Lee
frowned as he heard the quick tattoo of knocks on his front door. “Now what?” he muttered, stopped what he was
doing, and went to see who was interrupting what had so far been a quiet
Saturday afternoon. It was now almost 5
pm and he was due shortly to head for dinner with friends.
The
frown turned to a quizzical grin as he discovered Chip on his front step. “What’s up?”
He looked Chip up and down as the blond entered the house, wearing his
khaki’s. “I thought you had a date
tonight.”
Chip
grinned. “Do,” he admitted as he held
out the folder he was carrying. “Just
headed home to change. I had that
teleconference this afternoon about the new computer programs. Just wanted to drop the notes off for you to
peruse before we meet with Admiral Nelson Monday morning.”
Lee
nodded as he took the folder. “Anything
positive? I swear the Navy sends us
their stupidest suggestions to try before they’d risk one of their full-time
ships.”
Chip
shrugged. “Suggestions only,
remember. We still have the right to
tell them where to stuff them.” His head
turned toward the kitchen. “What smells
so good?” and he headed that direction.
Lee
followed, a broad grin on his face.
“Headed to Jamie’s for dinner.
Just my contribution to the meal.”
“And
why wasn’t I invited?” Chip grumbled, taking a long sniff of what was simmering
in the frying pan on Lee’s stove. He
couldn’t quite identify what it was, but the smell was wonderful.
“Duh. You haven’t stopped talking all week about
having a date with Monika tonight, buddy.”
Chip
sent him a grin. “True.” He grabbed a clean spoon and scooped up some
of the mixture. “What is this?” he
asked, blowing on it a bit to cool it off before taking a taste.
“Ah,”
Lee hesitated, “sort of a Chinese BBQ sloppy Joe mixture. It goes over dry Chinese noodles.”
“You
sure you want to take something like this to the Jamison’s? Lu-Tsi usually prefers things a good deal
more healthy.”
“Actually,
she asked for it specifically. It’s one
of her favorites.”
Chip
shrugged his shoulders and took another nibble from the spoon. “Onion, peppers, tomatoes,” he started
identifying the flavors. “Beans?” He pointed an eyebrow at Lee.
“Mashed
in,” Lee admitted. “Vinegar, cloves,
cinnamon, brown sugar. All the usual
suspects.”
“Can’t
quite identify the meat.” Chip sent
another pointed eyebrow his friend’s way.
Lee
shrugged. “You’re going to be late for
your date if you’re not careful,” he changed the subject.
Rather
reluctantly all of a sudden, Chip put the now empty spoon in the sink. “You’ll make that for me next time we get
together.” It came out an order, and
caused both men to instantly grin.
“Would
have made it for you before now, but I didn’t think you’d like it.”
“What’s
not to like? You can be very strange
sometimes, Crane, you know that?” Lee
merely shrugged again and Chip headed out.
Lee quickly put the concoction into a serving dish, covered it
completely with aluminum foil and then into a casserole cover to help keep it
warm, tossed it and a can of Chinese noodles into a bag and headed for the
Jamison’s house.
* *
* *
“Lee,
I think this is even more delicious than it usually is,” Lu-Tsi told him after
taking a bite. “Did you do something
different to it?” She, Will, and Lee
were sitting around the patio table in the Jamison’s back yard. Lu-Tsi had prepared the rest of the meal:
miso soup, veggie spring rolls, and shrimp with a teriyaki glaze.
Lee
ducked his head slightly at the compliment before his expression turned
slightly evil. Both Lu-Tsi and Will
noticed it and stopped eating. Lee
chuckled. “Chip stopped at the house to
drop off a report just as I was finishing cooking it. He smelled it and ended up taking a
bite.” Lee’s grin spread. “He wondered why I’d never made it for him.”
Will
snickered. “I gather you didn’t tell him
what’s in it.”
Lee
grinned. “Everything except the
‘meat.’ Figured if I told him that it
was actually crumbled tofu, it would fry his poor little brain so badly it
would screw up his whole evening with Monika.”
“Oh,
dear,” Lu-Tsi giggled, “we can’t have that.”
The
three friends shared another laugh, and continued on with the delicious meal.
~ ~
~ ~ ~
Lu-Tsi
Jamison used with permission of her creator, Cris Smithson.