Thankful for You

Andrea was sitting on the kitchen counter of the apartment, swinging her legs out of boredom. Ivory was bustling around the kitchen, making lunch for the two of them.

"Ivy, I'm bored," Andrea whined and pouted. Ivory rolled her eyes and slipped her phone out from her back pocket.

"Here, play with this," she giggled as Andrea's eyes lit up on the phone. "You're like a little kid," she mumbled and went back to making egg salad.

"Oh, but that's what you love about me." Andrea continued to swing her legs as she scanned the latest photos taken with Ivory's phone. "You were born to be a mom."

"And since I can't find my mister to have lots of kids with, I just settle on taking care of you.” Ivory rolled her eyes and stirred the pasta that was boiling on the stove.

“One new text message,” Andrea read the words from the screen in a monotonous voice. “Who the fuck is Bassam?” Her eyebrows scrunched together as she clicked open on the phone.

Ivory felt a sinking in her stomach. “He’s an old friend from school.” She mused over the words. After all the time she’d known him, she still had a problem finding the right words to describe him.

“A friend who calls you beautiful?” Andrea teased as she read the message out loud to Ivory. “Hello beautiful, smiley face, how is your day going?” She giggled and looked up to see a slight red tint covering her best friend’s cheeks.

“He’s just a friend.” Ivory bit her bottom lip as she made to snatch the phone from Andrea. Andrea had height on her side and easily pulled the phone out of Ivory’s reach.

“Doesn’t sound like just a friend.” Andrea teased some more with a smirk firmly planted on her lips. “Sounds more like a secret lover.”

“If you don’t hand me my phone right now, I won’t feed you for a week.” Ivory threatened as she rested her hands on her hips in a stern, motherly way.

Andrea frowned and handed over the phone. “You’re no fair.” She pouted and watched as Ivory quickly texted back and set the phone back on the counter. It was silent for a few minutes as Ivory distracted herself with the food and Andrea stared curiously at the phone. “So,” she started, “how old is Bassam?”

Ivory sighed, but answered. “He’s twenty-two, like us.” Ivory didn’t feel comfortable talking about him, but she knew Andrea wouldn’t lighten up until her questions were answered.

“How do you know him?”

“We went to school together and worked together our senior year.” Ivory briefly thought of the long afternoons spent watching two boys try to stick cheese to the ceiling at her old high school job.

“And how long has he called you ‘beautiful’ for?”

“Since about a week after he met me.” Andrea’s eyebrows rose with interest.

“He only knew you for one week and he was already smitten?” Ivory couldn’t help but laugh at Andrea’s old style vocabulary.

“You could say that.” Ivory shrugged and turned the burner off as she moved the pot off of the heat.

“Is he really hideous?” Ivory’s mouth hung open as she stared at her best friend. Andrea’s bluntness was usually a good characteristic, but sometimes it was a bad one.

“Andie!” Ivory squealed and shook her head.

“What? It’s not like he’s here to hear me call him hideous.” Andrea crossed her arms over her chest. Sometimes she got frustrated with Ivory’s strict rules. She wasn’t completely sure why Ivory always did have to act like a mom. “So, is he?”

“No,” Ivory groaned as she leaned over to drain the pasta in the sink. Of course there was a mental picture of him stuck in her head now.

“Is he mental challenged?”

“Perfectly normal,” Ivory then snorted at her own words. “Well, as normal as a hyperactive, pervert minded boy can be.”

“So, you’re telling me he’s a funny, handsome guy who’s our age and apparently has a huge crush on you, and you’re not shagging him?” Andrea smiled triumphantly as Ivory’s eyes widened.

“No, I’m not shagging him!” Ivory exploded and then tried regaining her composure. “We’re just friends.”

“Right, just friends, friends who like to kiss and hold hands.” Andrea was only being sarcastic, but as she watched her friend blush profusely and avoid all eye contact, her mouth fell open. “You’ve kissed him!” She accused and then giggled as Ivory hung her head.

“We’re just friends.” She mumbled again and focused all of her attention back on the pasta in front of her.

“Okay, I want to hear the whole story now, not this ‘just friends’ bullshit.” Andrea hopped off of the counter and came to stand beside Ivory. “And start at the beginning, where you two met.”

“I told you we went to school together and worked together.” Ivory sighed, giving in to her best friend once again.

“You met at school?” Andrea pushed some more, hoping to get Ivory started on the story.

Ivory sighed one more time before she let the memories fully take over her. “Technically I met him at work.”