Jell-o was not his favourite dessert, a sentiment he shared with the dog. He had tried to sneak the bowl to the mangy pup under the dinner table in the dank, flea-infested apartment, but the canine responded only by barking. He discovered this had been tried before, as his host looked at him with disappointment.
“It was a lovely dinner” he lied to her. The steak was overdone (to the point of being nearly black), and the potatoes were still cold and crunchy inside. The wine was watered down. His fork was still dirty, but he tried to scrub that off with his thumb, though the (what appeared to be) cheese was caked on.
She smiled at him, and immediately lifted her hand to cover her mouth. The missing front tooth was balanced by the crooked others, which overall lead the eyes away from actually noticing either. Her hair was in a bun, and she was wearing too much perfume. “Things have been a bit tight lately, so it’s the best I could do.”
He smiled, and put his napkin (well, paper towel) on the table. “Shall we?” he gestured to the living room, which was slightly better decorated, though still sparse and unkempt.
“Okay,” she smiled again and stood, leaving the plates where they were. He wondered if they had moved at all in the past month.
As they sat on the squishy blue velvet couch, tears started to roll down her cheek. He put an arm around her shoulder, trying to soothe her.
“There there, it’s all right.”
“No, it isn’t. This is terrible, no one should live like this. I can’t afford any better, and can’t seem to figure out how to step up. I want to impress you, but can’t. I don’t have anything. I’m not worth anything.”
“Hey now, dinner was fine, and besides, you don’t need to impress me. I know you’re smart and funny and beautiful. Money isn’t important.”
She laughed bitterly, “It helps though.”
He smiled, and kissed her. As they settled back on the couch, the jell-o left on the table lost cohesion, dissolving to stick red goo that worked its way in to the finish of the table and joined the other stains.
Little Wee Stories 