Watermelon under the stars

As sweat trickled down his neck, Dave looked around his room, trying to estimate the worth of each object, yet realizing he actually had no clue. The only thing he knew the worth of was his PC and he appreciated it above all the objects.

‘What if I moved away? Would it be difficult? How much money it would cost? How much I would need monthly?’ As the country sizzled in a heatwave, questions he'd never considered before struck him.

His exam results didn’t yield great promise to his future. But it’s not just that. His academic performance had been in decline for months and now required him to take additional action. Possibly an internship. Possibly requiring him to move. Naturally, he realized, in time, departure was inevitable, but he hadn't seen it coming so soon.

He trundled to the kitchen where dad was peeling potatoes for dinner, completely unbothered by the heat.

‘Need any help?’ Dave asked after a minute of shadowing.

Dad raised his head and stopped the peeling. His first dumbfounded look turned into an eye-narrowing suspicion. ‘With what?’

‘Making dinner,’ he said somewhat shyly, realizing he should’ve asked a question like this a long time ago. ‘What are you making, anyway?’

‘Curry,’ dad answered, returning his attention to the potato in his grip. ‘You could cut an onion and some carrots.’

Looking around, Dave was clueless about their whereabouts.

‘You can find onions in the upper cupboard; carrots are in the fridge's vegetable drawer.’

‘And the cutting board?’

‘Second lower cupboard on the right.’

His cheeks radiated with crimson — proof of a realization of his ignorance. Years under the same roof, yet he was oblivious to the basics. Fetching a worn cutting board, he laid it on the counter, selected a knife, and arranged the vegetables.

He tried peeling an onion, yet struggled as the round victim slipped out of his hands and rolled next to dad’s foot.

With a sigh and a chuckle, dad washed his hands, retrieved the stray onion, and joined Dave.

‘First, this is not a good knife. We use this for cutting bread.’ He stowed it and procured a long, broad blade from the woodblock. ‘Then you halve the onion; it will make it easier to peel. See? Now you can cut it like this.’ In slow motion he chopped, making even slices. ‘If you get teary eyes, put the knife under hot water; it should help a bit.’ 

He opened a drawer. ‘Here you can find the peeler. You might want to wash the carrots first before peeling though.’ A demonstration ensued. ‘You can chop it roughly. No need to be a perfectionist here. Chunks like these are fine.’ He put his moist hand over Dave’s shoulder, gave a firm squeeze, and walked back to his potato mountain.

Dave followed the instructions, and by the time he was done, dad was already preparing the chicken. In tandem, they both cooked the ingredients as he tried to memorize every bit of advice and the smells throughout the cooking.

As soon as the curry was ready, mom arrived and found Dave setting the table.

‘What’s this? Did I forget something?’ she darted her eyes between him and dad.

‘No, just our regular dinner,’ dad answered, scooping a generous amount of rice on her plate, which Dave overlaid with a steaming hot curry.

‘Oh! Wait a moment!’ Dave rushed to the counter and brought over sliced panko chicken, placing it with care on her.

He grinned at dad, who smiled in return and put a hand up, which Dave met with a resounding clap.

As the family sat down and ate in silence, Dave savored his creation. Not as good as when dad makes it on his own, yet delicious. The phone vibrated in his pocket and he knew who it was. Dropping his fork and knife, he grasped for it with eagerness. There was a photo of a plate piled high with watermelon, sent by Emily. He swiped through the letters.

‘What are you smiling about?’ mom asked.

‘Oh,’ he realized he had the dumbest grin on his face. ‘It’s just, uh, Luca.’

‘Luca? Must be something really funny.’

She didn’t buy it. She knew him. But the less information you give that woman, the easier you rest at night.

‘Girlfriend?’ dad asked.

‘Not-’ he stopped himself from getting on a defensive high. ‘Just friendly chatting, you know.’

Mom and dad exchanged a glance and with that, Dave stood up and left, glaring back at them. Yet, upon entering his room, he opened the chat again, letting the exact same grin travel across his face.

‘Will you share?’ he typed.

‘Sure, I will bring some to the park tonight if you want.’

He rolled on the bed, eyes glistening. ‘Really? You would?’

‘Of course! If you want to.’

‘So, it’s a date?’

‘A date?! Between you and the watermelon?’

‘Obviously.’

‘Get your butt to the PC. Deilo, Mei and me are already in VC.’

‘And you’re munching on the watermelon while talking?’

‘Yeah..?’

‘Classic.’

‘Oh, shush!’

***

After the exam season, static runs took off. For a while, they couldn’t get the top spots on the leaderboards. Not until Deilo and Dave picked up on a new idea to stack as much attack speed as possible, allowing them to get ahead of the competition. Yet they kept butting heads with Henser’s party as, one after another, they out-competed each other.

‘I’ve got you, Sei,’ Emily said as she pulled him towards her, before The Emperor had any chance to move.

‘Like always,’ he replied sweetly.

‘Oh please, would you two knock it off?’ Mei stepped in, stabbing the boss repeatedly.

‘Don’t be jealous, Mei. I will pull you even closer to me. You seem in desperate need of cuddles.’

‘Fuck off.’

‘Mei. Language. Do you need a carrot to calm down?’ Sanakyu said.

‘Heh, can I have some carrots?’ Deilo grinned.

‘Oh dearest, for you any day!’

‘Noo! Not now. The cage is starting. I need to focus! You two are absolute sadists,’ Emily cried while dodging every danger zone.

It often went like this. Some days the voice chat never quieted, some days they were razor focused. But each was a refreshing bite of a watermelon during a heatwave.

***

But Dave's most awaited moment was after the runs. The chance to be just a little closer to her, to be privy to a moment that no one else was. This night was no exception as they both laid on the benches, gazing at a silver dust sprinkled sky.

‘Do you know any constellations?’ Emily asked.

‘Nope! Not a single one. You?’ he grinned.

‘Nope! But it’s beautiful. I wish I could swim in a river of stars.’

As he listened to the timbre of her voice, there was almost nothing else he could’ve wished for. Only for it to be closer, the warmth of her breath as she whispered. His blood coursed just a little hotter at the thought of it.

‘You’re okay?’ she asked.

‘Yeah, just got a little hot,’ he said, voice trembling, as he propped up on elbows.

‘Then it’s watermelon time!’

A tiny box stuck out from the hedge wall, right above his head, clasped in a small white hand, nails covered in glittery purple.

‘My arm is getting tired. The shrubs are digging into my skin. Oh my god. Something just crawled on my arm… Take it, take it! Fast!’

Barely grazing her fingers, he grabbed the box, heart pounding as she just barely slipped out upon his touch. Getting himself more comfortable, he exhaled, which was followed by her light chuckle. He carefully unwrapped the box and opened the lid. It was too dark to see well, but he made out four perfectly arranged slices. He squinted his eyes upon picking one.

‘Did you put something weird on it?’

‘Dave, do you really have so little trust in me?’ she acted surprised.

‘Joking! Joking! You know I trust you the most.’

‘Now you’re overcompensating.’

As he bit into the piece, sweetness overtook him by surprise. The juices dripped down his hands and a slight ‘Mmm’ of panic escaped him.

‘How is it?’

‘Delicious! Where did you buy it?’

‘I grow my own,’ she said with a touch of pride.

‘Your own, huh?’ he snickered while eliminating the treat. He gazed up once again, locking the moment into the recess of his mind. ‘I wish things could stay like this forever.’

‘Like what?’

‘How to put it… Ever since summer began, I’ve felt odd. Not like my usual self. And I love this version of me,’ he searched for a shooting star. Alas, they stuck tight to the sky.

‘Um… remember I told you I’m jobless?’

‘Unemployed.’

‘Yeah, well, my finances are running dry, so I’ve been looking for a job and guess what? Seems I’ve been… lucky,’ her voice was blue.

‘That’s great news… But you don’t seem too pleased.’

‘Mhm. I start next month. I probably won’t be able to play for a while. You know, getting into the swing of things, new routine, lots to learn.’

‘I’ll be there for you if you need to talk. You’ll still go jogging, right? We can continue our meet ups here and then when autumn comes-’

‘It’s across the country.’