"Althea, you'll have to eat dinner alone today."
"Huh?"
I glanced over to the bewildered girl who was in the middle of slurping her noodles. She elegantly sucked the tip of her chopsticks before placing it on the table. Looks like she's gotten comfortable with my stringent table manners.
"I'm going out for dinner, so you'll have to eat it alone. Don't worry, I'll prepare your meal before I leave."
"Oh," Althea blinked twice and stared straight at me. "... Who are you going with?"
"Len, of course."
"O-Oh, him..."
Althea's tensed face gradually relaxed as a gentle smile sprung up her lips. "Don't you have any other friends? You seem to go out with him every other day."
"I do, but none of them are as close as Len."
Come to think of it… I really only hang out with Len. I'm not close enough with my colleagues to invite them out to dinner, and the pals I hung out with in university were scattered all over the country. So the only one that I really kept in touch with was Len.
"Haha, if that's the case, go out and enjoy. You don't have to worry about dinner; I'll handle it myself."
"Handle it yourself?"
I raised my brow and looked at the girl with careful contemplation. It was hard to imagine a timeline where Althea could make her own food. Is this what it feels like to see a child you've raised grow up?
"I-I can cook something for myself! You've taught me how to make noodle soup!"
"Hmmm, you know what. Knock yourself out," I chuckled.
At that moment, Althea looked like a young child that wanted to prove her father wrong. Well, eventually, she has to learn how to cook meals herself, so I wasn't going to deny her this learning opportunity.
"Ah, I would probably be late, so you don't have to wait for me."
"Okay..."
Seeing that she wasn't going to spend the evening at my apartment, the girl's face began to drop, and she twisted her noodles in a daze. I could even see the imaginary dog ears drooping down from the crown of her head.
Why was she that disappointed?
Ah, I get it.
"... If you want me to try your cooking, I can do that tomorrow."
"T-That's not it!"
"Haha, you don't have to be shy. I'm kind of looking forward to it. If you can make cookie dough into charcoal, what would happen to noodle soup? Could it become mud?"
"S-Sheesh! Just leave already!"
"Hahaha!"
❖❖❖
"When you said that you were going to treat me to dinner, I didn't expect it to be sushi."
I looked around the beautiful restaurant in awe. Ten metres away from our table, there was a high counter with an assortment of fresh fish. Half a dozen sushi chefs were spinning their knives masterfully, cutting slices of thick sashimi as if it were made out of butter. Beautiful cuts of red tuna, white swordfish, orange salmon… Even if I trained for a thousand years, I doubt that I could cut a piece of meat as cleanly as that master chef.
The calming Japanese style music eased my heart as the thick aroma of soy sauce, and wasabi tingled with my stomach.
It was, without a doubt, one of the best sushi restaurants I've ever been to.
"Hehe, isn't it good to have me as a friend?"
"... What do you need?"
"W-What?"
"There's no way that you're treating me to such an expensive dinner without asking for anything in return."
"Haha, really, can't I treat my best friend to a nice fancy dinner?"
"..."
Something is wrong. I have been this guy's friend for over a decade now, and I can smell his bullshit coming from a mile away. Still, I would be a fool to leave such a luxurious meal behind.
I have dabbled into many different cuisines and have created hundreds of dishes. However, the one meal that I've yet to perfect was fresh sushi. Yes, I've made sushi before, but it was nowhere near the quality of that of restaurants. Furthermore, to this very day, freshly sliced sashimi remains an enigma to me.
It was hard to ensure the quality of the fish as well as the safety standards required for the perfect sashimi. So, for the most part, I wouldn't dare slice sashimi on my own.
So, I have a humbling respect for the chefs behind that counter who have trained in their craft for decades.
"Why are you staring at the sushi chefs?"
"Nothing," I waved Len off before reaching for my green tea. "Wow, even the tea here smells expensive. I'm surprised that they could keep the quality this high even during a pandemic."
"Always the chef, aren't you?" Len laughed and dipped the sea urchin sushi on his plate into soy sauce. "It's delicious!"
"Really? Let me try."
Just like Len, I dipped my share of the sushi into soy sauce and ate it with wasabi. Ahhh… The moment the sea urchin touched my tongue, I felt an oceanic symphony play within my mouth. That divine taste that you couldn't get anywhere else… Oh, how I've missed you.
Hah… The pandemic really had screwed us over… If only I could have this every day...
I continued to munch on a variety of sushi, making sure to fill my belly with all that seafood goodness. Eventually, I'd eaten so much that even Poseidon would have put up a death warrant for my gluttony.
"Wow, this place really hits the spot. Did Sienna tell you about it?"
"W-What does S-Sienna have to do about t-this?"
"..."
I squinted my eyes and stared right at my friend of sixteen years. No, even if I didn't know him for over a decade, I could easily tell that something was seriously amiss. What was wrong with this guy?
"Alright, spill it." I dropped my chopsticks and folded my arms. "What happened between you and Sienna?"
"N-Nothing..."
"Len, you're fooling no one with that act."
"... Hah, looks like you've got me."
Finally coming to his senses, Len dropped his chopsticks as well and raised both his hands up in surrender. It was quite a scene, seeing a blonde Adonis blushing and all anxious.
"Desir… I'm thinking… of asking Sienna to marry me."
"... Say what?"
I thought I was mentally prepared, but the moment those words came out of Len's mouth, my jaw automatically dropped.
"You asshole… Why must you make me repeat something so embarrassing? I'm thinking of proposing to Sienna!"
Once again, Len hollered out his innermost desires.
"T-That's… Great!!!"
Immediately, I smiled and congratulated the man. "About time, man. How long have the two of you been together? Seven years?"
"Almost," Len scratched the back of his head embarrassedly.
"What made you change your mind?"
The last time we talked about this issue, Len said he wanted to get married after thirty and when they were financially able to purchase an apartment. Also, Len said he wanted more personal time with Sienna before they officially settled down and began planning.
"That's… These few months forced the two of us closer together than ever before. One thing led to another, and I've realised… I can't imagine a life without Sienna anymore." Len's face blossomed into a blinding smile.
"Once the pandemic is over, and things go back to normal, I'm thinking of popping the question. And..." My blonde friend's face flushed red as he mumbled in a soft voice. "I'm thinking of making you my best man."
"Len, you..."
Len's best man, huh… I'd never thought that this day would come.
"So this meal is to bribe me into accepting that role?"
"Haha, you've got that right! I expect you to do all of the dirty work! You'll have to help me plan my proposal, the wedding venues, the guest list… Ah, and you'll have to taste test all of the food! I need your expert opinion! I'm not taking no for an answer!"
"Is that what best men do?"
"That's what I expect MY best man to do!"
The two of us burst out laughing. It's been a while since the two of us really sat down and talked about life. Instantly, I felt like we were transported back to our university days, where we faced the world together.
But Len is becoming a husband, huh… Somehow I feel left behind.
"Ah, and if you want to hit on any of the bridesmaids, feel free. I'll ask Sienna to make a note about which girls are safe."
"You..."
As usual, I wanted to slap the man from the back of his head, but I refrained this time. He was treating me to dinner after all. Well, since he had given me some good news, we should go to a pub to celebrate.
"Want to go drink?"
"Good idea, let's go back to your place."
"... Are you treating my apartment as your personal bar?"
"What's this apartment you speak of? You mean the place where I store all of my beer?"
"You asshole..."
Sneering in disgust, I watched as Len went to the counter to foot the bill. At the same time, I glanced over to the clock only to see that it was half-past seven. Althea should have eaten her dinner by now, right?
Hehe, I wonder how her noodle soup turned out…
❖❖❖
It didn't take long for the taxi to reach my apartment. We walked down the familiar roads and eventually reached my lift lobby. As we were waiting for the lift, Len turned towards me and asked: "Hey, so whatever happened to that neighbour of yours?"
"H-Huh?" I replied as nonchalantly as I could, trying my best to hide the tiny beads of sweat forming at my back. "Why the sudden question?"
"No, I was just thinking, the first time we'd met her was at the lift lobby, right?"
"You're remembering it wrong. She welcomed her friends at the door."
"Right… So was there any progress between the two of you?"
"W-What makes you think that?"
Did Len notice something?
"Well, since you're neighbours, there might be an incident where she would faint outside your door or something, and you would have to nurse her back to health. You know, the usual cliche."
T-This man… He's sharp!
"Nothing of the sort," I tried to sound as blase as I possibly could. "There were some instances where we bumped into each other, but nothing ever happened. Don't let your imagination run wild, okay?"
"Haha, you're really sticking to your guns, eternal virgin monk!"
"Hah… What's wrong with that?"
Phew, looks like I've misdirected him for the moment. I can't imagine the horrors that would await me if Len ever found out about my relationship with Althea. Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I trailed Len slowly as we walked down the corridor to my apartment.
Without seeking my permission, Len went to the door and smoothly typed in the password. The door unlocked so quickly that I didn't even notice his fingers dancing on the keyboard. Seriously, is this his house or mine?
"Hehe, like I said, if you ever want to seek enlightenment, Sienna has some friends for -..."
"Hah… We've been through this time and time again; I'm not going to..."
Before I could give my routine reply, I paused just as Len did. One foot into my apartment, Len froze on the spot as his eyes bulged wide open. It looked like he was turned to stone by Medusa herself.
Wait… Don't tell me!
Thinking the worst, I stuck my head into my apartment and…
"H-Hi..."
Ah… Maybe it would be better if Medusa was in my apartment.