Marry me

Chapter Three.

"Honey, I'm home!" I announced to no one in particular the moment my feet stepped past the threshold of the apartment. I slid my feet out of my flats and walked into the sitting room. I found Kate laying spread-eagled on the couch, her long legs dangling from the side and her laptop perched on her folded legs while a talk show played on the TV. A can of soda and an open box with only three slices of pizza in it sat on the coffee table beside her. "You're back from work early?"

"Yeah." She glanced up and turned back to typing furiously on her laptop. "My dumb boss allowed everyone home early. So, how did the interview go?"

"Like utter shit," I said, somberly as I walked to the kitchen, sighing dramatically. I walked over to the sink and washed my hands. A loud beep came from the microwave, and I turned my head just in time to see a bowl -almost full to the brim- of macaroni and cheese before the inside of the microwave went dark.

I sighed.

A few moments later, I strolled out. The sound of Kate's fingers tapping the laptop's keyboards ceased as she looked over her shoulder, catching the sight of the bowl of her favorite food in my hands. "Have I told you how much I love you?" she crooned and batted her lashes up at me.

"Mhm-hmm, quite a lot if you ask me, but really, who am I to complain when I don't want a pickaxe in the head?" I droned, placing the bowl beside the soda can on the coffee table and flanking down beside her.

"Well, I fucking love you."

I arched an eyebrow, giving her a flat look. A very flat look. "You pluck my eyebrows while I sleep."

She rolled her eyes. "At least they look a lot more better on you after being plucked!"

Now, it was my turn to roll my eyes. "That shit hurts like a bitch, Kate."

"Fair point, but that doesn't mean I'll stop."

I made a face, trying very hard to hide my smile but failing miserably. "I love my eyebrows just the way they are, thank you very much, dearest best friend."

"That's because I pluck them for you!" She threw her hands up in the air and her laptop tilted to the side. She caught it just as it was about to plummet to the ground.

I sighed, cursing my clumsiness and wishing I had reflexes like that. "Once again, Kate: that shit hurts like a bitch."

"You'll thank me when, in less than ten years, we pass the big Three-Oh, and everything starts to slip and droop, and your eyebrows look as hairy as an Oompa Loompa," she piped.

"Oompa Loompa isn't hairy."

"That's my point exactly," she voiced, her eyes flickering to the mac and cheese on the table. "But I still love you."

My already-high eyebrow went higher, determined to fly off my face and reach for the sky. I glanced at the almost-empty pizza box, soda can, and bowl of macaroni cheese on the coffee table before my eyes slid back to my best friend. "Almost as much as food?" I inquired.

She looked at me mischievously over the rim of her laptop lid. "A million and one times more, sweetheart."

Feeling and hearing my stomach growl, I leaned forward and pulled out a slice of pizza from the box. Kate shot me a look from where she sat, a look that'll result in most people cowering at first sight, but I waved my hand dismissively at her face. "A girl's gotta eat," I sang cheerily before shoving the pizza into my mouth.