First Class Menu (3 page)

David didn’t have any idea what to say to that.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do.” Lou shook her head
and sighed.

“Your mother?”

“Mom died about ten years ago. It’s just been me and dad
since then.”

“I’m sorry,” David said again. “Please, let me
help…somehow.”

“I don’t think there’s anything you can do. Tomorrow I guess
I’ll be down at the VA trying to figure something out.”

“The VA?” David asked. “Your dad’s a veteran?”

“Two tours in Vietnam,” Lou said. “He was drafted when he
was eighteen.”

“I’ll be right back.”

David stepped in to the hallway and pulled out his phone.
His brother Paul would help. He had all the connections and he would get this
ball rolling.

*****

“I don’t understand,” frowned Lou. “It’s not that we aren’t
incredibly grateful…but…how?”

David and Paul stood in the small hospital room were Mr.
Borsten looked as confused as his daughter.

“Our non-profit organization has dozens and dozens of
connections through the city, and thousands throughout the country, to make
sure that veterans, like yourself, get the medical treatment they need, and in
your case, Mr. Borsten, also a change in living accommodations. I can assure
you that this new apartment is well equipped to take care of your needs,”
explained Paul.

“But how will we pay the difference in rent?”

“Don’t think about that Dad,” said Lou. “I’ll figure it out
and take care of it.”

“Not necessary,” smiled Paul. “Your rent for the first six
months is taken care of, and after that, it is just the same as you were paying
before.”

“That can’t be right!” exclaimed Lou. “It’s a bigger
apartment…a nicer apartment in a nice neighborhood. It can’t be the same rent.”

David gently placed his hand on Lou’s arm. “That is what
this organization does. It takes care of our veterans. There are lots of people
who choose to, let’s say, subsidize your rent. Your father did a great service
for this country…one we cannot repay…but now at least let us try.”

“We don’t need your charity and…”

Paul interrupted her. “This isn’t charity. Not by a long
shot. This is allowing us to repay a debt we owe to your father. Please take
the apartment.”

Mr. Borsten looked at his daughter. “There’s no way I can
walk up stairs, Poo. I need an elevator when I get out of here and I need
doorways wide enough for my wheelchair.”

Lou nodded and smiled at her father. She turned to Paul and
David. “Thank you,” she conceded.

Relief flooded David. He really had wanted to help Lou and
her father. That was genuine. But he also wanted her stress and worry gone
before he asked her about the exhibit of her work he wanted to do. He wanted to
reduce the number of obstacles in his way.

Paul made sure Mr. Borsten had all of his contact
information before he left and then he said his goodbyes. David was relieved
his brother had been able to accomplish so much in just two days.

“Lou?” David said. “Would you mind walking me out?”

“You don’t know the way?”

David grinned. “Yes I do, but I wanted to talk to you about
something.”

“David, thank you very much for everything you’ve done,”
smiled Lou’s dad.

“Oh, it wasn’t me! Paul is the one who made it all work.”

“Well, I’m grateful to both of you,” he smiled.

“You just concentrate on getting better,” David said as he
left the room with Lou.

They walked down the hall to the elevator and David pushed
the down arrow. “I have something to ask you,’ he began and turned to Lou.

Her face lost all color and she looked like she was going to
be sick.

“What is it?” David asked.

“Look,” Lou frowned. “You’re a really nice guy and all and
not bad to look at, but…”

David threw his head back and laughed. His outburst stunned
her into silence. “You think I’m asking you out?” He laughed some more. “I’m
almost old enough to be your…older brother!”

Lou was instantly relieved. “So you aren’t…”

“No!” David chuckled. “No!”

“Oh good,” Lou exhaled.

David collected himself and started over. “The gallery I
work in, the Atherton, has recently expanded and I have a perfect place to show
your pieces. I want you to consent to exhibit your work with me, well, the
gallery.”

Lou was speechless. Her eyes about popped right out of her
head as she studied David to see if he was really serious.

“Lou,” he said. “Come back to earth.”

“You want to show
my
pieces?” she whispered.

“I do,” he smiled.

Lou jumped into him, all but knocking him over, as she threw
her arms around his neck.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he grinned.

That evening, David walked into the commercial kitchen
located in the community college. He had registered for the Adult Continuing
Education class, Introduction to Cooking. It was a twelve week course and the
instructor was some guy he’d never heard of. He would have liked to attend one
of Lindsey’s classes, but Thursday evenings were the best for him, and she
wasn’t even teaching a class this semester.

He looked around the room and at the people that were
milling about. It appeared that most were there as couples, but there were a
few singles, about twenty people in all. There were work stations in the room;
David counted twelve of them. Each station had two ovens built in under the
counter and a four-burner cooktop in the center of the island, dividing the
work space in two. Several stations were already occupied with couples eager to
begin. As David began searching for an open one towards the back of the room a
man’s voice caught his attention.

“Good evening, everyone. I’m Gavin, your instructor. If you could
each find a station, we’ll begin.”

David walked to the closest vacant workspace and a young
woman came from the other direction and joined him.

“This spot taken?” she asked.

“Nope! All yours,” David smiled.

“I’m Gwen.”

“Nice to meet you Gwen,” he said as he shook her hand. “I’m
David.”

Gavin interrupted their introductions as he began to explain
the course to his students. David and Gwen turned their attention to the front
of the room.

“This is a course that will introduce you to the basics of
cooking. Most of you probably feel lost in the kitchen and in this class all
that will change. Kitchen equipment, appliances, and grocery shopping will all
be covered in this course. But, naturally, you are all here because you want to
learn how to cook, and we’re gonna do that too!”

Gwen giggled. “I’m so excited!” she exclaimed.

David chuckled. He wasn’t. He really didn’t want other
people to see just how inept he was in the kitchen.

“Tonight, we are going to learn about knives,” Gavin
continued. “Open your drawer and pull out the knives.”

David did as he was told and followed along with Gavin as he
named the knives and what they were for. David figured his two steak knives at
home were probably insufficient and he’d need to purchase a nice set at some
point. He followed along as they cut different kinds of foods with each knife,
understanding each knife’s purpose and its design. They cut fish and bread and
tomatoes and a myriad of other foods, all with different knives and it was
quite informative. Gwen often giggled and proclaimed, again, how excited she
was to be there. By the end of the two hour class, David felt as though he had
actually learned something and was relatively happy with Lindsey’s
recommendation.

“After next week’s class you’ll have hopefully mastered the
basics,” Gavin finished up, “and then we will go over the menu that we will be
preparing during this course. I think you’ll be surprised.”

The students all clapped and cheered at the thought of
actually making something edible. Apparently most of them were as useless as
David in the kitchen. Somehow the thought comforted him.

*****

The next morning Janie met him at Macy’s.

“Thanks for coming,” David smiled and kissed her on the
cheek.

“Of course!” Janie said. “How can I help you?”

“I need to buy some knives.”

“For what?” Janie asked, looking very confused.

“Well,” he began, “I’ve enrolled in a cooking class and I
realized last night at the first class that I have two steak knives in my
kitchen and if I’m going to learn to cook, I’m going to need some stuff, knives
being first on the list.

“Bravo!” exclaimed Janie. “Good for you! But you know that
you’ll always be welcome for dinner.”

“I know,” chuckled David. “You have been extremely generous
with your invitations. If it wasn’t for you and Katy and mom I think I’d have
starved by now.”

Janie took David’s arm and they wandered through the store
to the housewares department.

“Where are the kids?” David asked, finally noticing Janie
was alone.

“Ella is with your mom. They’ve got a whole day planned.
They’re going to the zoo. Ella has been begging her to go for weeks and the
weather is finally nice enough. Maureen surprised her this morning. I would’ve
thought you’d heard the screams of excitement,” Janie laughed. “And Christopher
is at home with Matt. When I left, Christopher was riding around on Matt’s back
and he was ‘neighing’, like a horse.” Janie grinned and added, “And Matt was
the one ‘neighing’, not Christopher!”

“Matt’s at home? On a Friday morning? Is he sick?”

Janie laughed and shook her head. “He doesn’t go to the
office on Mondays and Fridays anymore. That’s not to say he isn’t in his office
at
home
on those days,” she chuckled.

 “Wow! He must
really
love you,” David grinned.

“I think so,” Janie smiled. “Now, let’s find you some knives.”

*****

Lou Borsten walked alongside her dad who was being pushed in
a wheelchair down to the medical transport van. He was being transferred to a
VA rehabilitation facility thanks to Paul Lathem.

“I’ll see you there, okay?” Lou kissed her father’s cheek
and the driver locked his wheelchair onto the lift and safely secured him
inside the vehicle for the drive.

“Thank you so much,” Lou said to Paul who had arrived to
make sure everything went smoothly, even though it wasn’t his job at all.

“Of course,” he smiled. “Let’s go. We’ll follow behind the
van.”

Paul opened the passenger door of his Lincoln for Lou to
slide in. He shut the door and ran around to the other side. “We just have to
make a stop on the way, if that’s okay?”

Lou nodded, “Sure!”

The van left in front of them and they followed for a few
blocks and then Paul turned right and drove a couple of blocks and parked. “Be
right back,” he said, as he jumped from the car and ran into the store.

Lou looked at the building. It was a baby store. There was a
crib in the window with a mobile of panda bears and a giant stuffed giraffe on
the floor. Lou could see Paul as he took a huge bag from the sales clerk and he
rushed back to the car. He shoved the package in the back and jumped back in
the driver’s seat, clicked his seatbelt on and merged into traffic.

“What is that?” Lou asked.

“A present for my wife,” Paul grinned. “She’s pregnant.”

“Congratulations!” exclaimed Lou.

“Thanks,” Paul smiled. “We’re kind of excited.”

“When is she due?”

“Beginning of November.”

They drove the short distance to the VA hospital and caught
up with Lou’s father just as he was being wheeled inside. Paul dropped Lou off
at the entrance and she ran to her dad while he found a place to park. As he
turned off the car his cell phone rang.

“Hey beautiful,” he grinned as he answered his phone. “How
are you feeling?”

“Hi,” came the reply. “You know, these kindergartners wore
me out when I
wasn’t
pregnant, but they’ve all just left so I thought
I’d call to hear your voice. Are you busy?”

“Nope. Perfect timing. I’m just going in to the Rehab clinic
to make sure Mr. Borsten is settled and comfortable.”

“You’re a good man, Paul Lathem,” Nic smiled. “You have a
big heart.”

“All the more I can love you with.”

Nic grinned as she spoke, “Well, I’ll let you go. Just
wanted to hear you.”

“I’d like to touch you,” Paul growled.

“Then I’ll see you at home?”

“No,” Paul shook his head. “I’ll be done here in a bit. I’ll
pick you up on my way. Don’t do anything if you’re tired. Just put your feet up
and wait for me.”

“Aye, aye Captain. See you soon. Love you.”

“Love you more.”

Paul returned his phone to his pocket and headed for the
entrance to find Lou and her father. As he walked past the rear of his car he
saw the giant bag in the back and grinned. All the pregnancy books he had read
in the past week or so had said that every pregnant woman needed a prenatal
total body pillow. So he’d found one for her. He would make sure that his wife
had everything she could possibly need to make sure that she and their baby
would be as healthy and happy as could be. He had prided himself on being the
best Navy Seal he could be and now he would make sure he was the best husband
he could be. Nic would want for nothing!

*****

When Janie returned home from shopping with David, Matt was
sitting at the bar staring off into space.

“You okay?” she asked as she slid her arms around him and
nuzzled his neck.

“How do you do it?” he asked.

“Do what?”

“I’ve only had Christopher for a few hours today and I’m
exhausted.”

Janie chuckled, “I’ve been doing it longer than you. I’m
conditioned. Is he asleep?”

Matt nodded. “Just put him down a few minutes ago. I thought
I’d grab a drink, but I’m too tired.”

Janie grinned at her husband. He really was adorable. “What
would you like?” she said as she opened the fridge under the bar.

“Just water.”

Janie pulled out two bottles and handed him one.

“How was shopping and lunch?” he asked as she slid onto the
stool beside him.

“David is taking a cooking class and decided he needed to
buy knives.”

Matt’s mouth dropped open.

“Really!” Janie continued. “So I helped him pick out some
knives and some mixing bowls and a nice set of pots and pans. Then Katy and I
went to this little Thai restaurant she and Mark discovered a few weeks ago. It
was really good! Did you eat?”

“Yeah,” Matt nodded. “I had some animal crackers and a
string cheese and some pears from a can.”

“That was Christopher’s lunch.”

“Yeah I know. He didn’t want it,” Matt grinned.

“Would you like me to make you something?”

“Yeah,” Matt growled. “Make love to me.” He grabbed her
around the waist and hoisted her onto his lap.

Janie ran her fingers through his hair and kissed him. She
licked his lips and nipped at them with her teeth. Matt pulled up her shirt and
ran his hands over the soft skin on her back. Then, with just a flick of his
wrist, her bra popped open and his hands moved to her front and cupped her
breasts as he sighed into her mouth.

“I’ve waited all day for you,” he moaned as he squeezed her
flesh.

Janie undid the buttons of her blouse and removed it along
with her bra. Matt gazed at his wife with a desire that had only deepened over
time. He hoisted her up and stood and walked the few feet to the leather couch
and gently laid her on it. He quickly removed his clothing as Janie wriggled
out of her khaki pants.

Matt stood over her, his eyes taking in the sight of his
beautiful wife. He knelt down on the floor and leaned over. He kissed her
passionately, his tongue dancing with hers, the fire building. His lips moved
down her chin and her neck to her nipples, waiting to be devoured to which he
obliged willingly. And he then moved down over her belly to her hips. He
nibbled and sucked and Janie moaned with pleasure as his tongue found her sweet
spot and licked.

“This. Will. Never. Get. Old,” he whispered into her flesh.
“I love to taste you. I dream of tasting you. You are the nectar which fills my
soul.”

Janie’s hips arched as he brought her closer and closer to
the edge. Janie lifted herself onto her elbows and watched his head dip again
and his tongue elicited another moan. Matt lifted his head and their eyes
locked. Without breaking their gaze, Janie pulled up her legs and Matt sat on
the sofa. She climbed on top of him, straddling his hips and slowly slid down,
impaling herself on his shaft.

“This. Will. Never. Get. Old,” she sighed as she lifted
herself up and then slid back down again, the friction of their union causing
an urgency in them both.

Matt grabbed her hips and jerked himself upwards as she slid
down, a smacking sound ringing in their ears as their love making became more
lustful.

“Fuck! You feel so damn good,” Matt growled through gritted
teeth.

Janie moaned and threw her head back as she ground herself
into him and flung herself over to a toe-curling orgasm that had her panting
for air. Matt watched his wife experience sexual perfection and felt her
muscles squeeze tightly around his penis, appreciating her daily kegel
exercises. He plunged once more inside her and let go, matching her dynamic
orgasm with one of his own.

“Wow!” she panted as she collapsed into Matt’s chest.

“I’ll second that,” he grinned as he pulled her tightly into
his body, skin to skin, heart to heart. “You are amazing.”

Janie smiled into his shoulder and kissed him. “I love you.”

“I love you.”

They sat for a few minutes in silence, bodies still joined,
their breathing slowly returning to normal. Moments like this were cherished.
They adored their children and would not trade them for the world, but they
missed the spontaneous love making and tried to make the most of any unplanned
opportunity.

The sound of the door had Janie’s head whipping up and heart
stopping.

“Matt!” Janie mouthed, terrified of what was about to
happen.

“And in we go,” Maureen sang to Ella as the door flung open.

Matt didn’t move an inch. “Mom! Please take Ella straight
through to her room and shut the door,” he said, gripping Janie tighter.

“Oh, my!” Maureen blushed as she looked in the direction of
the voice. “Come on Ella. Let’s go put your new tiger with your other animals
in your room, shall we?” She hurried down the hall trying to block her parents
from Ella’s view.

Janie watched them disappear and then exhaled. Matt laughed.

“This isn’t funny,” she grinned. She tried to move but Matt
had her tightly in his grip.