Perfect Match

…Mary put the groceries she had bought on the kitchen table and checked the dough for the pizza she’d prepared in the morning before she left for work. Then she went to take a shower.
Fifteen minutes later, wearing a pair of faded jeans and a sweater, she was ready to work on her pizza. Just the thought of it made her mouth water. Mary liked to cook and she’d planned a quiet evening doing it. Lately she didn’t have much time for cooking. Singing, she washed the fresh basil leaves and the tomatoes. The doorbell rang. Who might it be? She wasn’t expecting anyone. Frowning and cursing whoever was disturbing her quiet and solitary evening she went to open the door. She almost fell when she saw Dominick standing by her door with his seductive smile.
“Hello!”
“Dominick!” Surprised she stared at him tongue-tied.
“Yes, it’s me.” He took advantage of her confusion. “Are you going to invite me to come in or am I going to stay here at your door all night?”
“I …well … yes, but Mark’s not here.” Mary was visibly disconcerted.
“I’m not here to see Mark; I knew he was working. Actually I’m here to see a girl named Mary, who used to go out with me and then without an explanation avoided seeing me.” He stepped forward looking intently at her. “Can we talk?”
“Ok, come on in.” She had no other choice. “We can talk while I prepare the pizza. Are you hungry?” Despite her uneasiness, she tried to be as casual as possible.
“Pizza? That sounds good to me.”
She turned her back to him and went to the kitchen. He followed her, pulled out a chair and sat leaning back.
“I had in mind to haul you out somewhere,” he said breaking the tense silence.
“I had in mind to stay at home and eat a homemade pizza,” she retorted, pointing the knife she used to cut the tomatoes at him.
He sat up straight on his chair. “Better your way, I do prefer homemade pizza.”
She turned her attention to the tomatoes, and with shaking hands she cut the fresh mozzarella in small pieces. Dominick’s gaze followed her nervous movements and patiently waited for her to say something. But the talking, that had been natural between them, seemed to be impossible now. Mary concentrated on what she was doing and tried to ignore him. She needed to keep her resolution in stay away from him.
“Did you prepare the dough yourself?” Dominick was determined not to let her close herself in her own thoughts.
“Yes, I did,” she answered without turning, but she could feel his gaze. It was hard for her to resist his presence. Her cheeks felt hot. “I like to cook but I wasn’t good at it, so some time ago I took cooking lessons.” For Mary cooking was a way to keep her mind busy and at the same time to relax.
“I didn’t know that you liked to cook. That’s something new about you.”
“I like it very much. Why don’t you open that bottle of wine?” She indicated the bottle of red wine on the kitchen counter. Dominick opened the wine, poured a glass for each of them and then helped her choose the topping for the pizza.
Within minutes the kitchen smelled of fresh baked crust. It was mouth watering. Mary couldn’t eat, her stomach was clenching. He was making her nervous and she started to babble. He listened to her while he enjoyed the pizza. It was delicious and he complimented her. When they finished eating, she stood and started to clean the table. He grabbed her hand and made her sit down again. Mary knew that she couldn’t postpone this conversation anymore.
“What’s going on, Mary?” Dominick went straight to the point.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing? How could you say that nothing is going on?” She noticed a hint of impatience in his voice. “We used to go out, we enjoyed each other’s company, or at least I did. And then you avoided me. Every time I called you had an excuse or you didn’t bother to return my calls.”
Mary bent her head and studied her hand. Embarrassed, she could not look at him.
“Please look at me and tell me what’s wrong with you.” He put his hand under her chin and made her lift her head so he could look into her eyes. “Stop running away, stop hiding. Your game is driving me crazy.”
“It’s not a game. If you remember, I asked you to forget everything about us. I thought if I didn’t answer your calls, didn’t talk to you, it would help you to forget.”
“As I remember you asked me to forget those two nights and said that we could be friends.”
“I came to the conclusion that it would be impossible for us to be only friends.”
“You came to this conclusion?” Irritated he slammed one fist on the table and rose. She trembled. He went to her side and leaned over her so his face was near to hers. “You are right, we can’t be just friends. I don’t want to be only your friend because I want you. I like you. I just stepped back that night in the cabin because I saw that you were afraid. I didn’t want to push, and I was right.”
“That’s the problem, what you want it is not possible.” She nervously covered her hands with the sleeve of her sweater and clenched her hand.
“Why isn’t it possible? What stops you from being with me?” He took a deep breath, leaned back and returned to his chair. That proximity didn’t help him to keep his focus. “You don’t want it or has Mark set your mind against me?”
“Mark has nothing to do with it.”
“If it isn’t him, what is it then?” Frustration and resentment took over…