Wyatt smiled. “Lily, I'm sure it's fine. It's just chicken, right?”
She exhaled and shrugged. “I'm pretty sure that's the same thing I said about eggplant the other night.”
Wyatt just shrugged and stabbed the chicken breast with a fork. Then he began sawing at it with his knife. Lily watched carefully and it only took a few seconds to see that something was wrong. He was moving the knife back and forth across the top of the meat but had hardly broken the surface.
Uh oh, she thought.
Finally, he was able to cut a bite off and he popped it in his mouth.
“Well, how is it?” Lily asked.
He chewed and chewed, then took a sip of water, then chewed some more. When he was finally able to swallow it, he replied, “I hate to say it, but it's a tiny bit dry.”
Lily sighed. “Seriously?”
He nodded.
“Let me try it,” she said, cutting off a piece of her own.
Sure enough, the chicken was as dry as the Sahara desert. It was like eating a fibrous cotton ball, coated in seasoning. It stuck to the roof of her mouth and took about a thousand chomps in order to grind it up enough to swallow. Even then, she had a hard time getting it down her throat.
“God, that's awful,” Lily said.
“I want to try,” Maggie interjected. She stabbed the chicken breast on her plate with her fork and then held it up in the air. It fell back down, landing on the plate with a bang. It sounded like someone had dropped a ten-pound dumbbell onto the table.
“No, I don't think you want to try it,” Lily said. “It's too hard to eat.”
Lily hesitantly looked over to Wyatt to see his reaction. This was the second time she'd screwed up dinner and she couldn't have been more ashamed of herself. Luckily, Wyatt didn't seem to mind. He was busy eating the macaroni and cheese and seemed pretty happy with it.
“I'm really sorry,” Lily said.
“Don't be,” he replied. “This macaroni and cheese is really good. I'm fine with just that tonight. Had a big lunch.”
Lily knew that, once again, Wyatt was just trying to be nice.
“No, no.” She stood up from the table and walked to the kitchen to grab her cell phone. “This was my fault. How about we order from that Chinese place again? This time, it's on me. Whatever you guys want.”
Wyatt and Maggie looked at each other. They didn't say anything, but it was as though they had a quick conversation with just their eyes. They both finally nodded and Wyatt faced Lily once again. “Alright. Chinese it is.”
Lily smiled and dialed the number. Relief swept over her.
At least they'll let me make up for it, she thought.
After placing the order, she set her phone back down. “They'll be here in fifteen minutes.”
“That's perfect,” Wyatt said, scooting his chair away from the table. “That will give me just enough time to chew another bite of the chicken.” He flashed a wink at Lily and all three of them started laughing.
“No, I think this belongs in the trash.” Lily gathered the plates and pushed the food into the garbage can. She hated to see it go to waste, but wasn't sure who in the world would be able to eat the chicken.
Even a raccoon or a dog would have a hard time chewing that up, she thought.
“I promise you guys that I'll make a really, really good dinner before I leave this weekend,” Lily said, as she loaded the plates into the dishwasher. “I'm not sure what it will be, but whatever it is, I won't mess it up.”
“You shouldn't be so hard on yourself,” Wyatt said. “Honestly. It's no big deal. The fact that you're trying is what matters to me. Besides, I lived most of my bachelor years on a strict diet of Chinese food and protein shakes. A few extra days of sesame chicken won't kill me.”
Lily was sad about the meal, but Wyatt took most of the pressure off of her. He really didn't seem to mind. It was clear that he had much bigger worries than a burnt or over-seasoned meal.
“Even so,” Lily said, placing her hands onto her hips. “I'm not going to go home until I make you guys a miraculous meal. It's going to be perfect. It will be so tasty that you'll talk about it for years to come.”