Dinner For Two

It had been a good day. Work was steady and Jeff was sending up silent thanks to whoever guided him to The Glen. He was sure it was Harry; he felt his dad’s presence around him constantly.

He locked up the Ute and headed into the house, a nice hot shower was calling him. Dropping his clothes in the laundry bin, he turned the water on and waited for the steam to rise, then opened the door and stepped into his shower unit. Taking his weight on his arms, he leaned into the tiled wall, tipping his head forward to let the hot jets cascade on his neck and shoulders, easing the stiffness from his hard day’s work. Five minutes later he straightened up and began to slather shower gel over his body until he was covered in lather, a quick rinse, and his hair shampooed, he turned off the water, smiling to himself when he saw no drips, and opened up the shower door to grab a towel. The air outside the cubicle was cool on his skin despite the warmth of the day, so he quickly rubbed himself dry and wrapped another towel around his waist before heading across to his bedroom.

Pulling on a pair of sweat bottoms and a Coffs vest top, he padded barefoot into the kitchen. Opening the door, he pulled out a beer and headed for the lounge room to relax a while. "Dinner can wait," he thought out loud as he dropped heavily onto the sofa. He was rooted and really not up to cooking. Maybe he’d head over to Millie’s for something later on.

He leaned his head back and before long the empty bottle dropped gently from his hand to roll on the hardwood floor. Jeff was fast asleep.

He was woken by the phone a little while later. Rubbing his eyes, he looked around. It was still early, but was beginning to get dark outside. He leaned over to pick up the phone.

"Hello," he said. There was a moment’s silence before he heard a male voice.

"Jeff?"

"Yeah, who’s this?"

"It’s Stevo."

It only took a couple of seconds for Jeff to realise just who was on the line. He smiled before answering. "G’Day, mate. What can I do for ya? Got a plumbing problem?"

"I’ve got a problem, Jeff, but it ain’t anything to do with me plumbing," Steve giggled in reply. "I’ve just got one of the meal packs me mum loaded up in the deepfreeze for me, and it’s much too much for one person. I, uh, was wondering if you’d eaten yet?"

"Actually, I haven’t. Fell asleep on the sofa after a nice shower. Was thinking of popping over to Millie’s, don’t feel like cooking."

"Um…would you like to come over and help me with the pile of food I have over here?"

Jeff took the phone from his ear and stared at it. Was he hearing right? Had Stevo just asked him to dinner?

"I’d love to, mate. Just give me a while to get dressed."

"What ya wearing?" Stevo asked.

"Sweats and a vest," Jeff replied.

"Oh good, same here. No need to change, mate. That way I don’t need to dress up either."

They both laughed and Jeff told him he would be right over. Hanging up the phone he went to the fridge once more and took out a four pack to go with the meal. He didn’t see Stevo as a wine drinker. He was soon in the Ute heading towards Stevo’s house.

Ten minutes later he was knocking on the front door of the charming stone house. As the door opened, he smiled at Stevo and handed over the beer.

"I believe you mentioned food," he smiled as Stevo stood aside to let him in.