Page 44 of Caught A Vibe

“Right this way, madam.” I guide her to the couch and the coffee table I cleared and set. I even found an emergency candle in her drawer while I’d been hunting for spatulas. I’m quite proud of my attempt at ambience, and the candlelight makes her skin glow like the goddess she is.

I seat her on the couch before ducking back into the kitchen to bring out the food.

“Here we have a chicken, broccoli, and red pepper stir-fry over jasmine rice,” I say in my best snooty accent, earning a chuckle.

“I’m sure it’ll be delicious.”

“Honestly, I’m kind of banking on the fact that you still can’t taste anything.”

Chapter12

Penny

Iam charmed. I didn’t expect to wake up from my nap to a date night, but this is a delightful surprise. He’s clearly gone to some trouble to make a nice meal for us both. What a sweet man! I do wish he’d given me a heads-up so I could have primped a little bit, but then again what difference would lipstick make when he’s already seen me at my worst? I love the fact that he’s thinking about us and wants to surprise me.

So what if the rice is a little wet? I scoop some onto my plate and cover it with the tasty-looking chicken and veggies. I’m sad that I won’t be able to smell or taste much of the meal, but I’ve learned that recovering from Covid is a long path lined with disappointments. At least I am healing and no longer contagious. And maybe he’ll add this recipe to his repertoire, and I’ll get to taste it again soon. There’s the silver lining.

“So tell me more about your triage plans,” Dash prompts as he wrestles with a bottle of wine and trips over a pile of laundry he’s shoved behind the armchair.

“Well, we’ve got the website updated to reflect the challenges. We also sent out the review form to the people who got early units. We are hoping to get some good buzz from that. Still no word on when we’ll be able to get back into the office, but everyone is working out the kinks of these remote meetings. Poor Emmie has her kid home from school right now while she’s trying to keep designing. She’s considering moving home to Palm Brook to stay with her parents for some help. Nightmare. And Zarah might need to move out of her apartment, because with everyone working from home, the internet keeps crashing. Thank you.”

I take the small glass of wine he offers, ignoring the tiny bobbing flecks of cork. My first sip leaves a glimmer of sourness tingling on my tongue, but mostly I just register sensations of cold and wet. At least it will help me get back to sleep.

Dash finally sits down and raises his own glass. “To our official first date. May it be the first of many.”

I grin at that, warmth spreading through my body that has nothing to do with a fever or the wine, and everything to do with this sweet man. We skipped a lot of the courtship stages and jumped right into “in sickness and in health.” I love that he wants to slow down and savor what we missed. Once I get back to full energy, I’ll have to make sure I plan some nights like this too. He deserves to be spoiled a little after all he’s done for me. We might’ve gone about this relationship ass-backward, but it’s working for us so far.

“To our one-night-stand, long may it last.” I clink my glass to his and smile. “How was your day?” I ask.

I take my first bite of the stir-fry while he contemplates an answer, and my eyes begin to water. With a small cough, I reach for my wine and down what’s left.

“You good?” Dash asked.

I nod, not trusting my voice to not give away the lie. Holy hell, that’s spicy. My mouth is burning. My taste buds picked a hell of a time to wake up.

Dash raises his fork to his mouth, and I am caught between warning him and hurting his feelings. Before I figure out where to land, it’s too late. The food is in his mouth. And then the tears are in his eyes, and the water is at his lips.

“So where did you get the recipe for this?” I ask politely while subtly scraping the seasoning off a piece of chicken.

Dash coughs and clears his throat before answering. “It was one of those all-in-one meal boxes.” He stares at his plate, and I am stunned to see him scoop up another bite and force it down.

“Mmmhmm, and you followed all the directions?”

“As best I could,” he confirms before a coughing fit sends him to the fridge for a glass of milk.

“Can I see the recipe card?”

“Liked it that much?” He grins and swallows hard, and my phone chimes. “I sent you the link. It’s all on an app.” He drinks down half the glass on his way back to the table and sits heavily in his chair. When he reaches for his fork again, his face stoic, I have to end the madness.

“Stop! I can’t watch this!” I cover his hand with mine. “My mouth is on fire, and I can only taste the barest hint of it. How can you eat that?”

Dash lets the fork fall out of his hand and he chugs the rest of the milk. Tears stream down his face, and his shoulders shake. “Oh, thank God. It’s terrible!”

His laughter is contagious. I try to speak through a bad case of the giggles. “How much chili flake did you put in?”

“I just used what they sent!”

“You poured in the whole bag?”

---