It was Sunday morning. We had been up all night at a Hallowe'en psy-trance rave, and by rights should have been collapsed in a corner of our respective rooms bubbling softly and snoring loudly. However. At six that evening, Dan would be catching a coach back to London: he had come home to this city for one night only, one night of psychadelic costumes and furious dancing with his friends. We'd parted company with the others at Clare's mother's house, and come back to mine, where a few weeks previously I'd filled the room with mattresses, sofas and futons in honour of a cocktail night I'd held there. We hadn't eaten in over sixteen hours (although, curiously, we weren't hungry). As time wore on towards early afternoon, and we'd still done nothing but sit there and talk- and this was the first time we'd really had a chance to do so, considering the strangeness of how we became friends- Dan had a bright idea.
Mashed potatoes. He was going to make mashed potatoes.
I was all for going down to the nearest greasy spoon and loading up on grease, but, no, Dan insisted: bangers and mash. A healthy, wholesome meal was what we needed after our crazy night out, apparently. Quorn sausages rather than meat, as I've been vegetarian since I was five. We popped down to the supermarket, and Dan told me how, in the university halls, he would make dinner for whoever wanted it. He advised me to learn how to cook.
Now, I've had many meals made for me, of course I have, but always by my parents and always with a sort of grudging manner about them. This meal was different. Plain, yes: mashed potatoes, quorn sausages, carrots and broccoli, but I'd rather have had that, made by Dan, than any vegan extravaganza concocted by my mother. It was delicious, and made even more so by Dan's company. It isn't easy being friends with your sister's ex.
I've resolved to learn how to cook, perhaps mainly so I can return the favour next time I get a chance to. I've never been so touched by something someone has done for me. And the first thing I'm going to make is mashed potatoes.