Chapter Nineteen
Is he really going to just sit there and watch me eat? I look down at the soup container in my hands, and it is more than halfway gone, and he hasn’t even touched the other container of noodles. But the smell coming off of them is making my mouth water. I push the soup away, and he looks at me with concern.
“Are you alright, Molly? Do you need the bowl?” He moves to the side of the bed to jump up, but I stop him with a hand on his arm.
“Oh… no. I am fine. That soup is going down in the record book as my all-time favorite soup ever.” I shift my eyes to the noodles, and he follows my eyes.
“Do you want to try some of this too?” He lifts the container and holds it out for me, handing me the plastic fork.
“But that’s your food, Coop. You haven’t eaten a thing, and here I am being a total pig.” I push the container back toward him and he digs the fork into the noodles, holding the bite of food out for me. I close my eyes at the delicious smell and lick my lips. When I open them, I notice Coop’s eyes trained on my mouth, his eyes as wide as saucers, heat climbing into his cheeks as the noodles fall from the fork and plop back into the container.
“Shoot. I’m sorry. Did they splash you? I took too long to make my decision.” I look down at his shirt and reach for the fabric of his shirt.
He clears his throat and smiles, digging the fork back into the noodles for another bite. “No. It didn’t splash me. Sorry. Here. Try it.” I watch his eyes as I move to take the bite from his fork and mumble to myself as the mixture of flavors explode in my mouth.
“Oh… my…,” I hold my hand up to my mouth as I chew the noodles, my eyes rolling in the ecstasy of the flavors. I lick the sauce from my mouth, and he hands me the fork, chuckling to himself at my giddiness over the food. “That is so stinking good. How have I never eaten this before?” I dig in with my fork, bringing another tasty bite into my mouth. “I could eat this entire thing.” Taking another bite, I hear his stomach growl as he watches me. “Oh, Coop. You have to eat some of this. It’s your food.”
He shakes his head and picks up the spoon, digging into the rest of the soup that I didn’t eat. “I’ll just order some more; there is actually something I forgot anyways, and I really want you to try it.” He picks up his phone, punching in another order, before putting it down again.
“Well, at least have a few bites while you wait for it to be delivered.” I scoop out another bite and hold it out for him. He moves toward my hand, and my hand starts to shake. Why is my hand shaking? He reaches out with his hand and holds the hand holding the fork, stabilizing the noodles as he brings it to his mouth. I open my mouth, doing the weird thing that people do when they are feeding an infant, closing it once he takes the bite into his mouth.
We continueto share the food, watching another episode of ‘The Office’, unmuted this time, both of us laughing when Steve says his famous line, ‘That’s what she said’. A knock on the door brings us out of our laughter, and Coop motions for me to stay as he moves for the door. He disappears from sight and appears a few minutes later, more food in tow.
“I’m going to go grab a shower while you eat. I haven’t had a shower since yesterday.” My face turns pink as I realize how much I probably smell as Coop sets the food down.
“Are you sure you will be alright, Molly? You could barely lift your head a few hours ago.” Kicking off the comforter, I edge toward the side of the bed and put my feet on the ground, pushing up to stand.
“Yup. I think I’ll be just fine.” He watches me with concern as I grab my clothes from the drawers and make my way to the bathroom.
“Fine. But leave that door unlocked just in case you need something.” Coop points at the door, and his face turns red as the words fall from his mouth.
“I am not leaving this door unlocked, Coop.” I place my hand on my hip, motioning with my hand toward the door, my clothes balanced in my other arm as I give him a stare down from across the room.
“Want to bet?” When Coop stands from the bed, it’s as if we are at a standoff.
“I am not, and I repeat, am not, leaving this door unlocked with a man I hardly know in the other room. And that is final.” I stomp my foot, my hand clenched in frustration. I really shouldn’t be pushing this. Especially if I really was as sick as he said I was.
He holds his hands up in surrender, taking his seat on the bed. “Alright, alright. But I am going to be knocking on that door every few minutes, and if you don’t answer, you had better believe I will be breaking that dang door down.” He sits back, crossing his feet over at the ankles as he picks up his container of food.
“Fine.” My hands are now clutching my clothes to my chest, and it is only now that I realize that I haven’t been wearing a bra this entire time. I keep them there as I shuffle into the bathroom backwards, also noticing that I have quite the revealing booty shorts on.
I startup the shower and wait for the water to get warm before getting in. The water hits my body, and I sigh in relief, but also, why does it sting so much? Oh, that’s right. I have a sunburn. I start thinking about the last couple of days. Why is it that the shower is always the place where you overthink everything? Why is Coop taking such good care of me? Doesn’t he have things to do? The man fed me. Like, literally fed me… again. What is with this man and feeding people? Maybe he feeds all of his friends. A fist pounds on the door and I drop my shampoo bottle, the sounds startling me out of my thoughts.
“Everything okay in there?” Phew… That’s right. It’s just Coop.
“Yup. I’m good.” I shout, feeling a little ridiculous that I am communicating with a man I barely know through the bathroom door. I wash my hair twice, making sure to scrub the ends that may or may not have gotten throw-up in them, before moving onto my conditioner. I leave the conditioner in while I shave my legs, just as another knock on the door makes me jump. I wince as I watch the nick from the razor start to bleed.
“You good in there still, Molly?” Coop’s voice comes through the door.
“Yup. Sure am.” I try not to sound too grumpy as I respond, biting back the words I would really like to say. I quickly finish shaving and rinse out my hair, turning the shower off. Tearing off a tiny piece of toilet paper, I place it on the small cut before lathering lotion on, taking care not to rub the sunburn too hard. I pull on my clothes, trying to avoid getting blood on the pair of less scandalous booty shorts I selected from the drawer, before running a brush through my hair.
I look down at the small cut on my leg, just as a trickle of blood runs off the now-soaked toilet paper. Stupid razor blade cuts always bleed forever. I grab another piece as I remember a memory from my childhood. When I was younger, I didn’t know what a razor was. Remember, I was raised by a man, and he wasn’t about to teach his little girl how to shave. So, like the little incompetent dummy I was, I decided it would be a good idea to run my finger over the blade a few times. It bled so much, and it took forever to heal. So when it was time for me to learn how to shave, I was terrified of the razor blade. A voice brings me out of my memory and I stick the little piece of toilet paper to my leg.
“Molly, you about done in there yet?” Coop sounds impatient for some reason, and I decide to goad him on a little bit.
“I think I missed a spot of throw-up in my hair. I’m going to take another shower.” I try to keep the smile out of my voice as I respond.
I hear him whisper to himself, “Shoot, I have to pee.” Before he responds in a louder voice. “Uh.. Okay. I will be back in a few minutes then.” I hear his voice trail off, and before he can get too far, I open the door.
“Just kidding, Coop. I’m done here.” I gather my dirty things and dump them in the portable hamper I bought from the dollar store, before moving to the bed. “You can use the bathroom if you need it.”
His face looks relieved as he heads for the bathroom. “Be right back. Oh, no peeking at the dessert.” He got dessert? I am a sucker for sweet things, and I have to hold my hands in my lap because they are twitching to open the box. The toilet flushes and the sink turns on before Coop comes out. Good to know he washes his hands after going to the bathroom. Some people don’t, and it is beyond disgusting.
He takes his seat on the bed next to me and grabs the container and a new fork. “Close your eyes. You are going to love this.” I hug my legs close to my body, close my eyes, and open my mouth, waiting for him to give me a taste of whatever dessert he bought.
But he doesn’t. Instead, I feel his finger trace around something on my leg, and that’s when I remember the cut and the toilet paper. “What did you do?” he asks.
I open my eyes and look down to where his finger is tracing a circle around the small piece of soaked through toilet paper.
“You startled me when I was shaving, and I kinda cut myself. It’s no biggie, just a little nick.” I take off the piece of toilet paper and stick it inside a napkin, shoving it inside the empty soup container. I close my eyes and point to my mouth, waiting for my dessert. I feel the bed shift and a cupboard open, and I peek open my eyes to see Coop has disappeared into the kitchen.
“What are you doing?”
“Just grabbing you a Band-Aid so you don’t bleed out on me.” I can hear the laughter in his voice as he returns, bandage in hand. He rips open the little piece of paper and removes the backing before gently placing it over the cut. He places his warm hand on my leg and runs his finger over the Band-Aid, causing my heart to race and goosebumps to appear on my legs. Then, as if suddenly noticing what he is doing, he quickly removes his hand. Grabbing the fork and container from the bed, he tells me to close my eyes again, and I open my mouth, waiting for my long-overdue bite of dessert.
The first thing I smell is mangos mixed with coconut, but when the flavors of the coconut syrup, mixed with the perfectly ripe fruit and sticky rice hit my tongue, I want to kiss the man sitting next to me right on the lips. But I won’t, because… weird.
I open my eyes, and there are no words. Not even an uttered ‘mmmm’ to describe the delightfulness of the treat. So, instead, I throw my arms around Coop”s neck, pressing my mouth to his cheek, before regaining my dignity again. I smooth down my hair and glance over at Coop, wondering why he is so quiet. But when I look at him, he is staring at me again, and he has a goofy look on his face, one that I can’t quite decipher.