Page 60 of Lorna's Savior
Lorna stood there and studied him for a long time, then she sighed and whispered something. She had to clear her throat in order for him to hear him. “You could help me make fried chicken.” She shrugged when he looked at her with bugged eyes.
“You want fried chicken?”
“I do. I think I have everything I need, except for one thing.”
“What’s that, the chicken?” Andy grinned and breathed easier when she laughed along with him.
“No, I have that. I’m only missing the confidence to pull this off.”
“Do you have a recipe?”
“I do, I’ve been talking with Lori, Mother’s chef, since I moved in here. We e-mail each other. She’s been slowly giving me her recipes. I printed them out and made a cookbook of them. When I see one I’d like to try, I talk to Lori. I’ve been craving her chicken for some time now.”
“Okay, why don’t we change and I’ll meet you back here in thirty minutes. If you have everything, then we should cook in your apartment. Makes sense instead of carrying everything over to my place.”
“Okay. If you’re sure you want to help?”
“I do, but I want you to know, that if you invite me over, we’ll be getting to the bottom of you thinking you’re bigger than other girls. That’s the only way I’ll agree to this.” Andy stepped closer, took her face in his hands. He stared directly in her eyes, and whispered, “I like you Lorna. A lot. I don’t want to see us breaking apart over your misconception of what you think you look like. I get you have issues, but don’t project them onto me. On a scale of ten, you’re a fifteen in my book.” He then leaned in and kissed her.
Lorna felt the tears and didn’t bother wiping them away as she kissed him back. When he moved his mouth over to kiss them away, she tried to push him away. In seconds, Lorna didn’t know how it happened, but she suddenly found herself in her apartment, wrapped in Andy’s arms.
“Let it out,” Andy held her to him. “I’m here for you.”
Lorna lay in Andy’s arms and cried for several minutes. As she did, she remembered how her best friend, Ronnie, had told her that she wasn’t fat, that she was a wonderful person. For the first time in her life, she began to believe that she was. At first, she’d thought Ronnie had told her all those things, because she was her best friend, and it was her duty to lie to Lorna. But now that Andy, the man she was in love with, was telling her the same thing, along with others, she believed him. Maybe it was her feelings for him, but she would take his word for it. After several minutes, she sniffed hard and sat up. Taking the tissues from him, she blew her nose, wiped her face, then gave a small laugh. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. That seemed like it was a long time coming.”
“It was. I’m so sorry.” She held up her hand when he went to speak. “No, let me say this. All my life Mother told me I wasn’t good enough. That I was too fat, too stupid, too slow. That I’d never make it in the world without her. I made it my mission to prove her wrong at every turn. When I was away from her, I flourished, but when I was home, I used to cower in her presence. I didn’t even move out of the house until the day after I first met you.”
“Why not? If you don’t mind my asking?”
“Mother forbade it for some reason. Said I wasn’t allowed to move out until I was thirty. I thought it was because she cared for me, but that thought went out the window when I was six and she kicked Wade out of our lives. All because she wanted to have some quack plastic surgeon fix my scar.” She pointed to her eyebrow. Andy leaned in as far as he could and shook his head.
“I don’t see a scar.”
“It’s because I listened to Wade, and when he got me the Vitamin E, and cocoa butter, I applied it nightly. After about six months, it disappeared.” She snorted a mirthless laugh. “But, to hear Mother talk about it, I have a scar from my hairline to my belly button. And it’s six inches wide. I have no idea where she ever got her penchant for excessive plastic surgery.” Lorna shook her head. After only two minutes, she shuddered, then rose to her feet.
“Enough about that. Did someone say something about fried chicken?”
Laughing, Andy rose and gathered her in a hug. After he kissed her, he held her head in his hands. “I’ll return.”
“Okay,” she whispered. She watched him walk to the door, then at the last minute hurried after him. She handed him her spare key. “Easier.”
“Thanks,” he said as he kissed her again, and took his leave. As soon as the door shut behind him, she locked it then ran to her bedroom, stripping as she went, but she kept her clothes with her until she reached her bedroom. She finished stripping, then hopped in the shower. In twenty minutes she was out, and gave a little squeal when she saw how her makeup had run from her earlier crying spell. Grabbing her face cream, she quickly cleaned her face and went to reapply her makeup but after looking at herself in the mirror, she blew herself a kiss and grinned.
“Monk it, if he likes me with makeup, he’ll like me without.” With a nod, she went out to the kitchen, pulled out her homemade cookbook, and after reading the recipe, began pulling the ingredients. She had her head in the refrigerator when Andy returned. Laughing, she turned to him and licked her lips at the sight of him.
“You are one gorgeous man.”
“Thank you, and you are one beautiful woman.” He gathered her to him and kissed her. It was several minutes before they broke apart. Lorna figured they would have ended up in the bedroom if both of their stomachs hadn’t rumbled then. They broke apart, and Andy rubbed his hands together. “What do you have?”
“The fried chicken, and then homemade coleslaw, along with the mashed potatoes and gravy. I can do the mashed potatoes, but I don’t know how to do gravy. The coleslaw looks easy, but I’m confused by the chicken.”
“What’s confusing?” Andy asked as he picked up the recipe and read it. “Looks pretty easy to me.”
“What’s it mean by a stockpot for the oil? And what’s cast iron?”
Andy looked in her cupboards, then held up his hand. Holding up the key she had given him earlier, he grinned. “I’ll be right back.” He was only gone for five minutes. While he was gone, she scrubbed and peeled the potatoes and was just putting them on the burner when Andy returned.
