Seven

“No, no right on top, ya just like that.” Theo smiles at me later that day. We are in his kitchen in his large home. It is much bigger than mine seeing as he has his wife. “No not too much.”

I hold the jar he handed me minutes ago above my meal serving, shaking the light powder onto my dish.

“What are these called again?” I question as I lift the bottle to my eyes to inspect the light red substance.

“Spices, they are good trust me.” Theo smiles at me proudly, like these strange substances are the product of his life’s work.

“And where did you get these spices?”

“My uncle lives in one of the outskirt towns; he sends them to my father every year as a gift. Apparently they are rather common with people out there.”

“And what you just put them on your food? What do they do?” I am sceptical of these ‘spices’, we have nothing like these for our food in the cities.

“Just taste them!” he insists.

I raise a bite of the potatoes on my plate to my mouth and eat it. It’s nothing like I have tasted before, it’s rich and powerful. So different from the bland and dry food we have here. It makes me want to eat, not have to.

“Oh my god, these are amazing.” I mumble as I take another bite and then another.

“Ya, that’s probably why they are illegal.” Theo laughs.

“What do you mean?”

“Just that it seems like anything ‘good’ or ‘fun’ or ‘happy’ is illegal here. So it makes sense that these amazing things would be outlawed.”

“How do you not use these up in a day?” I joke as I finish my plate.

“Well Clea won’t touch them. Says they must be illegal for a reason. So I can only use them when I’m alone. Otherwise they probably would be gone quickly.”

“Well Clea is missing out…”

“Clea is missing out on what?” My head snaps up to see a figure walk through the door. I recognise that this must be Clea, the same girl I saw with Theo the day I met him in the coffee shop, but she looks different now. Her hair looks more blonde now but still has the red tint that I saw that day. It falls just past her elbows in silky waves. I stand as she enters, putting down my fork and feeling unbelievable inadequate. She stands at almost an inch taller than me but only because she wears wedge like heels on her feet, they match the light blue dress that hangs off her figure perfectly. I glance down at my work shirt and dress pants and wish I had thought to change before coming over.

“Clea, Darling. What are you doing home?” Theo jumps to his feet alongside me to address his wife.

“I thought I would come home and surprise you for lunch…” She says coldly, her eyes don’t leave me as Theo kisses her on each cheek.

“Well I’m surprised!” Theo laughs, trying desperately to defuse the situation.

“Clearly…Not to be rude, but who are you?” She raises an eyebrow in my direction.

“Honey, this is Teran. Remember I told you about her?” Theo interrupts me before I can introduce myself.

“Right, Theo babe, can I talk to you in the other room?” She gives me one last spiteful smile before dragging her husband behind her through the open door. It slams behind them.

I sit in the silence until voices start to drift through the door, they are too muffled to make out but it doesn’t make the situation any less awkward. The voices grow and grow until Theo comes bursting back through the kitchen door.

“We should go.” Theo says, slightly out of breath.

“Um, okay…” I start towards the door with Theo on my heels. I stop abruptly but I can’t stand to face him as I speak. “You should stay, I’ll go.”

“Are you sure?” Theo sounds close; his voice ripples the hair on the back of my neck as I let out the breath I didn’t realize I had been holding.

“Be with your wife, she made an effort to come home early and you should be with her.” I pray my voice doesn’t break.

He’s not mine.

I remind myself of this as I start towards the door again. This time Theo doesn’t follow.

I hurry out the door, my feet clunking on the pavement as I rush away from the house; another higher pitch set of footfalls join mine as I reach the end of the path.

“Excuse me, Karen was it?”

“Teran, actually.” I correct as I turn around to face the girl.

“Unusual name, comes from the Latin word Terentius, I assume?”

“I…I don’t know…”

“It means Smooth, you must be very charming.” She smiles a fake smile that makes me queasy. I feel like she knows more about me than I do.

“I don’t know about that…”

“Well you seem to have charmed my husband…”

“We are just friends, he’s nice.”

“I know he’s nice, charming, and handsome; I’m quite taken by him. This is why I don’t like you hanging around him.”

“I…”

“No let me speak! This is my home and you are a guest so you will listen.” She raises her hands in an exasperated movement. “I don’t want you to come around here anymore, you don’t talk to my husband, you don’t call him, if you see him in pubic you ignore him. And most importantly, you don’t tell him why.”

“You don’t want him to know you don’t trust him…” I grin, I know it’s not the time but I can’t help it.

“I trust him, I don’t trust you. Just leave, find someone else to charm…”