Page 6 of Agony

Arsen laughed and followed me as I went over to the tiny kitchen and started to pull containers out of the large brown paper bag.

“If you look in that cabinet, there are plates,” I said, not looking up.

While Arsen pulled out plates for us, I separated our food and reached into the drawer I kept my utensils in. I pulled out two forks and gave him one. I grabbed my container of pork fried rice, dumped half of it on my plate, and went into the living room. I set my food down and went back into the kitchen where he was busy putting portions of his order onto the plate.

“Want a can of soda?” I asked, peering inside.

“Sure. Anything is fine,” he replied.

I grabbed two Cokes and went back into the living room. I sat on the couch and crossed my legs underneath myself, my plate on my lap, and cracked open my can. Arsen walked around the table and sat next to me. He handed me a napkin and sat back.

“Thanks,” I replied absentmindedly as one of my favorite shows came on.

“You’re welcome.”

We sat and ate in silence for a little bit, while the first story came and went. By the time the third and final part of the show had come on, I put my empty plate on the table and Arsen had stopped eating to stare at the program.

“What the hell are you watching?” he asked.

“It’s a show about women killers. It’s pretty cool; my favorite on this channel,” I replied.

I felt his eyes on me as he stared but I didn’t turn to meet his gaze. It was the same look that Addie always gave me when I had this on and all I could do was an internal eye roll.

“Trust me, this sure beats watching people fucking all day,” I said dryly.

He chuckled and went back to eating his food. The program usually lasted a half an hour or so, but since I could tell he was uncomfortable watching it, I made up some bullshit excuse about how these were reruns and that there was a movie on Netflix I wanted to see.

I flipped through the new arrivals section until I found something that looked halfway decent and pressed play.

Arsen finished his food and stood up, grabbing my plate as well, and went into the kitchen. I heard them clink slightly as he placed them in the sink and ran water over them. I glanced over and saw that he wasn’t just rinsing them off and leaving them there, he waswashingthem.

Impressive.

I turned my attention back to the movie, when my phone screen lit up. I leaned over and glanced at it.

“Adesynne Lee,” I exclaimed into the phone.

“How’s it going over in sex world?” she asked with a laugh.

Arsen made his way back to the couch, but stopped and picked something up off the ground curiously. I became mortified when I saw that he was holding the bra I had taken off when I walked in the door earlier and tossed. He turned it around and looked at the tag curiously, then grinned and set it down on the couch.

“What was the point of that?” I asked him.

“The point of what?” Addie asked in confusion.

“Not you. Hold on,” I said into the receiver, before I put the phone against my chest.

“Well?” I asked him.

“Curiosity, I guess,” he replied with a shrug and a grin.

“Pig,” I said rolling my eyes. “Hello?” I said, putting the phone back to my ear.

Arsen was laughing in the background which immediately piqued Addie’s interest.

“Do you have aboyover, Neve?” she asked excitedly.

“Yeah, we’re having a pajama party,” I replied.

---