31 Days

3 - Tasty

Warnings: mention of death and a fatal car crash

Jack wasn't really in the mood for dinner, if he was honest. Sure, he'd been working nonstop since 7:30 that morning, and hadn't taken a lunch break. By all means, he should have been incredibly hungry. But he wasn't.

He sighed as he closed the door to his apartment. It certainly has been a long day, he thought to himself as he kicked his shoes off. He shrugged his suit jacket off and draped it over the back of the couch and loosened his tie. His cat chose that moment to waltz into the room.

"Hey, Charlie."

Charlie showed no indication of hearing Jack's voice. Jack thought it was strange, Charlie usually at least looked in his direction. Maybe he's finally starting to act like other cats for once, he thought. Whatever the case, Charlie jumped up onto the top of the couch, directly onto Jack's suit jacket.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Gee thanks, Charlie."

Once again, Charlie showed no sign of recognizing Jack's presence.

He walked into the kitchen and stood there for a moment. Odd, I'm usually hungry by now. He looked at the fridge, then decided he might as well try to eat something. He opened the fridge door and assessed it's contents. There were plenty of leftovers and microwave meals. But nothing caught his attention. Just as he was about to close the fridge door, a voice echoed through the apartment.

"You should eat something, Jackie darling."

Jack turned and caught sight of his beautiful fiancée, Laura, who he hadn't seen in at least a month. He thought he remembered something about a business trip, but he couldn't distinctly remember where she had been. Man, he thought, she's just as gorgeous as the day I met her.

Laura gestured towards the fridge. "You've got plenty of leftovers, just pick something and eat it, even if it's just a little bit."

Jack chuckled. "Okay, babe. Just for you."

He looked back in the fridge again and selected a random box that turned out to be Italian takeout. He shrugged and stuck it in the microwave.

"How was your day, sweetheart?" Laura's melodic voice rang out.

"It was alright, I secured the big deal we've been negotiating for months, which is awesome. I was pretty swamped after that, but the things that needed to get done got done."

"That's wonderful, Jackie!"

"I know!" Jack grinned.

"How are the other guys on your floor?"

"Annoying, as always, but Peter finally managed to not cause a ruckus during lunch break. Quite a bit of progress, if you ask me."

Laura giggled. "It sure is."

"Pat got married two weeks ago, can you imagine that? He just got back from his honeymoon last night."

"Good for him, though I can't say I saw that coming," Laura admitted.

Jack opened his mouth to talk again, but the microwave beeped. He grabbed the white takeout carton, grabbed a fork, and sat down at the kitchen counter. Laura remained standing across from Jack.

"Sit down, babe," Jack gestured towards the chair across from him.

Laura shook her head. "Oh, no, I'm alright."

Jack shrugged. "Suit yourself."

He brought a forkful of the noodles to his mouth. He couldn't really taste anything, so he thought he's burned his mouth on the too hot food.

"That's weird, normally they don't get that hot when I reheat them."

Laura said nothing.

Jack tried another forkful. Still no flavor.

"Darn. Must've gone bad. That's a bummer, normally this pasta is really tasty."

He stood to throw the carton out when his brain came to a sudden realization. The fork and carton clattered to the floor.

Laura had died in a car crash a month ago.