Us Two.

The microwave droned on and on as Tracie paced the kitchen floor with a bored expression. She had just gotten home from a long day at the elementary school and she was dying to get some popcorn into her mouth while laughing herself silly at an old time comedy. She felt like Sweet Charity would suffice considering she loved the musicals from that time period. A nice, easy-going, naïve romance was enough for her to relax for the rest of the afternoon.

Her second graders had run her wild today. Tracie had planned a very special biology lesson with them that involved plants, insects, and lots of soil i.e. mud. It was safe to say that there was a big mess-- a lot of big messes-- and it took her a majority of her lesson planning for the next day to clean up. Good thing Andrea was there to help her because she would've been frustrated and lazy and left the mess for the custodians to fix.

Finally, the microwave came to 00:00 and beeped loudly three times, having the same sound pervade throughout her apartment for a few seconds. As soon as she popped the door open of the small microwave, some incessant knocking came from her front door. Tracie rolled her eyes and walked over to the cabinet behind her to grab two bowls to put the popcorn inside. When she was done, she placed both bowls on her coffee table in the tiny living room around the corner from the even smaller kitchen. Despite her nonchalance, the knocking persisted and got louder due to longer waiting from the knocker. At last, Tracie went and swung the black door open without checking the peephole.

“Jeez Juliet! Could you take any longer to get the door? My knuckles almost fell off,” exclaimed a tall, brown-skinned man leaning against the door frame. Despite his shout of disdain, his face donned a friendly smirk.

It was none other than Tracie’s life-long best friend, Jayin Kotecha. No doubt that she knew it was him especially since he wouldn’t stop knocking. After all, he was always quite persistent.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes once again as she went to take a seat on her suede, beige love seat with her remote in hand.

“How was your day, Juliet?” Jayin smiled smugly at her and popped a few popcorns into his mouth while dropping down next to her. Juliet was a role that Tracie had played in middle school and Jayin never let her live it down; even to this day.

“My day was long, Romeo. What about you? Anything new in the emergency room?” she replied with her own smug mug. It was Jayin’s turn to roll his eyes, but he smiled nonetheless.

“You know I have no idea, but I did get a new client today,” Tracie hummed a response as she munched on her popcorn while flicking her TV screen to Netflix through her Wii system. “He plays for the Phoenix Suns. He’s a rookie, but has a really promising future,” Jayin grinned with pride. He was a physical therapist for the main hospital in Albuquerque and a damn good one. He was finally working with athletes in the professional world.

“Then why is he taking you on as a therapist?” Tracie joked lightly. Jayin playfully threw the throw pillow he was resting on at her head. She laughed with a big smile. Her dimples peaked through for a few moments while she laughed.

“Hardy-har-har. Very funny. You’re just a hater.”

The two twenty-five year olds laughed together as Tracie found the movie and pressed play.



After two hours of Shirley MacLaine’s naivety, Jayin and Tracie proceeded to get ready for dinner. It was something they did every day during the week. A late dinner together was something of the norm.

But tonight was a little different because Jayin offered to cook. Tracie didn’t know what the big occasion was, but she was excited anyway. As she set the table, Jayin got out all of his ingredients and necessary spices out on the kitchen counters while also collecting the various pots and pans. He was cooking a traditional Indian dinner for her and his nerves were growing by the second.

He was so unsure of what her reaction might be with his question. This was the most nervous he’d ever been with her. They’d known each other for over twenty years and have shared so many secrets and experiences. It was incredible that he was so nervous. But no doubt, it would be life altering.

“Hey Trace! Why don’t you go take a shower and get fresh while I get this together?” he waited for her to reply so he could relax a little more with her in another room so he could clear his thoughts.

“Okie dokie. When do you think you’ll be ready?” Her question was innocent, but his nerves still heightened.

“Umm… Maybe about 30 minutes. Sound good?” As soon as the words left his mouth, Tracie rounded the corner and smiled at him. His heart made a little jolt.

“What’s wrong, Jay? Scared you gonna burn my apartment down?” That’s definitely the least of my worries, Jayin thought as he began chopping bell peppers.

He shook his head and decided to ignore her stares from two feet away. Then he heard her chuckle and almost thought he heard her head moving from side to side in mockery of him. “Well I shall hop in the shower now, weirdo. Tug the curtain if you need me.” And then she was gone.

His shoulders relaxed and he shook his head as well. Jayin couldn't believe the nerves and thoughts going through his system. Pull yourself together. Just cook the meal and get it over with. But those thoughts did nothing to calm him. The sudden sound of water spurring from a showerhead on the other side of the wall lifted a little weight off.

Soon, Jayin was flitting around the kitchen with flour on his clothes and small beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. He had just placed his floured chicken aside and began focusing on stirring and cooking the curry powder with garlic, cinnamon sticks, onions, and Garam Masala. He stuck his finger in the skillet after stirring for a little while. Seemed like the mixture needed some salt so that’s what was added before the chicken was marinated with all of the spices.

He turned the heat higher and began to stir, but only for a little while. Then he placed in the chicken broth so he could speed up the process. Cooking was doing a good job at distracting him especially since there were no other humans in the room. Chicken Korma would have to do for the night. To Jayin, sides were too much of a hassle. It made sense just to add vegetables in the main course so not to worry about using up extra dishes and having more things to clean. Maybe it sounds a little gross with certain things or a little lazy, but mixed food and drinks called for time-managing ingeniousness.

Meanwhile, Tracie was standing in the cramped shower holding up the wall. It was safe to say that she was exhausted. She had long been finished with cleaning her body, but she just wanted to stand under the soothing hot water for a little bit longer. The soreness and tiredness did nothing for her. Tracie had been working out lately and it added to her chasing and ranting around with her seven year-olds.

Soon after the last soap-sud was gone, Tracie turned off the showerhead and reached out to grab her towel. But, of course, she had forgotten it. Tracie groaned to herself as she yanked the shower curtain open. Before stepping out of the shower, she shook her feet free of water; at least she tried. Just to be safe, Tracie stuck her head out of the door leaving her body behind. She checked to see if Jayin was in the living room that was right next to the entrance of the hallway before she ran straight into her room across the hall. Tracie shut the door, but when she turned around, her heart took a big leap into the air.

Sitting on top of her bed was Jayin and he wasn't expecting Tracie’s appearance at all. Heat encompassed Tracie’s entire body as she stood in front of Jayin in her birthday suit. Of course they had seen each other naked before, but that was well before puberty had hit either of them. Not to say there wasn’t a period in time when Jayin tried desperately to catch Tracie in the nude.

After his shock wore off, Jayin jumped up from the queen sized mattress and immediately turned away from his exposed best friend and stared at the closed window-blinds above her headboard. Both of their breathing began to increase as silence took up the room. Tracie placed her hands over her private parts as she stared at Jayin’s back. Her naked body was full of nerves and she just didn’t know what to do. She then saw her towel sitting on the bed in front of Jayin.

“Ummm, Jay? My towel is sitting right in front of you… could you pass it to me please?” Her voice was calm and relaxed, but her insides were anything but.

However, unlike anyone else, Jayin heard the shake in her voice and instantly felt better. His shoulders relaxed from their tense state, his eyes eased open, and his hands unraveled from their tight fists. A little smirk formed on his face. He could use this little hiccup to his advantage. Jayin bent over and grabbed Tracie’s towel and then turned to face her. “Thanks,” she said as she took a hold of the towel, but Jayin wouldn’t let go. “Jay, what are you doing?” Her voice suddenly became frantic.

Jayin looked down as the hand grabbing onto the towel uncovered a woman’s greatest gift to man. What he wasn’t expecting was for Tracie to slap him across the face. After the impact, Jayin shook his head quickly. Then his expression was smug and he couldn’t help but smirk at her.

“Ugh!” Tracie rolled her eyes and roughly pushed Jayin back on top of her bed after snatching the towel and wrapping it around her petite body. “Why must you be such an ass!?” After the words left her lips, Tracie stalked into her closet to get dressed.

“I was just coming to tell you that dinner was ready. It’s not my fault that you turned out to be naked.” The smirk never left his face and neither did the image of her naked physique from his mind.

“I left my towel you jackass. You could’ve just knocked on the door instead of sitting in here calling for a free show.” she yelled out, her voice slightly muffled by the many clothes in her closet.

“Well how was I supposed to know that you were forgetful?! I’m the one who cooked dinner, remember?!” he yelled back with a slight chuckle.

“Gahhh! Why must you be so repulsive?” Tracie lightly shook her head and didn’t realize that Jayin had walked into the closet as she rummaged through a Rubbermaid© drawer for some comfortable panties.

“I may be repulsive, but your ass sure isn’t,” he muttered while blatantly staring at Tracie’s bare rear end.

Tracie audibly gasped as she finally found a pair of panties. She turned to face Jayin before putting her underwear on hastily. Now she stood before him in her sports bra and bikini styled panties. They looked heatedly into each other’s eyes for fifteen seconds before Tracie said, “We’re not doing this tonight.”

“At least, not until after dinner,” The smirk returned to his face as he walked over to Tracie and ran his index finger along her cheek. Tracie exhaled a huge puff of air while Jayin placed a kiss on her forehead. He chuckled at her annoyed expression and grabbed her hand. “Come on. We got some food to eat and some things to discuss.” His smile was big as he grabbed a hold of her hand and began to make his way out of her closet.

“Wait dammit! I have to get dressed you pee-brain.” Tracie huffed as she yanked her hand out of his grip. Jayin laughed boisterously before turning and grabbing a t-shirt and a pair of yoga pants off of two of her side shelves. He always wondered how she could fit so much organization into such a small space.

“I love your second graders, man. Giving you new vocabulary every day.” Jayin waited for her to dress as the megawatt smile stayed on his face. As soon as Tracie was finished, Jayin took her hand in his and they were off to the kitchen. The annoyed expression left Tracie’s face as she looked at the dining table. Then her own laughs caught Jayin’s ears as he pulled her chair out for her.

“You went with the ultimate combo again, huh?” she asked after they were both seated.

“Of course,” Jayin smiled sheepishly with his reply before serving Tracie some Korma.

“I swear, that’s the only thing all three Kotecha men have in common,” she murmured lightly and smirked at Jayin. He watched her take her first bite and bit his bottom lip in anticipation. This would be the first time he actually cooked something worth eating and he was nervous to say the least.

“Mmmm,” she moaned lightly. “Now that’s good. You’ve been holding out on me Jay. I’m a little hurt.” Tracie pouted playfully and continued to scoop the rice, chicken, curry, and mixed vegetables into her mouth.

“Well I’m glad you like it,” he replied as he cleared his throat. His nervousness returned as he remembered the sole purpose for him even cooking tonight. “What happened at school today?”

“It was tiring. Extremely,” Tracie sighed as she took another bite. “I came up with this semi-experiment for the kids. It was just a bunch of dirt, bugs, and filth. Never again,” she sighed heavily after her vague explanation. He noticed that she never explained much, but it still amused him. Her facial expressions always told her stories better than she did. He chuckled to himself after a few minutes.

“Tell me about that little rookie you have under your belt, mister.” She smiled with pride as she finished chewing her food.

“Well I don’t start working with him until Saturday, so I have a few days to plan what I want to do with him,” he said before he finally took a bite of his own dinner.

“Oooh. That means that I’ll be free to come... watch?” she asked hopefully. Jayin looked up at her reluctantly and lightly nodded his head. “Yay! Can’t wait.”

“Why do you want to come and watch,” he asked with a bit of edge in his voice. “You want to get a good look at Trey?” he looked up at her through his long eye lashes.

“What? Are you jealous, Jay? I can’t just come and watch my best friend perform his first, seriously professional client?” she looked at him as her eyes hardened, but then she smirked at him. “You really are jealous.” She stated it as fact and that’s how she felt.

“I’m not,” his voice rose just a few octaves as Tracie looked at him disbelievingly. “I just found it weird that you would want to see me putting my hands on another man.” Jayin shrugged and started eating silently again.

“That would be your insecurity. Not mine.” Tracie chuckled to herself as she pushed her still wet, sandy brown hair out of her face.

“But ummm, there’s something we need to discuss.” He looked across the table at her as she pulled her spork out of her mouth. When they locked eyes, Tracie knew whatever Jayin had to say was serious. She placed her spork onto her plate and gave him her undivided attention.

“What’s on your mind?” she asked with immense curiosity, but tried to hide it. She started fiddling with her fingers under the table when she saw him begin to rub the back of his neck. It was a nervous habit he picked up when he felt pressured or just flat out apprehensive about something; another thing he shared with his father and brother.

“You know how my father left the marriage thing up to me, so he won’t choose someone that I find totally repulsive,” he chuckled nervously while messing around with his food.

“Ok…… and? Have you found someone or something?” Tracie didn’t exactly believe Jayin had found someone considering he’s never mentioned a woman to her, but if that’s the case, she didn’t know how she would feel about the situation. Just the thought of marriage made her feel… weird. She couldn’t see Jayin being married to just anyone.

He was a very old-fashioned man. He was still a virgin for crying out loud. She was too, but it was different because she was a woman while Jayin was a full blooded American male. Jayin grew up in America and was exposed to everything the country had to offer. He was also very attractive so it was sort of surprising that he was a virgin when young girls and even older women were always throwing themselves at him.

“I think I have,” his statement was short and to the point. But the look on Tracie’s face made him feel… something. She looked as if he had betrayed her or something.

“What do you mean you have? I didn’t even know you were dating,” her tone of voice was accusing and she couldn’t help but to feel like he had indeed betrayed her. Jayin winced at her tone, but continued.

“I haven’t been dating. I just feel like I know who I should spend the rest of my life with and it just makes sense.”

“So you’re just gonna marry someone who you don’t know and that’s that? What happened to finding someone you love? What happened to not rushing into anything,” she shook her head at him and looked down into her lap. “I’ve never even met this woman,” Tracie sounded exasperated and she didn’t know what to think again. “Who is she?” Jayin had thought long and hard about what to say to her before, but he was just winging it now and it didn’t seem to make anything any better.

She finally looked back up at him and looks were exchanged. It was so tense that Tracie herself was getting extremely restless and anxious. She almost screamed out, but was beaten by a question she was too shell-shocked to even look Jayin in his deep, brown eyes.

“Will you marry me?” Jayin sputtered out with no remorse. He finally felt the weight lift from his shoulders, but now he realized the burden he had just placed on Tracie. While he took a breath of relief, she held hers with contempt. At that moment, nothing was clear to her and she just didn’t know what to say. “I know it’s unexpected and kind of unorthodox, but I’ve been thinking about this for a long time and it’s just the perfect solution.”

Tracie scoffed before she relented, “How the fuck is that a perfect solution? Perfect for what? For who?! Please explain this to me, Jayin because I don’t understand!” Jayin looked into her eyes as she finally made eye contact with him. Her beautiful, greenish hazel eyes were darker than they had ever been. Jayin gulped down a shaky breath.

“You know how my father is. He’s been pressuring me to settle down and have kids for a long while now and I just can’t seem to find anyone adequate enough. It’s just been going through my head for a while and it makes sense.” His explanation made all the sense in the world to him, but he also knew that Tracie wouldn’t accept it with open arms. A lot of people wouldn’t.

“How the hell did I come into the picture?! When did I ever give you the “ok” that I would step up and be your wife to appease your father!? You’re not even ready for marriage,” she yelled again. This situation was just too fucked up to her. She’d known Jayin for a very long time, almost since they started elementary school and they had never gone further with each other than making out and fondling each other on his futon at his condo. “I mean we’ve never even been in a relationship further than friends with benefits. We’ve never even had SEX!?” Jayin cringed with her emphasis on the word.

“Of course we’ve never had sex. It’s meant to be a moment between a husband and his wife,” He watched as she rolled her eyes and angrily began eating again. He knew she would blow up, but he was also hoping for her to give in after she calmed down. “You know I love you, Tracie.”

She didn’t look up at him, but continued to eat. Then he saw tears start to flow down her cheeks. They were coming fast, cascading down her face like Niagara Falls. A knot formed in his throat and he pushed away from the table to go on her side. Before he could kneel down next to her, Tracie put her hand out as if to say, “Stop.” She looked up at him with the tears falling freely. It was obvious that they both loved each other, but it was just too much to decide and take in. Marriage was something serious and once you get in, it’s best not to take back. Tracie didn’t want to be a woman to divorce. She wanted her first marriage to be her last and she wanted it to survive until the day she took her last breath.

“Gahhh, Jayin! Why would you do this to me in the middle of the week?” Loud sobs wracked her body and she stood up from her seat and walked back to her bedroom. She was through eating and looking at him. But it seemed the latter wasn’t going to happen.

“Because I know your head’s on straight with work and everything.” he bellowed as he followed her; oblivious to the fact that she was trying to get away from him.

“Well duhh! How do you think your little confession will affect the way I teach tomorrow!? Or for the rest of the month for that matter?!” she huffed and dropped down onto her bed. Her tears were beginning to lessen and she finally looked up at him. “You can’t spring something like this on me and not expect me to blow up. But knowing you, you probably wanted me to chew your ass out before you finished wining and dining me.”

Jayin tried to suppress the smile from coming to his face, but he couldn’t help it. Even when her eyes were watery and she wanted to stab him in the throat, Tracie still managed to crack a joke. He slowly slid down in front of the her and rested his head back against her legs. He was tall enough to lay his head back on top of her thighs. Her lovely, thick thighs.

“You’re the only woman I’ve ever thought about marrying,” he confessed. Tears started to stream down Tracie’s face again as she looked down into his eyes. “I know I should’ve established a more romantic relationship with you before doing this, but I feel like this is better for us.” Then he turned around and kneeled down with his chest leveled with her knees. He wiped away the tears and kissed her slowly on the lips. Then with his nose still touching hers and their lips still semi-attached, Tracie cooed softly,

“You’re still a pee-brain.”