Man Candy (34 page)

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Authors: Melanie Harlow

Tags: #romantic comedy

BOOK: Man Candy
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“What’s the list today?” I asked him.

“Any changes?”

He glanced back at me and I noticed

there was a hole near the collar of his t-

shirt. I made a mental note to snag it

from the laundry bin so I could mend it

before washing it. It had been a lucky

find at Goodwill, with a big picture of

the TARDIS on the front, and Mikey

loved it.

He was furrowing his brow at me,

mentally cataloguing the Doctors. Every

night he would list his favorites in order.

Though a few of them remained constant,

sometimes there was a surprise or two.

“Ten,” he started with, which was

not unusual. David Tennent had been the

top ranking Doctor for a while now.

Mikey had even asked for a version of

his coat for Christmas. I knew they sold

it online, but I was hoping I could find a

pattern and make it myself. Luckily I still

had a few months – Mikey liked to get

his requests in early. He seemed to

understand that this Santa often needed a

little time to plan. “Twelve. Four.

Eleven. One. Nine. Six. Two. Eight.

Three. Five. Seven.”

“One is really moving up the list,” I

noted, pouring the noodles into the now

boiling water.

“He’s the first,” Mikey explained.

“He’s important.”

“That’s true,” I grabbed a wooden

spoon. “Want to stir?”

He took it and stirred the pot

carefully, while quietly humming the

Doctor Who theme song. I hummed it

back at him and then incorporated some

“bum bum bum”s. Without even missing

a beat, he added an enthusiastic “oooo

wa wa”. I smiled at the back of his head.

We were getting pretty good at it. Things

like that kept me from taking my day too

seriously. What would I do without him?

“Looks like I’m going to have a day

off next week,” I told him. “Want to go to

the movies?”

“Mmm.” He was now focused

completely on the pot of noodles.

“It’s that zombie one.” I tried to

remember the name. “
26 Days
?”

“
28 Days
,” Mikey corrected. “Nine.

Ok.”

Nine meant that the actor playing the

ninth doctor was in it. And even though

Nine was only ranked #6, I was glad he

was interested in going to the movie.

I pulled out my phone and looked up

the schedule for our local, cheapo movie

theater. They didn’t play any new

releases, instead doing themed months

with older movies. Zombies were this

month’s theme. I liked it because I could

get him popcorn and a soda for only $5.

“There’s one next Thursday at

3:00pm.” I could probably do our

laundry first thing in the morning and be

home in time to have lunch with Mikey

and then go to the movies. My days off

were always our special day and I tried

to get all my other things done early so I

had time to spend with him.

“Ok.” His attention was focused on

the pot boiling on the stove.

“Do you think they’re done?” I asked

him.

“They look squishy,” he observed.

“They do,” I agreed. “Let’s get them

out of the water and into the cheese!”

He giggled. “Into the cheese!”

I drained the noodles and emptied a

packet of cheese into the bowl. Mikey

stirred it for me and I divided our dinner

into two bowls. Following my brother, I

went into the living room with him and

we took a seat on the couch. I handed

him the remote.

“Tell me what’s happening,” I said,

even though I had seen this episode half

a dozen times. But Mikey’s recaps were

always the best.

I leaned back in the couch as he

launched into his description of the

episode. While he told me all about

Trenzalore and the logistics of Time

Lord regeneration, I ate my cheesy

noodles and felt completely and utterly

at peace.

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