Haley began to bring different dishes to the table as I poured our wine. Neither of us said a word. I think we had both needed the distance from each other. I know I did.
'Hungry?' Haley asked, taking a seat opposite mine.
'Yeah.' I said enthusiastically as I scooted myself in closer to the table. 'This looks so good, Haley.' She had made one of my favorite chicken dishes; stuffed chicken, with her own special bread dressing inside. My mouth watered just thinking about it.
As we ate, I thought back to the song again.
'That was truly beautiful, Haley.' She looked up at me, bite halfway to her mouth. 'Outcome.' She smiled.
'Thank you.'
'When did you write that? Well, start it, anyway.'
'Twelve years ago. After I left for college, I was sitting in my dorm one night, the electric keyboard my parents had bought for me sitting beside me on the bed. The tune popped into my mind, so I grabbed the keyboard, some paper and a pencil, and I began to write.' She sipped from her wine. 'I only got to the end of the first part, and I put it away. At that time, that’s as far as the story had gotten.'
'And the rest?'
'Once I came back. I saw you, and I thought about it. I peck at it after work, sometimes writing things down while I’m at work, then coming home to see if they’ll fit into the existing piece.' I grinned.
'Gee, and all this time I thought you were the consummate professional.' She glared at me good- naturedly.
'Ha ha.' She ate another bite of chicken, followed by a forkful of green beans. We both fell silent as we continued to eat. I wondered where Haley’s thoughts were, because I sure knew where mine were.
I had no idea that our friendship, and the ultimate deterioration of it when we were kids, meant that much to her. I guess I’d always figured she’d seen it as just one of those things. Pretty much how I’d seen it, for the most part. I mean, regardless if Haley would have come back into my life, she would have had a special place in my heart, whether I had realized it or not. She had begun the journey of self-understanding for an ill-equipped, young kid who was trying to walk on wobbly, inexperienced legs.
Through Haley, I had begun to question my true direction in life. Perhaps not my professional direction, but certainly that of my heart.
'So, are you enjoying your breast meat?'
I nodded with a grin. 'I’ve always enjoyed breast meat.' Haley looked at me, bite halfway to her mouth.
'Oh? Have you had breast meat often?'
'Eh, now and then, sure.' Haley grinned, getting into the game.
'Do prefer white meat, or dark meat?'
'White meat, generally.' I answered, sipping from my wine.
'Have you ever had dark meat?'
'I have.' She looked at me, surprised.
'Really? And how is it different?'
I shrugged, cutting my chicken into smaller pieces.
'Different background, texture, and a different taste.' I popped a bite into my mouth.
'Is that so?' I nodded.
'And you? Have you ever had dark meat?'
'No. I prefer white meat.'
I looked at Haley for a moment, brows drawn, head low. 'Haley, are you dark meat prejudiced?' she chuckled, shaking her head.
'Not at all. Everyone has their preference, right?' I grinned, nodding.
'Indeed.' She began to butter a dinner roll, watching the progress of her knife. 'So, Andi, who was your first piece of meat?'
I chuckled, cutting some more chicken.
'Well, it was the middle of my sophomore year in undergrad. Her name was Alecia. Alecia Haskell. She was a bit older than I was, and had already graduated from Carlton.'
'How did you meet?'
'I used to go to this little whole-in-the-wall diner to study, and she was a half-owner of it. They were short on help one night so she had to cover, and we got to talking.' I shrugged. 'The rest is history.'
'How long did it last?'
'Hmm,' I sighed as I ate some green beans, thinking back. 'I guess six months?'
'What happened?'
'Well, she got tired of me studying all the time. See, she was already past that part in her life, and had no patience for someone else who was trying to make their mark at school and in life.'
'Ah, I see.'
'Plus, I think she really just wanted someone who she could play like a puppet; you know, tell what to do, when, where and why.' Haley looked at me strangely, her nose wrinkled in distaste.
'How on earth did you end up with someone like that?'
'Hey, I was just trying this whole woman thing out. I was impressed with her knowledge at first.'
'Okay. Understandable. Then who?'
'Well, let’s see. Alecia, then I think it was Nina. But that was just a fling. There was no way I was interested in getting sucked into another relationship.'
'What, were you two like fuck buddies, or something?' Haley grinned, finishing off the rest of her wine, and sitting back in her chair, an empty plate in front of her. I nodded.
'Essentially.'
'How long?'
'Off and on for about a year. It just made things easy with school. No worries, no pressures, just fun when I wanted it. I think we actually only went out on three real dates. We both realized that we liked each other in bed far more than during the day.' I chuckled at the thought. 'I’m not real proud of that situation, and it definitely wouldn’t be something I’d tell Kendall about.' We both smiled.
'Here honey, this is what’s called a fuck buddy.' Haley teased, I laughed.
'Her mother would have my ass.'
'Okay. So, after that year. And why did it end, anyway?'
'I graduated.'
'Oh.'
'Then there was Cassandra. The dark meat.' I grinned, Haley nodded understanding while pouring herself, and me, some more wine. 'She was probably one of the sweetest women I had ever met. We tried a relationship, but her parents hated me because I was white. It was a real mess, and didn’t last long at all. It was also her dog who killed Suki.'
'Well, damn her.' I chuckled.
'Yeah. After that it was Erin.' I put my fork down, finished. I stood, grabbing my plate, and gathering up Haley’s dishes, walking to the kitchen. 'How about you?' As I loaded the dishwasher, Haley began to tell her tale.
'Well, I didn’t date much at all for the first little bit that I was in school, actually, I had my first date at the beginning of my junior year.'
'Why so long?' I asked as I cut us slices of my cheesecake.
'I don’t know. I think I had had enough of guys from high school, and sex, and the whole nine yards. I wanted to just concentrate on school, my friends and my family.'
'That’s honorable.' I headed back to the table with our dessert. 'Here you go, madam.'
'Thank you.' I sat down, and glanced over at her. She was looking at the cheesecake, then looked up at me. 'So, did you and Sara Lee have fun with this?'
'I’ll have you know, that is homemade from scratch.' She pointed her fork at me.
