A Touch of Cinnamon

She sighed. Closing her umbrella she took a long look out the main door of the apartment building that she just entered. Dark, gray, and raining: typical California November weather. Water dripped off her clothes. Even with an umbrella she always managed to get wet. She opened her mailbox and pulled out a giant pile of papers and pressed the button to the elevator. As she waited she began sorting through her mail. Her mail consisted of ads, coupons, bills, and more bills. 'Wonderful' she thought sarcastically to herself. She took the elevator up to the fourth floor, walked over to her apartment, and unlocked her door.

The opened door revealed the inside of a small, cluttered studio apartment. She spent most of her days working and didn't have much time for doing chores. Clothes were strewn about on chairs and papers cluttered a dining room table that was scrunched into a corner of the room. The only part of her apartment that was kept clean was the kitchen. Cooking was one of the only activities in her life that kept her sane these days. There was so much work to be done at the law firm that she couldn't even manage to get an extra day off to go home for Thanksgiving.

She cooked a pot of beef stew and sat down to eat. Her mind wandered to the thought of spending Thanksgiving alone. Maybe she should make a turkey? No, there was no one to share it with. Normally on Thanksgiving, she would be helping her mom create a feast for the twenty other relatives coming over to celebrate. This year, she may not even celebrate at the holiday at all. Depressed at the thought, she momentarily stopped eating and looked down at her food. Just then she heard a knock at her door causing her to jump. Annoyed, she walked over to the door and jerked it open.

A cheerful "Hi" escaped the mouth of the smiling blonde pup of a man. It was her neighbor Erich. The 23 year old almost always could be described as a bubbly bunch of sunshine with too much energy. His appearance didn't help that aspect either. His blond hair glittered as though it were the sun itself and although, his eyes were somewhat small, they always shone. One dimple showed on his right cheek and it only added to his warmth and charm.

"Some of your mail got put into my mailbox," he continued, shoving another bill in her hand. He walked right into the apartment uninvited but she was used to it by now. She still wished, however, that he would take note of the mood she was in before he busted his way in. "It smells so good! Is this your stew?" he asked, looking up with his brown puppy dog eyes.

"Yes, go ahead and help yourself," she said reluctantly. Not only did he always barge in, he always happened to barge in right after she had cooked dinner. She usually made extra food for left overs but whenever Erich stopped by the pot was left completely bare. She watched Erich search for the largest bowl she owned and pour the remaining stew into it. "Why don't you just eat from the pot? It would save me from washing one more dish."

"Dawn, you know I couldn't do anything so uncivilized," he said as he made a point to use his sweatshirt to wipe his mouth. She rolled her eyes and let out a small chuckle. "By the way Dawn, I have a favor to ask of you."

"I am not taking your clothes to the dry cleaner again. You're old enough to do it yourself."

"No, it's not that. My mom is coming into town in a few days for Thanksgiving. She's staying for a week."

"Well, good for you. She can take your clothes to the dry cleaners then."

" Ha-ha-ha. She will. But really, she has been nagging me to get serious and buckle down with my life. I have a steady job now but what she really wants---" he pretended to wince at the thought, "is grandkids. I told her that I have a serious girlfriend so that she wouldn't set me up on blind dates."

"So what does this have to do with me?"

"Well, she expects to meet my girlfriend this holiday but the problem is I don't actually have a girlfriend."

"Good luck then. I'm sure you'll be able to ask out one of the girls that I always see you with." Ever since he had moved in, Erich seemed to have short, petite, blonde girls hanging onto him. It was unclear what their relationship was to Erich but Dawn had always assumed that they were dating, or fucking, or both.

"Actually, I was hoping you would pretend to be my girlfriend for the week."

"What? You have to be kidding me. Go ask someone else and maybe someone your age I might add."

"Why should I ask someone else and besides, you are my age. Just because you are six months older doesn't mean we're generations apart."

"Why does it have to be me?"

"You aren't going home for Thanksgiving right? There should be no problems then."

"So you're saying I'm a last resort? Thanks."

"That's not what I mean Dawn. I mean you're pretty, smart, talented, and successful. There's no way my mom couldn't approve of you as my girlfriend. You being available for Thanksgiving just adds to the perfection of my plan."

"If your plan were so perfect, why would you need to ask me to pretend to be your girlfriend?"

"Fine, I didn't completely think things through when I told my mom I had a girlfriend, but please Dawn do me a favor. If you do this I'll do anything you want me to for a week!"

"Anything?" She asked raising an eyebrow. Glancing over at the sink she saw a pile of dishes that needed to be washed. God, did she hate doing dishes. She began imagining an apartment with no dishes to be washed, no clothes to be hung, and no papers to be organized. Now that would be bliss. "Done! Have fun doing my chores for a week." She smiled sweetly.

"Thank you! What would I do without you?" He grabbed her shoulders, kissed her on the cheek, and bounced out the door. Dawn was left sitting in astonishment. What did she get herself into?

*****

The following day had been so busy for Dawn that she forgot about her agreement with Erich. The law firm she recently took up position with was working on a large case that required the utmost attention. Although, she was not that imperative to the firm, her bosses kept her running from one task to the next. She did not arrive home until late that night and to her surprise Erich was sitting in front of her door. He stood up abruptly when he noticed her walking towards him.

"What took you so long?! I was waiting here since I got off work and I'm hungry. What are you making for dinner? By the way, we need to go over some things before you meet my mom. See I have a whole list..." He rambled. Dawn knew he would have kept up with his incessant talking but she interrupted him.

"Erich. Be quiet. I'm tired and we'll get to everything you want to talk about but first just let me open the door and take off my shoes." She shuffled him to the side, opened the door and collapsed onto the nearest chair. After pulling off her heels she stood up again to start dinner.

"Grilled cheese sandwiches?" Erich asked.

"Look, I'm tired and it's late." Dawn irritably replied.

"Hey, I'm not complaining. Grilled cheese sandwiches are good. So anyways, back to what I was saying earlier. My mom wants to meet you on Sunday. She's arriving at the airport at four-thirty and she wants to go to dinner at seven. I'll meet you at your apartment and I'll drive us over to the restaurant. She'll meet us there." He paused for a brief moment while Dawn plopped a plate with a few sandwiches on it in front of Erich. He dug in and somehow managed to continue speaking between bites. "My mom doesn't like anyone who's sloppy so make sure you dress up. You can't show up in your normal jeans and t-shirt that you normally wear on weekends. Don't wear too much makeup but she prefers girls who wear at least some. She knows that I like girls that are quirky so make sure you show your personality but she is also conservative so be careful not to take any jokes too far. There's a lot of other notes I've made but here, you can look at them yourself." He pushed a sheet of paper towards her that was covered in writing from front to back and swallowed his last bite of sandwich.

"How does this fit in with what you said yesterday about how I was pretty, smart, talented and successful and that there was no way that your mom could object?" Dawn asked incredulously.

"Well, I'm not saying that you aren't any of those things but my mom can be very criticizing. So just take a look at my notes and everything is ok, but I think I may have forgotten a few things." Before he could say any more she tore the sheet of paper into quarters and threw it in the trash.

"Look, I know you're worried, but if she doesn't like me, that just means that you'll have to attend a few bad blind dates. Now, if you don't mind, I would like to get some sleep." He looked up at her as though he was about to cry but it was hard for her to care at this moment. Normally that look would make her take back her statement and allow him to stay for longer. Tonight, though, that was not going to happen.

As she pushed him towards the door, he instantly realized that she must have had a bad day. Rather than allowing her to toss him out, he quickly ran back to the kitchen. She sighed in frustration while he put some milk on the stove and added some chocolate powder into it. He knew she loved hot chocolate. When he took the hot chocolate off the stove he grabbed a bottle from the spice rack and tapped some of its contents into the hot chocolate. He grinned up at her and said: "Don't worry, it's just a touch of cinnamon. Trust me this will make your day better. Good night" He said staring into her eyes while he brushed his hand through her hair. At that he left.

She sat at the table vexed. Why did he have to come over? The last thing she needed today was a lecture about how she should impress his mother. For goodness sake, she wasn't even his real girlfriend. She could care less about his mother's opinion of her. After taking a sip of the hot chocolate though, Dawn couldn't help but to feel some gratitude for Erich's visit. He was right. This did make her day better.