Man Candy (34 page)
“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.
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
- Chapter 17
- Chapter 18
- Chapter 19
- Chapter 20
- Chapter 21
- Chapter 22
- Chapter 23
- Chapter 24
- Chapter 25
- Chapter 26
- Chapter 27
- Chapter 28
- Chapter 29
- Chapter 30
- Chapter 31
- Acknowledgments
- Meet the Muse
- Don’t miss out!
- Are you an aspiring author?
- About the Author
- Also by Melanie Harlow
- Sneak peek of PLAY MAKER, by Katie McCoy!