Sarah was sitting in her living room with Stacy. The two of them had been taking some time to warm up until the snowstorm outside had subsided. Stacy was the forecast on her phone to try and figure out when that might happen.
"Damn." She said.
"Hmm?" Sarah responded.
"Looks like the weather's supposed to get cold enough tonight for the roads to freeze." Stacy explained, "I'm not sure I'll be able to drive home."
"If you need to you can stay here for the night." Sarah offered in response.
"I might just do that." Stacy said with a smile. "I'd better let my dad know where I am and that I'm ok first."
"Probably a good idea." Sarah replied. She looked outside at the still falling snow. "I'm glad we're not still stuck out there." She thought out loud.
"No kidding." Stacy replied, "We're lucky Randy was able to get Chase to help us out. Otherwise we'd probably still be waiting."
"Yeah..." Just hearing his name was enough to make Sarah start daydreaming.
"Hey, you there?" Stacy said after a few seconds.
'What?" Sarah said as she snapped back to reality.
"You were daydreaming again." Stacy explained with a chuckle.
"Oh..."
Stacy laughed, "Don't worry, I can't blame you." She paused for a second to read a text. After replying she looked back to Sarah. "So are you gonna find a way to talk to him since he literally lives right across the road from you?"
"Maybe..." Sarah responded.
"What kind of answer is that?"
"Good question."
"Good grief Sarah." Stacy teased, "You're really gonna just live right next to him, knowing that he's single, and not even try to get to know him?"
"I'd like to but I'm pretty sure I don't know how to talk to guys."
"You've seriously never tried to get with a guy before?" Stacy asked.
"Not really. Most of my time in the dating scene was spent avoiding guys who just wanted to get laid." Sarah answered. "I'm used to the guys chasing me, not the other way around."
"Interesting." Stacy said before thinking for a few moments. "Hey, I have an idea for an icebreaker."
"Hit me."
"You're going to make some pies for your family's thanksgiving this week right?"
"Yes?" Sarah asked confused where she was going with this.
"Why don't you take him some of your leftover pieces? You could say they're a 'thank you' for helping us out." Stacy suggested.
"Why?" Sarah asked.
"I mean at the risk of sounding a bit cliché," Stacy began, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach."
Sarah laughed. "Do you really think that would work?"
"It'll be an excuse to start a conversation if nothing else."
"I guess that's fair." Sarah agreed. "I might just do that."
"If you do, let me know how it goes." Stacy asked.
"Ok."
The two were quiet for a moment before Stacy spoke again. "Ok, we started talking about food and now I'm hungry" She said with a giggle.
"I mean it is about dinner time." Sarah agreed. "Do you have anything you want since you're stuck here?"
Stacy thought for a moment. "I could go for some chicken tonight, not gonna lie."
"I actually think I have some frozen chicken breasts. I could steam some broccoli to go with it too."
"Sounds good." Stacy agreed. "I'll help you out."
Sarah got up and went to her refrigerator, she opened the freezer, got out a bag of broccoli and set it on the counter. Then she opened the refrigerator, pulled a pack of chicken breasts out and set them on the counter.
"What all are you gonna need to cook?" Stacy asked looking through the cupboards.
"I was just going to sauté the chicken so a frying pan should be fine. As far as the broccoli, that can just be cooked in the bag; all it'll need is a bowl when it's done." Sarah answered.
"On it." Stacy replied. Meanwhile, Sarah found some vegetable oil, salt, and pepper and set them with the chicken and broccoli. "Will these work?" Stacy asked, holding up a pan and a bowl.
"Those should be fine." Sarah answered. "Would you mind putting a little oil in that pan and put in over a medium-high heat?"
"Sure thing." Stacy responded as she did as asked. Sarah set to opening the chicken and she sprinkled them with some salt and pepper to add a little taste to the meat.
"Where are your plates and utensils at?" Stacy asked after starting the stove.
Sarah pointed to the cupboard she needed. "They should be in there."
"Ok." Stacy said as she got out a plate, cup, and set of utensils for each of them. Just then, Stacy's phone started ringing. Sarah turned to her as she pulled it out to see who was calling. "I should probably take this." She said.
"There's a room down the hall on the right if you want some privacy." Sarah said, sensing the mild urgency in her voice.
"Ok, thanks." Stacy said as she answered the phone and headed down the hallway.
Sarah then turned her attention back to the task at hand. She looked over to the pan on the stove and noticed ripples forming in the oil, indicating it was ready for the chicken. She took the chicken breasts and laid them out in the hot oil. As she waited for them to cook she put the broccoli in the microwave and set the timer. At that point she had a few minutes to relax before the chicken needed flipped.
Her mind wandered a little in the idle time. She thought about her family's upcoming Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. She would get to see her mom again for the first time since she'd moved out in the summer. Sarah found that she missed cooking for someone other than herself. After her dad had passed away, her mom found a job in order to make ends meet while she finished school. Since her mom wouldn't get off work until well after she was home from school, Sarah had taken to cooking and some of the housework to ease the burden on her mother. She thought about how now her mother was on her own and she wondered how well she was holding up.
"I guess I'll get to see her Thursday." She thought to herself. She was sure that her mom was fine but she still missed her after being away for three months. Most of the time, her mom wasn't even able to text her, courtesy of her hours at work having changed soon after she'd moved out.
After letting her mind wander for a couple minutes, she decided it was time to flip the chicken pieces. As she did so, she heard Stacy from the hallway.
"Ok, bye, love you." She said as she hung up the phone. "Ok I'm back." She added as she walked into the kitchen.
"Everything will be done in a couple minutes." Sarah told her.
