Change

by Melissa Stevens

  Chapter 14

  On my way home from work Tuesday evening I looked toward Devon's apartment on my way through the courtyard and saw him sitting in a lawn chair on his small front porch. I turned in his direction, as I approached I noticed he had a beer in one hand.

  "Hey, how's it going?" I asked him.

  "No complaints."

  "How's the new job going?"

  "So far so good. I show up early and your mom feeds me, or I show up on time and I'm on my own for breakfast. Either way I get up early and I work hard.

  "You're dad's easy to get along with. He tells me what needs to be done but doesn't micro-manage and follow me around telling me how to do it. He trusts that I can figure out how to do what he asks me to do, and if I can't that I'll ask for directions. I think it's gonna to work out well for both of us."

  "I hope it does, it's been wearing him out to have to train a new kid every year. He had to show each one how to do the most basic stuff. Most of it's stuff you'll already know, or you can figure out how to do on your own with a little instruction. They had to be shown over and over, and then, just as he got them trained, they'd quit when school started again, leaving him with no help. And he'd start again the next summer."

  "Well, I think he's likely hit an end to the cycle. So far, I like the work. Sure it may be rough and dirty, but I don’t mind that part. It's flexible, I get to be out in the sunshine and I like my boss, and I have no intentions of up and leaving at the end of the summer."

  "I wasn't thinking that you would. I think it'll work out for the best all the way around. So, if you're done for the day, what are your plans for the evening?"

  "Not much, I'm planning on sitting here and relaxing, maybe seeing what's on the screen before I crash for the night. I get up and go to work early you know…" He teased.

  "Have you eaten?" I asked.

  "Not yet. I was trying to decide if I wanted to try to fix myself something or use the push button stove."

  "Nuke or call for delivery?"

  "I was thinking delivery; I don't think I even have anything in the house I could just nuke."

  "Well, I have some lasagna in the fridge, if you want to come up, we can nuke it. If that interests you."

  "I don't know."

  "I have plenty, it's no trouble."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Yep, you can't make lasagna in a small pan, so when I get a craving for it I end up eating it for a week so it doesn't go to waste. You'd be saving me from that fate."

  "So by letting you feed me, again, I'm doing you a favor?"

  "You could say that."

  "Well, when you put it that way I guess I could be convinced to help you out. Especially for homemade lasagna."

  "Come on up whenever you're ready. I'm going to go up and get comfortable. I'll leave the door unlocked for you."

  "I'll be up in a minute, I'm going to finish this and close up here." He lifted his nearly empty bottle.

  "That's fine." I turned and headed back across the courtyard to the stairs that lead to my apartment. I heard Devon starting to move behind me as I climbed the flights of stairs to my apartment. I marveled for a moment at how my hearing had improved to hear such small sounds at that distance.

  I reached the top of the stairs and thumbed the lock on the door to let myself in. I went into the bedroom and quickly changed into a loose pair of shorts and a tank top, I wanted something comfortable to wear around the house after all day in a suit.

  Deciding not to wait for Devon to get started I went into the kitchen and started preparing dinner. I made two plates, put them in the microwave one at a time, and I had just pulled the first plate out and traded it for the second when I heard the front door open. I caught Devon's scent on the air still moving from the door opening and knew he was the one to open the door.

  "I'm in the kitchen," I yelled, pulling a fork out of the drawer, I set it on the plate with the hot lasagna and put it on the table. Devon walked into the kitchen and I asked "What do you want to drink? Water, Tea, soda, or another beer?"

  "Tea sounds great, if you don't mind."

  "If I minded I wouldn't have offered," I stuck my tongue out playfully at him as I grabbed a glass out of the cabinet and added ice before filling it with tea from a pitcher in the fridge. I set the glass on the table in front of him just as the microwave beeped that my dinner was hot. I pulled my plate out and picked up the fork I had used to cut up the two servings off the counter and joined Devon at the table. "So, what kind of screen do you watch?" I asked.

  "Eh, depends on my mood. I prefer movies to series, nothing to miss if you get busy and miss a week or ten."

  "I can see the attraction." I replied, "I have a few series I watch but it's the off season, so there's nothing new on. I do have a large movie library, you're welcome to pick something out and we can watch it, or you can take it back to your place if you want."

  "Hmm… Let's see... I have the choice of watching a movie all by myself, or watching one with a pretty girl... Seems like an obvious choice to me. What kinds of movies do you have?"

  "Only chick flicks and sappy romances." I struggled to keep a straight face. I couldn't manage it and soon broke out giggling.

  "Chick flicks and sappy romances, huh?"

  "Well, there might be a couple crime dramas, thrillers or shoot 'em up actions… Maybe, if you look really hard."

  "How hard might I have to look?"

  "Well, it would be really hard, you'd have to go in there and look through the list of recordings…" We finished our lasagna and when I picked up our plates I shooed him into the other room, "You go ahead, I'll load these and be right there." I loaded the plates and flatware into the dishwasher and refilled both of our glasses before carrying them into the living room to join Devon.

  I walked into the room and set Devon's glass on the end table next to the sofa where he was seated, I sat on the other end of the same piece of furniture and set my glass at my end of the same table. I had other furniture, but the sofa was situated directly across from my viewing screen, and it had the best view. Devon was scrolling through the list of my recordings

  "Chick flicks and sappy romances, huh?" He asked again dryly.

  "Well… Maybe I lied." I grinned.

  "Yeah, like totally opposite, I might find a chick flick in here if I hunt... But you have some classic action flicks in here, lots of thrillers, some comedy, a few horror.” He sounded surprised, “You even have some John Wayne westerns. He died when my mom was a baby. This is a lot like what my list would look like if I had spent a few years collecting films, instead of regularly paring it down so I have less to haul around like I have."

  "I'm glad you like it. Did you find something you wanna watch?"

  "There's some good stuff here that I haven't seen in years," He chose a film almost as old as me, "You picked a classic at my place last time, let's go for another."

  "Whatever you want, if it's in there I'll enjoy it."

  As the film started and the screen went black and foggy, you could hear a young girl's voice singing as a ship moved slowly into the frame. I kicked my shoes off under the sofa table and pulled them up into the seat beside me, curling in to a comfortable position to watch the film.

  "Make yourself at home," I told Devon, inviting him to kick off his shoes and put his feet up if he wanted to.

  We sat back and enjoyed the movie all the way to the final kiss, when I shut off the screen and Devon thanked me for dinner and a nice evening before he left, citing an early morning and a need to get some sleep.

  After he left I locked the door before walking through the small apartment turning things off, before showering and heading to bed.