We Only Breathe For So Long

I was running ten minutes late once I reached Eric’s door and that wasn’t good at all. I had this annoying habit of having to be in time at all times or else I’d get upset. That is the most ridiculous habit ever but it had its perks. Jane opened the door, she was wearing a brown apron and there was flour all over it.

“Hey Kylie!” she said with a very wide smile. She slightly hugged me not to get any flour on me.

I hugged her back and followed her inside the house. The boys were set and ready for the match. I must admit that I have no clue about soccer. I don’t know any teams, rules or players. I’m a vegetable when it comes to sports - except ice hockey of course. Greg was slouching on the couch in a very couch potato type of position and staring at the TV wildly. The game hasn’t even begun and he was so concentrated at the constant moving images on the screen. Eric heard our footsteps on the wooden floor and turned his gaze towards us. He smiled.

I smiled back. “Hey guys!”

Greg spun around with wide-opened eyes. “Are you guys done with the food?!”

“What are you talking about? I just got here,” I looked at him confused.

“That’s not how we treat our visitors Gregory!” Jane scouted at him with a motherly look. “It’ll be ready in 15 minutes, hold your horses for now. Well, stomach. If you boys helped me like planned, it would’ve been ready by now!” she crossed her arms against her chest.

I slowly shook my head in disapproval. “You people are such animals, how could you not help Jane out? What kind of people are you?” I asked while grinning.

Eric’s eyes were wide and he had a shocking expression upon his picture perfect face.

“I offered her help, she denied it!” he shouted, proving he had a reasonable excuse.

“But I’m a visitor!” Greg shouted back.

“You’re not a visitor, Greg. Visitors don't’ knock on our door at one in the morning and rape our refrigerators,” said Jane.

I laughed loudly. “Oh my word, did you actually do that or is it a heavy metaphor?” I couldn’t stop my lips from smiling. “You know what? Don’t answer that! You boys, stop pointing fingers. I’ll help Jane. Meanwhile, please be kind enough to set the table. Thank you!” I smiled while removing my jacket and joining Jane in the kitchen.

“Them two together is like high school all over again,” chuckled Jane. She was mixing a mixture rapidly.

“Tell me about it.”

A mountain of dirty dishes occupied the sink. Since I probably didn’t cook as well as Jane did, I decided to get on with the cleaning. I picked up the sponge and started the dirty work. I didn’t even know where to start. It seemed like a military army came over to have lunch. Suddenly a scent filled the air and I couldn’t help but close my eyes when I inhaled it.

“Whatever it is, it smells absolutely great. If it were a taste, I’m sure it would be delicious!” I commented.

“Nachos,” Jane said enthusiastically.

She was such a delightful person. She was always enthusiastic and positive towards things. I didn’t know her that well but he had this beautiful aura that glowed all over her. It contaminated people and made them be happy instantly.

“Where did you learn to cook such yummy stuff? It wasn’t from the Internet for sure. Those recipes always burn!” I laughed.

“If they burn, that’s probably because your oven or stove is more potent than the mediocre ones in the recipes,” she laughed. “I learned it from my mom, she’s a chef.”

“That pretty much makes my life so much clearer now,” I giggled. “Really? Wow, that’s is super cool! You learned from the best then.”

“Yes, I did!” said Jane while placing her mixture inside of the blender and adding some other things to it.

“Do your parents live here or somewhere else?” I asked.

Although I considered Eric my friend, I didn’t really know much about his background or likes. That was totally weird and delusional. What kind of friend doesn’t know that, right?

“Nope. They live miles away in Paris. My mom loves it and she has a couple of restaurants over there so they've been in the city of love for the past five years.”

“You guys probably miss them a lot,” I said. It was the same with me, not for so long but it was the same.

“You cannot imagine! But I think Eric misses them more. If the rest of our family wasn’t living here, he’d be a mad man. He absolutely loves our family. I think what gets to him the most is living alone. We’ve always had a big family and when our parents were around, they would always be at our old home and all. It isn’t easy for him to get used to living by himself. I live in Toronto so I’m not always around either.”

I laughed to myself. “You know what's funny? Every time I think I know Eric, something pops up and I realize I don’t know him at all.”

She stopped what she was doing to let out a long laughter. “He’s just programmed that way,” she grinned. “It’s hard to get him at first but once he opens up, it becomes less trickier. Not even I understand him fully. Only my mom holds that power.”

“Mothers… the knowledge of all!” I joked along, not thinking about my own.

Through the transparent window, Jane kept looking at Eric and thinking while at it. A few smiles would raise the corner of her mouth.

“All I want is him to find someone. He loves being around people and most of his life people have left him behind. Someone to help him not to be so alone anymore, you know?”

“Yeah, I understand.” I spoke softly.

“I can see he likes you.”

The soap was slippery against the plate I was rinsing it and what Jane said caught me by surprise. It slipped out of my hands and made a tremendous sound to the pile of dishes.

“Wha…” I softly chuckled. “I don’t think so.”

I tried my best to pull myself together after this obvious pathetic attempt of acting normal.

She laughed to herself. “I know Eric and he’s not an opened book when it comes to girls. He doesn’t show it at all. All he really does is look at the person all the time, constantly. When I was all alone in this kitchen, he didn’t glare once in this direction. Since you’ve arrived, he looked at you so many times that if put together it would’ve been a long stare!”

My cheeks were red beneath my low gaze. When it came to topics like this, I didn’t know what to say or how to react. I don’t even know how it was possible for me to have other boyfriends because I’m so awkward when it comes to these matters of the heart and couple stuff.

“IT’S BEEN 16 MINUTES ALREADY! THE GAME IS GOING TO START IN TWO. I SET THE TABLE ALREADY AND THIS IS NOT YOUR WEDDING SO PLEASE HURRY UP!” Greg shouted viciously.

Jane and I looked at each other and shared a deep laughter. We each picked up a nacho dish and some other servings and placed them on the table. The table definitely didn’t look like boys set it. It was quite simple but very organized.

“Wow, nice job you guys!” I told them impressed.

“You mean, I set the table you moron!” Eric jokingly insulted Greg for taking the credit.

“Well, then great job Eric!” I smiled towards him.

“HEY, HOW COME HE GET’S ‘GREAT’ AND I GET ‘NICE’? Greg loudly spoke.

“First, the game hasn’t started so will you please stop screaming! Second, I’m clearly special so suck it up.”

Eric made a run to the table and once Greg realized what was happening, he quickly stood up from the couch and joined the race. Eric won and grabbed a handful of nachos.

I laughed. “Where did I ever meet such idiots in my life?” I sarcastically asked myself out loud.

“Definitely not an online dating website,” Greg said while munching on some nachos himself.

We all spun our heads and gaze towards Greg with a confused expression stamped on our faces.

“Argh, never mind!” he said.

“Dude, you don’t always make sense. Remember that!” Eric said as tapping his head.

I laughed some more. From then on we just talked about random things and ate a lot! Throughout eating we mostly talked about the match even though Greg and Eric did most of the talking since Jane and I didn’t really know what was going on. We managed to finish all four trays of nachos, which is insanely a lot. By the time I finished eating, I couldn’t even breathe properly. Once the game was over, Jane started taking some dishes back to the kitchen. I stood up to help her clean up.

She placed her hands on my arm. “You don’t have to, not tonight. You were brave enough to wash that battalion of dishes,” she smiled tenderly.

I was so full that I didn’t even protest. Instead, I walked towards the couch and lay down while removing my boots. Eric joined me and sat on the coach beside me in a lazy manner.

“I am a good visitor ok? Not even visitor! I’m a very good family member Ms. Santini. I will help you with the cleaning to show how good I am.”

Greg started grabbing some dishes and headed off to the kitchen. The table was cleared. Jane and Greg were in the kitchen chatting about something funny because all I could hear was laughter. The match was over and nothing good was on TV. Eric kept switching channels at an attempt to find something good to watch. Silence predominated the dark room that was lit by the light from the TV solemnly.

He looked at me. “Do you like ice hockey?”

“I love ice hockey,” I said with a smile stuck to my lips. We held gaze for a full 30 seconds. He then smiled softly and turned his attention back to the TV before changing the channel once again.

“I like you so far.”