The Darkness We Hide

“How is your ankle?,” Gareth asked, kneeling down in front of her. “Can I take a look?”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Michelle laughed, extending her leg, remembering the night before.

Gareth chuckled as he unwrapped the bandage. He could see that the joint had only bruised slightly, there was no swelling at all.

“Does this still hurt?,” he said gently probing the bones.

“Not as bad a last night,” Michelle replied, giggling when he inadvertently touched the bottom of her foot.

“Sorry,” he said, setting her foot on the floor. “Ready to go.”

“Let me get my shoes,” Michelle said, slowly putting weight on her injured foot. While it wasn’t the excruciating pain she’d experience the night before, the joint was still tender.

“Okay,” Gareth said, helping her sit back down. “Maybe going out to lunch is not such a good idea.”

“Yeah,” Michelle replied, thinking it would have been nice to sit and get to know this odd man.

“Would you be okay with ordering in?” Gareth suggested.

“We could do that,” Michelle breathed, pain making it difficult to speak. “That sushi place doesn’t deliver, but there is a great pizza place a few blocks over, and they do. There’s a menu stuck to my fridge.”

“First let me re-wrap this,” Gareth said, retrieving the discarded bandage from the floor.

With expert hands and nimble fingers he soon had her ankle securely re-wrapped. Rising, he moved into the kitchen returning with not only the menus, but also a cup of water and pain reliever.

“Thanks,” Michelle said gratefully, accepting the cup and pills.

“So,” Gareth said, handing Michelle the menus. “What are you in the mood for? What do you want on your pizza?”

“Buyers choice,” Michelle replied with a sigh leaning back into the cushions

“I know some people don’t like it, but I love bacon and pineapple,” Gareth said, looking to Michelle for her opinion.

“I have a deep dark secret,” Michelle replied laughing, her hand covering her mouth, “that’s actually my favorite, but there has to be jalapeno on it too.”

“Jalapeno?” Gareth repeated, mulling the idea in his mind.

“I can see that,” he agreed with a nod. “Now the most important question?”

“What’s that?” she asked leaning forward, assuming a serious visage.

“Crust,” Gareth said, smiling as he stared down at her, daring her to choose wrong.

“Hm,” she said, putting her index finger to her lips. “I say hand-tossed or this relationship, whatever it is, ends here.”

“Hand-tossed it is,” Gareth replied, the smile on his face telling her she’d made the choice he wanted.