There were other people hovering around the kitchen, looking at him, and me. It was an open concept, so there were no doors or walls separating them from us. I’d been to enough parties at different people’s homes to know that normally, people congregated in the kitchen because that’s where the food and drinks were. But Luna, whose apartment this was, had ice chests on her balcony filled with beer and wine coolers. There were edibles arranged on plates, and hard liquor on the opposite side of the balcony, along with etched-crystal glasses and small, tasteful buckets of ice with ornate tongs beside them. I appreciated her organization because unless you needed cream for some drink, you wouldn’t need to step foot into the kitchen.
“Mr. Harrington?”
I turned to look at Eli. “Really?”
He chuckled, and the sound rolled through me. “Celso.”
“Better.”
The grin was back then. “So you left and weren’t worried?”
“Well, sometimes, as I’m sure you’re aware, you have to stop being comfortable and step out and make a change no matter how frightening it seems at the time.”
Eli nodded. “Being complacent is no way to live. There needs to be balance.”
“Exactly.”
“And by balance, I mean to get as near to perfect in every aspect of your life as possible. There will still be some boat-rocking now and then, but that’s to be expected.”
I smiled at him. “Yes. You don’t have to love your work, but it must bring some kind of satisfaction, be that to provide for your family or a personal feeling of accomplishment or the culmination of a dream. Making a difference is the best one, but we’re not all blessed that way.”
Eli shrugged. “I don’t know. I think making a difference can be a variety of things. I have a buddy who watches over kids who are in protective custody, and some of them are in shitty conditions and he moves them, while others just need to know someone is keeping track of them. It’s not a huge thing, and hopefully his presence will only be a blip in their lives until they move on to a better situation, but still, he’s making a difference even if it’s not on a huge scale.”
“I agree.” I smiled at him. “You never know what effect your actions will have on someone else. You can make a huge difference with a simple act of kindness.”
“Absolutely yes, but please, let’s not get all deep and philosophical in the kitchen. We’re not contemplating the meaning of life right now.” Eli squinted at me, and I choked out a laugh.
“No, no, absolutely not.”
People from the ballet company came in to say hello to me then, and I was accommodating, introducing them to Eli, and he smiled and shook hands with everyone. What was telling was that he took a step sideways, closer to me, and when a guy tried to move between us, to do the thing you did when you wanted to talk, Eli leaned in at the same time I did so we crowded the stranger out, moving in sync.
“Sorry,” Eli said to the man, bumping against me, the space between us nonexistent.
“No, I—sorry,” the handsome stranger blurted and stepped back. “Are the drinks in here or—”
“Oh my God, Stu,” one of the women gasped, looking Eli up and down before taking hold of her friend’s arm. “When we came in, Luna explained that everything was out on the balcony.”
When we were alone again, I immediately asked him to slice limes and lemons for me. He seemed relieved to have a task to perform.
“So, do you like it here in Chicago?”
“I do,” I answered, squinting at him. “So far.”
“What’s with the face?”
“Well, I was just wondering when you were going to start.”
“Pardon?”
I gestured at him with the Pyrex measuring cup I was planning to pour the simple syrup into so it could cool. “You haven’t started slicing anything yet. Am I to understand you can’t multitask?”
“I can multitask,” he snapped at me, starting to slice the limes. “I’m just asking questions so you know I’m interested in getting to know you, and I’m actively listening to the answers.”
“Ah,” I said quickly, grimacing again as I watched him.
“Again with the look?”
“Well, I have concerns about your food preparation skills.” I myself was not a professional chef. However, compared to him, I was David Chang.“Have you ever done this before?”