An Unexpected Hunger (24 page)

“Great!” she said. “I have to talk it over with Nick
, but I’ll call you when we make definite plans.”

Just as she was about to hang up the phone, the urge to
ask about Ricky took over. I couldn’t pretend like I wasn’t thinking about him twenty four seven anymore.

“Mia,” I said, hoping she hadn’t hung up yet.

“Yeah?”

“How’s Ricky? I…I haven’t heard from him in almost two months.”

She hesitated. “He’s doing good,” she said. “I’ll make sure I tell him you were asking about him.”

When I hung up the phone, I had a renewed hope that I would hear from him soon.

* * *

It was the night of the restaurant opening
, and my fingers felt numb with anxiety. When my phone rang, I ignored it, too nervous about the night to talk to anyone. Besides, if it wasn’t Ricky I had nothing to say. Since I hadn’t heard from him the entire time I’d been back in California, I assumed it wasn’t him.

My night at work went well
, and I even got praise from my boss. I went home that night, feeling happy about a successful night of cooking. The first thing I did after I showered and threw on my pajamas was open a bottle of wine and plop down on my mattress. An apartment in my old building had opened up on the floor right above the one I use to live on. I didn’t have any furniture except a mattress and a folding table with a couple of chairs that Lauren lent me. As long as I had a corkscrew I was happy.

I hadn’t looked at my phone all night, something I force
d myself to stop doing. I was surprised to see two missed calls: one from Danny and one from Ricky.

My heart raced at the sight of his name in my phone. I shot straight up in bed and
pressed the CALL button, my stomach turning each time the phone rang.

“Hey Lexy,” Ricky said softly.

“Hi Ricky.” Time seemed to stop, and for a few seconds the line was so quiet I thought we got disconnected.

“How are things in California?”

“Fine,” I said. “It’s about time you called.”

“I know,” he snickered. “I just needed some time.”

“Time for what?”

“To let it sink in that you were gone.”

I chugged the rest of my wine, trying to dull the pain of tears burning my eyes.

“How’s the new job?” he asked.

“Oh…it’s good,” I said, my voice cracking. “It was the official opening tonight.”

“Wow…that’s wonderful. I know you’re going to kill
it out there.”

“Yeah,” I laughed. “How are things
at the bar? Sammy making out okay?”

Ricky reassured me that things were doing fine
, and even told me about the stray kitten that he took in.

“She sleeps with me,” he said. “Keeps me company.”

I laughed at the thought of Ricky snuggling with a tiny kitten, which was preferable to what I had been imagining him doing in a bed without me in it.

“I’m jealous,” I teased.

“I’m going to have to get a bed just for her,” he replied. “I’ve got scratches all over my back because of her.”

“Are you sure it’s from the cat?” The words slipped ou
t, the wine taking over all reasonable brain function. “So, when are you coming to visit me? You know my birthday is coming up.”

Ricky
hesitated. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

“Why?” I asked. “You’ve never been to the west coast. You can come with Nick and Mia.”

“I’ll think about it. Anyway, I gotta’ go Lexy.”

“Okay,” I said. “But can you not wait so long to call me next time? I miss hearing your voice.”

“Sure,” he mumbled. “I miss you, too.”

I hung up the phone and let the wine put me to sleep.

* * *

I was in the middle of cooking dinner for Lauren when Danny called again. He came to visit me at the restaurant, pretending to not have known I was working that night. I ended up giving him my number, something I hoped I wasn’t going to regret. He called a few days later, asking if he could come over.

“I’m starving!” Lauren
cried, holding up a bottle of wine when I opened the door.

“Good,” I said, taking the bottle and opening it up. “Because I made a shitload of food.”

We ate on the living room floor, watching episodes of I Love Lucy. It felt good to relax and laugh. I was still feeling so light from hearing Ricky’s voice.

“You
’re in a better mood I see,” Lauren said with a mouth full of cucumber and shrimp. “Mmmm…that’s good.” She grabbed more and shoved the whole thing in her mouth.

“Ricky called,” I smiled.

“Finally…what the hell took him so long? Is he coming to visit?”

“I don’t know,” I said,
refilling both of our glasses.

“You don’t know?” she repeated. “
What’s his deal? I think you should just send him a ticket. I want to meet this guy.”

“I’m not
going to force him to visit me…It’s not like I’m his girlfriend anymore. Plus, I can’t afford it.”

“Well…you better do something about it soon
. You get grumpy when you don’t get any.”

We giggled
, and ate the spread of finger food on the tablecloth I spread out on the carpet.

By the second bottle of wine, we had both splayed out on opposite ends of the living room floor, swapping stories on the worst sex of our lives. Lauren’s definitely took the cake when she told me about the
guy who answered his cell phone right in the middle of it…twice.

“Okay,” she sputtered, her face the color of a tomato. “Who was the best?”

It took me all of two seconds to answer. “Ricky…definitely.” A chill crept down my spine as I told Lauren about the episode in his office.

“You slut!” she cackled. “What is with you and doing your bosses?”

“Hey!” I yelled, throwing a cork at her head.

“Sorry,” she said, cracking up. “I had too…It was too easy.”

“He called by the way…Danny.”

Lauren’s laughter shriveled up like a raisin. “I hope you didn’t answer the phone.”

I kept quiet, avoiding her relentless stare.

“Oh my God, Alexa. You didn’t!
”

“He got me the job, Laur. I felt bad not answering his calls.”

“So what now?”

“He’s coming here for dinner next week.”

She got up from the floor and headed towards the bathroom. “I can’t believe you’re doing this again. He’s MARRIED!”

“Not anymore,” I said. “Plus, it’s just a thank you dinner. That’s all.”

“As long as it doesn’t turn into thank you sex,” she said, disappearing into the bathroom.

I TOOK THE Chinese food out of the brown bag and spread the containers around on the counter. After a long week in the kitchen, the last thing I felt like doing was cooking another meal at home.

“I ordered
a bunch of stuff. I couldn’t remember what you liked.”

It was lie
, and I ordered everything except what I knew he liked.

He
surveyed the selection as I handed him a paper plate. We sat at the folding table, scooping out food and passing off containers between each other.

“I talked to Josh the other day,” he said. “He’s really happy about your work.”

I pulled another helping of lomaine with my chopsticks. “The job is great. Thanks for giving me the recommendation.”

Danny took another sip of his beer. “So
, how’s it feel to be back?”

“Like I never left,” I said.

“Was it hard to leave home again?”

I shrugged. “Not really…”

Another lie.

We finished dinner with Danny updating me on everything that happened since I was gone. He managed to keep the restaurant after the divorce and moved into his own apartment.
I could tell the whole process exhausted him; the bags under his eyes, the way he spoke. His energy level was noticeably different, and when he smiled it never reached his chestnut eyes. He looked different to me, with no trace of the passion that I had found so attractive. I was actually starting to feel bad for him.

“It’s never been the same
,” he said.

I stuffed the dirty plates and empty containers in the trash. “What hasn’t?”

“Being in the kitchen without you.”

I turne
d my back, putting the soy sauce in the fridge. “I’m sure you’re doing just fine.”

“It’d be nice to have you back,” he said, chugging the rest of the beer.

“That’s never going to happen.”

“Why not?” he chuckled. “E
veryone’s been asking about you.”

“I have a job. I’m happy there. Besides, after what happened…I could never go back in that kitchen.”

We headed to the living room, and  flicked through the channels until I found a decent movie.

We watched it in silence, both of us laughing at the same pa
rts. When it was over, I turned the television off. I yawned with added enthusiasm, trying to give a subtle hint.

“Well,” Danny said, as he got up off the floor. “I should get going. Thanks for the meal.”

I smiled, and walked him to the door.

“This was nice,” he said. We stood across from each other, both of us holding an
awkward posture. He leaned in, and for a split second I panicked, almost sure he was going to try and kiss me. Thankfully, it was just a hug.

“Can we do it again soon?” he asked.

“I don’t know, Danny. I’m not sure if it’s such a good idea.”

“Please, Lex. I could really use the company now.” His dark brown eyes pleaded with me, a look I was very familiar with.

“Okay,” I agreed, not having the heart to turn him down.

* * *

I had finally had enough of living in an apartment with no furniture. Danny had offered to take me to the furniture store so I could finally pick out a couch. We roamed through the humongous space, plopping on every sofa we passed.

“This is one seems nice,” he said, bouncing up and down on the cus
hion. “Soft…yet supportive.”

“I’m going
to
sit
on it not date it,” I chuckled.

I
took a look at the price tag. “Yeesh…I don’t care how comfortable it is. I’m not paying that much for a couch.”

I fished my ringing phone out of my purse, Ricky’s name flashing across the screen.
I debated whether or not to answer the call since I was with Danny. It had been so long since we last spoke that I didn’t want to miss the chance to hear Ricky’s voice again.

A sudden wave of guilt washed over me as I peered over at Danny who had moved on to
another sectional. It wasn’t as if there was anything remotely romantic about furniture shopping. But I knew that if Ricky found out I was with Danny, he might never call again.

“Hello?”

“Hey beautiful. I was thinking about you.”

I sunk deep into the leather cushion, an involuntary smile spreading across my face.
“Really? I was starting to think you forgot about me.”

“That’s not possible,” Ricky laughed. I pictured his broad smile, while he laid shirtless on his bed. I squirmed at the thought, my cheeks blushing with heat.

“It’s nice to hear your voice,” I said, keeping my eyes fixed on Danny as he made his way back towards where I was sitting. “But can I call you back a little later?”

“Too busy to talk to me now?” Ricky teased.
“I wanted to talk about coming to see you.”

Danny sat down close to me. “So what to do you think?” he asked me.

I froze, fearing Ricky had heard Danny’s voice.

“Are you out with
someone?” Ricky asked. There was an edge to his tone. “Who’s that?”

“I’m just buying a couch…got tired of sitting on the floor.”
I rolled my eyes at Danny, who kept asking me questions even when I gave him the shut up signal.

“
A couch? Uh huh…Okay. Well call me when you’re not busy.”

I promised Ricky I would call as soon as I got back
, as Danny stared, waiting for me to hang up.

“Who was that?” he asked, reclining the seat back.

“A friend,” I said, getting up. “From back home.”

He followed me as I continued through the store.

“A guy friend or…”

I scowled at him. “What difference does it make?” I sat on another couch that had a decent price tag. “This one seems good.”

He ignored my attempts to change the subject. “A boyfriend?”

I sighed. “No…well, not anymore.”

“I see.”