"Yes please, do you mind? It must be Damon."
She leaves the kitchen, still humming the song she was listening to under her breath. Don’t show him how cute you are, I think to myself.
"Hi, I'm Bethany!" I hear from the kitchen.
"Oh, I didn't know Marcus had someone over. I'm Damon, nice to meet you. I'll come back later."
Yes!
"Oh no need! He's just cooking. I'm sure he doesn't want you to leave."
I do! I don't want him here. Why does she have to be so kind? Tell him to go away!
Damon comes by the kitchen.
"Hey man, you didn't say you'd have company."
"I didn't expect to have company."
"Uh? She seems nice."
I glare at him and scowl. "Don't you dare."
He whistles. "Sounds like someone is protective of her. Don't worry. I'm not interested. But I am interested in knowing how you two met."
"It's very easy to explain." Bethany swoops in, looking like she only heard the last part. Good. I don't need to sound more like a caveman than I already am. Threatening one of my best friends is not something I'm proud of. But she is mine. Or at least as much as she wants to be mine. And I'll take every single last crumb and I do not share.
She gets him up to speed quickly as I finish preparing our lunch. It's enough food for the three of us, but I don't want to remind him I promised him lunch.
"So you're having lunch with us?" Bethany asks. She turns to me. "You didn't tell me someone would be joining us."
"I forgot." There's no use in denying it. He's come at lunchtime. I can't send him packing even if I want to.
"We can schedule for another time."
"Nonsense! I'll set up an extra plate for you."
And she does. Because my sunshine is kind, so much kinder than I’ll ever be.
So we end up eating together. Bethany asks him what it's like to be my friend, what it's like to live in the mountains. Damon answers effortlessly. She tells him about the abuse the plants took with me, living so close to their enemies. Damon laughs.
He does this so well. I can see them together. I can see how they fit with one another. He's much more apt to reply to her questions than I am. I'm awkward and never know how to continue the conversation. That was always the problem with women. They expected me to continue but I never really knew how to. I'd ask them follow-up questions that were too personal for a first date, so things only ever got physical. And maybe that's what's happening with Bethany too. She's leaving and all she'll remember is the grump on the mountains that gave her two orgasms. I, on the other hand, will remember the warmth in my heart whenever I was around her.
"You live alone too Damon? Are you not interested in settling down?"
"Not really. I don't think I’ve ever fallen in love and I don't think I ever will. It doesn't seem like I'm built like that. So I'm perfectly fine living by myself."
"Maybe you'll find someone who'll change your mind," she says.
"I doubt it."
When Damon leaves, I'm already wound up. Every single interaction they had just confirmed to me how deeply wrong I am for her.
"So, since it's still so hot out, maybe we can move on to a more difficult game. What do you think?"
"Sure," I say, but my heart’s not in it.
She gets all the cards out and does a wonderful job at explaining the new game. I bet she's a great teacher. I can tell by how good she is at simplifying complex game dynamics.
