got to serving up four glasses of the stuff. Coffee was what I wanted more than anything. I craved caffeine, but I'd been told I had to cut back to just one cup a day. When Timber found out, he went overboard and started to forbid me from drinking it period. Instead, he offered a bunch of natural energy boosting solutions. Most were related to eating more fruits and vegetables. I still would have preferred the coffee. At the risk of pissing him off, I stayed away.

Lara came prancing in and sat down at the table. "What's your name?"

"Nate," the guy introduced himself to the girl with only a slight amount more enthusiasm than he addressed me with.

"I'm Lara, nice to meet you!"

"Uh-huh."

I peered at him as I finished pouring the juice. "You get any sleep last night? Because you look like a zombie."

"Enough."

Did he mean he got enough sleep, or that he had enough of my asking him annoying questions? Either way, I decided to just shut my mouth even though I still had the big urge to verbally slap him. Timber was in the shower. He could come out at any moment. I didn't want him to witness us fighting. There were plenty of times I'd wanted to smack Wicken when we used to work together. If I could hold off for the sake of being professional, I could also hold off for the sake of someone else's comfort. I'd need to find a new outlet for my anger and fast if I had any hope of not going crazy.

Nathan reached over me and grabbed some plates from the cupboard. "We got off on the wrong foot."

I acknowledged him with a slight nod and a grunt, a wonderful, snarky comment sitting on my tongue. Needless to say, I was happy to take the glasses of juice over to the table and get away from him. I didn't enjoy having his body so close to mine. He was a stranger. It was all kinds of awkward.

"Timber's parents were my parents too. I mean, not biologically, but they might as well have been. They pretty much raised me, even when my mom was still alive." He sighed. "It's just..."

Great, now I felt like a jerk for harboring any kind of negative feelings toward him. I set the glasses on the table, making sure to put everyone in their usual spot. Only...Nathan didn't have a spot yet. Did I put him next to Timber since they were friends? Or would they want to look at each other while they ate? If I put him across from Timber, that would put Nathan in my spot, or next to me. I decided that since they were guys, they could sit next to each other. Since when did a guy make eye contact with his buddy when he spoke?