The Seelie Recipe by Bill Ricardi

Author:Bill Ricardi [Ricardi, Bill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-01-25T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Sunday was their day. No work, no classes. Just two people who found that their time was best spent with each other. Two people who were very much in love.

They had a morning routine. Olivia would wake up in Red’s bed, most often alone. Her boyfriend was normally well awake by the time she rolled off of the worn mattress. He would be sweeping the path, or pushing around his well-cared-for manual lawn mower.

After brushing her teeth, Olivia sauntered over to the front door. She took a moment to appreciate Red’s work ethic before calling out to him. As usual, he trotted over for a lingering morning kiss. Then the two planned out the rest of their day.

She mentioned, “I want to expand your palate a bit at lunch, if you’re willing. I stashed away a sachet of Mexican spices in my bag. I know that you have some canned salmon, and some cheese that needs to be used soon. Are you feeling brave?”

He squirmed a little bit. But then he nodded resolutely. “For you, yes.”

Olivia smiled brightly. She said, “That’s my boy.”

Red blurted, “But. Um. Are you feeling brave too?”

“Always. Why?”

He swallowed. Then he whispered, “I-I was thinking that I… I wanted to paint you.”

She saw where this was going, so she finished the thought, “Nude.”

Red’s head bobbed up and down eagerly, his stray red locks bouncing.

That was how Olivia found herself lounging in the grass in front of Red’s easel and canvas. The hot spring burbled away behind her, keeping her back warm as she posed in the late morning sunshine. He had kindly provided her with a book from his small library. It was a science fiction romance; not her normal fare. But she found herself drawn to the environmental scientist character, and to the android that secretly loved her.

Olivia reminded him, “Just tell me if you need me to look up, dear.”

Red replied mechanically. “I will hon.”

She called this his ‘artist’s trance’. It would take a lightning strike to shake him out of it. The watercolors flowed easily from his brush. She loved seeing him like this; all of Red’s self-consciousness and hesitation were banished to a far-away place when he was in this mode.

Which is why Olivia thought it might be a good time to ask, “When do I get to meet your parents?”

Apparently, that question was a fairly close lightning strike. Red fumbled with his brush, and it dropped from nerveless fingers. He had the presence of mind to set down his paint palette before it, too, tumbled to the ground.

He peered at her around the corner of his canvas. Olivia softened her expression and smiled. She couldn’t look more innocent, more harmless. And yet the young man was clearly a bit frightened. He sounded anything but casual when he responded, “W-why do you ask?”

“Well, you’ve met mine. Mom loves you. Heck, even Dad likes you. And as far as we’ve come in our relationship, I just… Red. Is there a reason why you don’t want me to meet them? Are you estranged?”

Red looked a little confused.

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