Of coffee and casseroles

Somewhere along the line winter had ended and spring had come, the snow had melted into the ground and the nights weren’t quite as chilly anymore. Tiny leaves sprouted from their buds and animals awoke from their hibernations. Bugs, after being absent for months, were buzzing around again doing whatever bugs do.

And Nathalia had noticed exactly none of this these past few weeks. It was just now, standing in their little backyard, that she was able to take it all in. The smell of wet grass entered her nostrils and the chirping of birds sounded more enchanting than her favorite songs.

Between the police interviews, them moving her around, and just generally waiting for the next steps she hadn’t been outside as much. And when she was she was too preoccupied to notice the splendor of it all.

Spring was her favorite season of the year, the bleak and bare trees would soon turn green again and flowers would pop up in the most unexpected places. It was the season of a perfect balance between temperatures, not too hot and not too cold. Spring was also a season of rebirth, and god knows Nathalia needed a fresh start.

After taking it all in for a few more minutes she set to work. Shoveling the dirt around and thinking of the best way to arrange everything she lost herself in her work. The outside world had ceased to exist, it was just her and her plants.

Until a voice called out.

“Katherine dear, over here!”

Nathalia looked back at the house but to her surprise, there was nothing to see. She turned to scan the rest of the yard until she saw the grey hair of their neighbor Gertrude. Nathalia guessed the elderly neighbor had found something to stand on, as she stood just tall enough to peek over the fence.

“Gertrude, what a pleasure. How can I help you?” Nathalia said smiling as she walked towards her.

“Oh it’s horrible Katherine, I just don’t know what to do,” Gertrude said dramatically. But she didn’t elaborate any further, prompting Nathalia to ask about it herself.

“What happened? Can I help?” Nathalia asked worriedly. The elderly neighbor seemed to be in great distress. She had a weakness for children and elderly people, often resulting in being taken advantage of. By kids more often than by senior citizens.

“As a matter of fact, you can help me. You see, my daughter and her husband were coming over for dinner but canceled at the last minute! Isn’t that just so inconsiderate? And my casserole is already in the oven. I worked so hard on it, dear, and now it will go to waste.” Gertrude took a moment to breathe but continued before Nathalia had the chance to say anything.

“And so, if you and that handsome fiance of yours can join none of it would have to go to waste. Oh, I insist the two of you join, it will be lovely dear.”

“Oh, I’d have to ask-” Nathalia tried to reason. But she was cut off by Gertrude, who was having none of it.

“Oh nonsense, I insist you join us. Dinner’s at 7, see you tonight dear.” Gertrude said as she scurried off into her home, giving no time for objections and leaving Nathalia staring at the fence.

What just happened?

Leaving her yard work for what it was she made her way back to the house, making sure to take off her muddied shoes before going inside to look for Darius.

Eventually, she found him in the kitchen making coffee, eyebrows knit together in thought as he stared out the window. His features made him look angry, but by now Nathalia wasn’t sure if that wasn’t just the way his face was. There was a muscle twitching in his sharp jaw and all in all he looked as handsome as he always did. Yet Nathalia was scared to tell him about the invitation, she knew she probably wasn’t allowed to go visit random people, and the fact Darius would have to join made her even more anxious.

Since Nathalia was a poor liar she also wasn’t sure she’d be able to maintain their cover, fearing she’d slip up and Darius would have to report it all. Then they’d have to relocate and in the worst-case Darius would be replaced. Yet Gertrude didn’t leave her much choice so she breathed in deeply before sharing the news.

“Hi.” She started awkwardly, immediately regretting it as she thought it was a weird thing to say at this moment. Which it probably was since she was just standing in the doorway staring at him for the past minutes and there was no way he hadn’t noticed that.

“Hey, you want some coffee?” he asked as he held out a cup.

“N-no thank you, I uh, came to tell you something,” she replied as she was hit by a sudden bout of shyness. She should’ve prepared better.

“Alright, go ahead,” he said as he stood up to his full height, towering over her again.

Nathalia had trouble with finding the right words as she wasn’t even sure what had happened just now herself. She fell over her words and had to start again at some point. In the end, she was able to relay what Gertrude had said well enough for Darius to understand.

“So why didn’t you say no?” he asked. And although there was no malice in his voice Nathalia could imagine he wasn’t too happy to hear the news.

“She didn’t exactly ask, she just…kind of told me and was gone before I could even reply,” she answered truthfully. “So what do you think?” she asked after a moment of silence.

She expected him to berate her, tell her it was stupid and she should’ve found a way to turn down the invitation. But he didn’t. He just scratched the stubble on his jaw as he thought about it for a second.

“It’d probably be suspicious if we didn’t show up, old people like to keep an eye on everyone in their street so they probably know we’re always home which means we can’t make up some excuse.” He reasoned, “I’ve read their files and they seem harmless. I think we should just go and get it over with.” He grimaced at the last part, as though there were a million different things he’d rather do. Which was probably true.

“But what if something goes wrong? What if I forget my cover story? I’m a terrible liar, I’m sure everyone can see it.” She rambled on, but Darius just shrugged. He didn’t seem too concerned with any of these things.

“Just reread your file again and if you forget or feel like you can’t lie about it just ask them something about themselves. Elderly folks love talking about their own lives and I doubt we were invited because they wanted to hear about ours.”

“But what should I ask? I barely know them, what if I ask something insensitive or inappropriate? I don’t want to be weird,” she replied slightly panicked.

“You’ll be fine, calm down,” he said as he put his hands on her shoulders, causing her to stiffen up. Nathalia wasn’t used to being touched in any way and the reaction was completely involuntary. But Darius was trained to read people’s body language and noticed immediately.

“Okay, that might be a problem,” he said as he removed his hands from her shoulders. They were supposed to be engaged, but if she were to flinch away or stiffen at his touch the neighbors might get suspicious and spread rumors around. And being noticed was the last thing they needed.

“I- I’m sorry, I just wasn’t prepared. I’ll do better next time,” she said red-faced.

“It’s fine, but you need to get used to my touch. Let’s maybe practice for a bit.”

Although his reasoning was sound Nathalia was slightly hesitant. She felt a strange hum in her belly every time he came near. When he’d touched her it was even worse, yet it didn’t feel unpleasant at all. Just strange.

She slowly nodded her head yes as she braced herself.

No stiffening up Nat, this should be easy enough.

“Here, I’m just going to slowly touch your arm okay?” He said as he outstretched his arm, waiting for her approval. When she nodded her head again he slowly put his palm on her upper arm as he searched her face for any reaction. This time she didn’t stiffen, but she also didn’t quite react in a normal way. Her lips were pressed into a thin line and her face was pretty much expressionless. Which wasn’t a good thing considering they had to pretend to be in love.

“Nat, look at me,” he said, causing her to look up. “Just relax, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just holding your arm.”

Nathalia tried to relax but found it to be too difficult. It wasn’t just that she wasn’t used to it, it was also the fact he was standing close enough for her to smell his cologne and the heat of his hand was seeping into her arm. The spot where he was touching her was sparking with electricity and Nathalia decided it felt actually quite nice. It took her some time but she managed to relax somewhat, prompting Darius to go further.

“I’m going to move my hand now, are you still okay?” he asked. She just nodded again, not trusting herself with her voice. Slowly, he moved his hand down her arm, past her elbow, and stopped at her wrist.

“You’re doing great,” he said with a small smile, causing Nathalia to smile back up at him. She liked being this close to him. Until she remembered the dream she’d had that very morning and she couldn’t hold his gaze any longer. But when she broke eye contact Darius also let go of her wrist, making her miss his warmth instantly.

“Did she say what time she’s expecting us?” he eventually asked.

“yeah, she said dinner’s at 7,” Nathalia replied distractedly, still riding the high of being close to him.

“Shit, that’s in fifteen minutes,” he said after checking his military-style watch, causing Nathalia to panic. She’d been doing yard work all day and was in dire need of a shower. But she was confident she’d make it in fifteen minutes if she skipped on her hair. So she ran upstairs to get ready in record time.