"Thank you for accompanying me, Miss Diwana, you really didn't have to," Eron said, putting a few pieces of fresh steak that he bought on his way back from the lumber camp into an already hot pot over his small bonfire.
With a smile, he then added a few herbs, a pinch of salt and a dash of pepper. Eron couldn't help but grin at the chance to actually cook a meal for the woman beside him.
It was truly an advantage to live in a place where people cultivated and bred their own food and then sold it themselves. They were mostly driving in with a truck loaded with vegetables and/or newly butchered meats, and even cheese with other kinds of produce to places like the lumber camp, a few far-off places where workers were, in the same style that Diwana sold her food. Just so happened that a small truck passed by the lumberyard as they were about to leave.
And how they ended up leaving his workplace together was still something that Eron was quite happy about. He couldn't help but remember it as the pieces of meat sizzled on the pan...
+++
Just an hour or so ago, back at the lumberyard...
"Dude... Diwa... Are you both ok?"
Jack was the first to speak, since he had already recovered from the fall and had already caught his breath. He also was a little uncomfortable now at the awkward "position" that he was in...
"I'm fine, Eron, thanks to you. Could you help us up, please?
Eron suddenly realized that his lower body was right on top of his employer's groin. He was suddenly relieved that he wasn't...
Never mind...
"Uhhh, sure, Jack," Eron mumbled as he picked himself up. He then offered both hands to the man and woman, who were both still lying on the ground.
As soon as they were all on their feet, the whole area erupted in applause!
Eron looked around sheepishly, a little bit embarrassed at the attention but very much relieved that no one seemed to have noticed his little "stunt" that he needed to do during the rescue.
Jack, too, had already started to clap his hands.
Meanwhile, Diwa had once again automatically searched his body and face for any sign of wounds, blood, or even anything as simple as a scratch...
And she did.
"ERON! Oh my gosh, you're bleeding!"
"What?"
The rescuer looked at what the widow was showing him as she raised his elbow for him to see. He almost chuckled at how worried she looked and how small the scratch was, but the concern on Diwa's face stopped him.
Plus, the feeling of warmth going through his chest at her concern was now taking over his thoughts...
"Diwa, it's just a scratch. Look, it's so small, I only need a Band-Aid for that."
"I don't care... You need to get that treated and not with just a Band-Aid."
Then their eyes met.
They both froze.
And Diwa felt her cheeks warming up...
Eron felt himself blushing too...
"Medic!" Jack yelled all of a sudden, making Diwa slightly jump and Eron slightly gasp. "Get him fixed up! And I've got an announcement to make!"
"Wait, what? I don't need medical attention..."
"Just follow what the medic says, Eron," insisted Diwa as a man with a first aid kit approached them. "Come on, sit down... please..."
Reluctantly, Eron sat on one of the stools nearest him and let the medical man use antiseptic on his wound. Of course, he didn't grimace in pain due to the treatment...
He did, however, grimace at Jack's announcement.
"Alright, due to Eron's heroic rescue of both me and our favorite cook, Diwana, I'm giving him a bonus and the day off. This is my thanks to him, his good work despite being hired only yesterday, and his heroism. May we all look up to him for all of those reasons."
And once again, everyone there applauded and even went over to Eron to give their congratulations personally...
Well, everybody except one...
Max stayed well away from the crowd, now all by his lonesome at the edge of the lumberyard's open area, since his team mates have abandoned him and have gone to shake the hand of the new hero. And he was definitely not happy.
That scowl made him even more visible to a few sets of eyes, and they watched him stomp angrily away.
Eron saw the scene despite the enthusiastic crowd around him.
Diwa saw it, too.
So did Jack...
Di moved towards Jack, leaving Eron with the medic and his newfound fans, not sure if she did see what she saw. She then put a hand on the foreman's arms, which were now folded over his brawny chest.
"Jack, did you see that?"
"Yep, I did, and I think I really need to talk to that guy. But before that, I need to check something out."
+++
That was how they ended up being at the camp together. And soon they would be sharing a meal...
The pieces of beef that he was cooking were definitely of high quality. They could both tell by the aroma rising from the pan that, soon enough, even without adding too much, filled the air, making their tummies growl.
"You were injured in trying to save Jack and I, Eron, the least I could do was to make sure you'd be okay getting back here," Diwana said, paying attention to the charming gentleman's coming and going around his compact campsite. "What I didn't expect was that you'd go through so much trouble because I came..." she paused, then blushed slightly. "... with you here… I mean... I'm here with you now."
"It's no bother, actually I'm glad to have you for lunch, Miss Diwana…" he paused, unaware that he too was now as flustered as her. "I mean... as a guest… If it was just me, I wouldn't bother cooking, I'd just heat a can of soup. But no worries, after all, it's just an easy meal to make. You'll see, it'll be ready in no time."
He then added a chunk of butter to the pot while he was turning the steaks. While those were frying, he was already prepping his other cooking ingredients and utensils for the next steps of his recipe.
The widow's thoughts: "Wow, if this is easy cooking, I wonder what he can do with a full kitchen and more ingredients… you keep surprising me, Eron… 'the whole package' sounds more and more like an appropriate description of you, the more time I spend with you."
He set out his small cutting board and a large kitchen knife, then quickly and skillfully cut the meat and threw it once more into the pot.
"Is there anything you can't do, Eron? I'm impressed. You make everything you do look very easy," she said, still distracted with the smells and the food, and the very good-looking man that looked even more handsome when he was that sweet.
Something she hasn't experienced before with anyone else...
"Trust me, like I said before, it's really easy, especially when the last part of it is adding this," he said with a wide smile, opening and adding two cans of potato soup to the pot, and then carefully stirring.
"Ooohhh... That is easy, and it looks and smells amazing!"
He laughed a bit more, fascinated with how happy and comfortable she looked while he was just fixing some meat and canned soup…
"She's not demanding at all, not like the women I knew back in the city. Her being happy with a meal in the middle of a forest? I find it so… surreal…" Eron thought, watching the woman sniff at the pot while waving her hand towards her pixie-like face.
He then reacted to her praise. "I hope you actually don't mind the canned stuff. This is far from a proper home cooked meal," Eron said, adding large handfuls of cheese as the last ingredient to the soup. When it melted, he stirred the soup a little bit more, and then he was ready to serve.
His honest but proud, toothy grin made her feel warm inside.
"It is more than okay," she said, thoughtful for just a moment, as she took the hot bowl that he had carefully handed to her. "You know? I believe… no, I know… this is the very first time that I tried food that a man has prepared for me…"
As he watched Di deeply inhale the comforting dish's aroma, his expression went dark for a moment. But then, he couldn't let her see him like that.
"Then you'll need to see me more often," he almost mumbled, taking a seat near her. Eron said without thinking much about what he said.
He was more worried about how a woman like her had been treated before, without her being aware of it.
She looked at him with surprise, due to the way he just honestly blurted out his thoughts to her.
Her thoughts: "Diwana, please, don't take something like that the wrong way. He doesn't mean it literally… I mean, how could he? Look at him, so perfect and lost in thought. That was nothing close to a romantic proposition, okay? No misinterpretations, period."
To distract herself, she finally took her first spoonful of the creamy soup.
"Oh my God, this is delicious!!!" Di exclaimed, bringing her companion back to reality...
Well, out of his thoughts about her, to be exact.
"Really!? I'm so glad!" Eron said with obvious relief as he also started eating. "For a moment there I remembered that I didn't ask you what ingredients you might have disliked, or even if you were allergic to anything I added to it. I'm sorry, that was so uncaring of me…"
"What?! Eron, you just made a dish for us! That is the most caring thing I've seen from a newcomer, and the food tastes amazing… not just the layers of flavor but the texture. This is great!"
"Wow, that is a big compliment, coming from someone who cooks like you. Thank you," he said, suddenly feeling shy, looking down at his shoes.
"My pleasure, and I mean it," she said with a laugh, and then he joined her with a hearty chuckle.
Their talk got a lot more relaxed, as both were impressed on how easy it was for them to get along while spending time together. Of course, even if they rationalized it and resisted the obvious, their sharing of thoughts and food came so naturally.
"And really, what you did back at the mill was impressive! You have quite the reflexes, and…" she stopped for a moment, both her talk and her eating.
Eron glanced at her with a puzzled, even a bit worried, expression. "Miss Diwa, what is it?"
"Why did you risk yourself to save us?" she finally said, looking straight into his hazel eyes.
He couldn't keep the stare and looked out into the forest before answering. "Honestly? I don't know… I felt it more than thought about it, and then just reacted. When I came to my senses, everything was over and you were both safe. I'm glad that it happened like that."
Eron smiled again, and her own mouth mirrored the gesture. There was a long pause between them, both trying to find the right words to say.
"You're not the kind of guy that I'm used to meeting. Are all of the guys in that place you lived before, like you?" Di said curiously, finally breaking the silence.
"I don't know... Maybe not so different, but not the same… Here in your place, though, I've met a few very weird male specimens… You know, like Mad Max. He's a peculiar one… And I mean no offense since I believe you are friends?"
Eron did lift his tone at the end of his sentence, intent on making it sound like a question more than a statement. He was unsure of how Diwa saw the guy, so he needed to be careful with his words regarding the said squirrel head.
The lady's answer was accompanied by an awkward, unsure look, which Eron was quick to note with a bit of alarm.
"Sort of… I find him strange myself," she giggled, but still with a hint of discomfort. "Before, he was just the best logger at the lumber camp, and I admired his dedication and the way he worked. He was funny at times, and then, on some occasions, he said things that made me feel good, or special, you know, like he cared somehow..."
Then she paused and her face became a bit serious, including her voice, "But then, he would act weird towards me again, and I became more awkward with him the more he talked to me. More often than not, I have no idea of what's in his mind, or what he means with what he does. Sometimes I even feel he only talks to push his opinions on me, or maybe he's trying to say something that I don't get. It came to the point that we stopped speaking with each other and I didn't understand that but, in a way, I'm relieved..."
Eron kept staring at Diwana, and the way her smile started to slowly turn into a frown. The discomfort that her memories were making her feel was now very evident. Definitely, Mad Max was not only not telling her what he felt for her, but was somehow making her more than uncomfortable.
Eron kept silent, letting her open up to him without him prodding or doubting her words...