Bringing the Body Back Home (Chapter 1)

Iris invites a client over for dinner.

Bits of parmesan cheese fell from my grater into bowls of salad like snowfall as my doorbell rang. I hated the way it sounded, because it was so loud and startling, like a cry for help. Strangely enough, today, I was looking forward to hearing it.

Eve’s brown eyes sparkled as she trudged inside. The snow from outside was piling up like secrets held with a liar’s heart. My breath hitched as my eyes met hers. “Today’s been rough,” she confessed. “But”, she paused, taking a breath, “it’s good to see you.”

“I’m awfully sorry about that,” I replied. “It’s good to see you, too. Make yourself at home.”

Eve gently put her purse onto the black marble counter. The black-and-white interior looked kind of dull and dreary at most times, but it complimented Eve’s firery red hair perfectly.

Watching her take her coat off felt like watching a chameleon change its colors after hiding from a predator. Beneath her massive fluffy hot pink coat, Eve looked like a totally different person. You would’ve thought that she was a model with that coat on, but the brown sweatshirt and baggy jeans that it concealed told a very different story.

I set the bowls of salad onto the dinner table gently, letting them sink into the tablecloth as if they were slowly climbing into bed after a long day of work.

I dreamt of vacationing with Eve in Paris, sloppily eating pot-au-feu from a booth up against the window, giving us a perfect view of a small fraction of the bustling city. I’d surprise her with dinner at this fancy restaurant, one she’d been wanting to visit for years now. I’d watch her eyes grow big as she saw the big sign on its door, and marvel at the gold-covered handrails that would soon give way to the restaurant’s doors. Sure, the rails wouldn’t be covered in real gold — but it’s a beautiful color, nonetheless. But for now, frozen lasagna with salad would have to do.

“Food’ll be ready in a minute,” I told her. Eve had already taken a seat in the dining room. It would only be a few seconds until the oven beeped, letting me know that the frozen lasagna I had put in there was finally ready to eat. I took it out of the oven and carefully removed it from its tight little tray, then placed it onto a cutting board. I sliced it in half, making a big THUD! with my knife on the kitchen counter by the sink. “Shit”, I whispered, somehow loud enough for Eve to hear it. Welp, I thought to myself. At least you cut it right and didn’t cut off your finger!

“You could be quieter, you know,” she joked with a hint of a giggle in her voice.

“I could…” I trailed off, thinking of what to say next. “But then, how would you know I’m doing something worth noticing?”

Eve’s laughter grew. “Are you practicing for an infomercial?”

I tilted my head ever so slightly, and a quiet little giggle escaped from my permeable lips.

“No,” I said. “I’d need a good tagline. Something witty, but not too witty… maybe ‘it can’t hurt your hands’ could work. I suppose I know enough about this knife to write a script for it right now. It can cut through lasagna, but also apples, and tomatoes, and… other things, I suppose.”

Eve giggled. “Funny girl, you always do that.”

“Do what?“ I asked in earnest.

“Turn small things into stories. You could’ve just said that the knife was sharp, but no… you made it a whole pitch.”

“Don’t blame me. You’re the one who brought up infomercials. But I guess my brain works like that, constantly going off on tangents, and my mouth simply echoes it. Gotta keep it interesting, I guess.”

Eve twirled her fork absentmindedly. “I like it. Makes me feel like… I don’t know, like even something simple, like dinner, is a little special.”

For a second, I questioned what to say next. The warmth in Eve’s voice had caught me off guard. Food was expensive; to me, it was not simple in the slightest. But the kindness of Eve's words stuck to me like honey.

Words came to me like a rainbow in the dead of night. Difficult and unexpected. “What a kind thing of you to say.” Nothing else... nothing else managed to come out of my mouth. I carried the lasagna into the dinging room in a little glass dish, setting it in the middle of the table, then lifting the spatula to put a slice on Eve's plate and then my own.

"Anyways, I hate to be the bearer of bad news... but I fear your toaster, is, indeed toast."

She sighed. "I figured it would be."

"The circuit board is totally fried. That costs $200 to repair. Plus tax. You'd be much better off just buying a new toaster."

She looked a bit judgemental; I'm not quite sure how to put it. "Shit, really?"

"Yeah. They sell new toasters for less nowadays." I pulled my phone out of my pocket to show her. "You can get them for a hundred off of Cohort."

"Fuck that company. I'm not buying from them."

"I try to avoid them whenever possible." I scrolled a bit, showing her all the different options. "Look, here's a different model by Teeza. It's the same color, too."

"Nice. Ooh, that pink one is pretty."