Chapter 4 - chicken pot pie

Kain wore a sly smile as he stopped in the doorway of his workplace lunch room. As he scanned the crowded room, he spotted his friends waiting for him at one of the tables. His smile widened into a grin as he headed to the table.

"Hey! Look who's the late one today!" Frank called out in jest. The other two men laughed.

"Yeah, yeah. You know, after all the times I've had to wait for you guys, I'd expect a little more understanding." Kain replied, but he smiled to show he didn't take any offense to the tease. He set his lunch box on the table and took his time settling into his chair. When he looked up, three sets of eager eyes were focused on him intently. "Hm?"

"Don't you 'hm' us, man." One of the men said. "You know the drill. What's for lunch today?"

Kain's expression changed from perplexity to a sly and knowing smile. "Well, I'm late because it was my turn to use the microwave today." He took a moment to look at the food in front of his friends.

Frank had a crumpled Arby's bag sitting in front of him. Dean had what looked to be a large burrito wrapped in foil. Jason had a sandwich in a plastic bag and a small snack pack of chips. Not for the first time, he wondered why his friends spent so much time salivating over his meals while never making themselves something similar.

Mentally shrugging off the thought, he reached out and unzipped his cooler. As the lid lifted, a cloud of fragrant steam rose into the air and tickled the noses of the men present. "Oh, wow. What is that?" Jason asked, his stomach growling audibly.

Instead of answering, Kain chuckled and began to reach into his cooler. First, he pulled out a can of Pepsi, fat drops of condensation covering the smooth metal. A small zip lock pouch of red grapes followed and was set on the table beside the soda. Two packages of saltines were unceremoniously dumped to the other side of the cooler before being joined by another small baggie containing several oreo cookies.

Kain then paused to look around the table at his friends. All three of the men looked at his lunch with hungry eyes, but it wasn't the food itself they were starving for. Despite their own meager meals, none of the men were particularly wasting away. They were obviously all obviously well fed. What they were hungry for was knowledge. Kain lived their dream, and they were eager to join in.

Giving a knowing chuckle, Kain finally reached into his cooler one last time, and pulled out a clear plastic tupperware container. The corner of the lid had been lifted and from it rose the fragrant steam.
"Is that..." Dean began, pausing to lick his lips, "A pot pie?"

Kain nodded. "Home made chicken pot pie." He answered, grinning at the mournful groans of his friends. "From scratch." The groans came again, louder this time. "She made it for dinner last night and this is all that was left."

"Wouldn't even be that much left over had I been there." Frank joked.

"Now that I believe." Kain laughed as he peeled the lid from the plastic container.

A cloud of delicious steam swirled and danced into the air, filling the area with the smell of chicken pot pie. All four men inhaled deeply of the scent and sighed in unison.

Pulling a fork from is cooler, Kain eagerly dug into his lunch. He speared a piece of carrot and blew on it gently before popping it into his mouth. The flesh of the vegetable was just firm enough to give a little resistance against the pressure of his teeth before finally giving way. The subtle sweetness of the carrot reached his tongue as he chewed and he savored it a moment before swallowing and dipping his fork for another bite-sized chunk.

Buttery flaky pastry mixed with a creamy salty sauce in his mouth. A chunk of tender chicken and soft slice of bitter celery mingled across his taste buds. The tip of his tongue isolated a single sweet pea and pressed it against the roof of his mouth until it gave a satisfying pop. Kain closed his eyes and let out an involuntary moan of pleasure as he chewed.

A harmony of flavors filled his mouth and got his saliva running. The pot pie was just as delicious reheated as it was for dinner the night before. Each bite of the pie was savored and chewed with delicate slowness, each vegetable, chunk of meat and flake of pastry appreciated. As he slid the last forkful into his mouth, he actually felt sad that the experience was over.

Setting the tupperware back into his cooler with a sigh, he looked at the rest of his packed lunch. Ready for something sweet, he popped open the soda and swallowed half the can before he could taste it.

He then reached for the grapes, one of his favorite foods. Plucking one of the burgundy globes from the bag, he paused a moment and smiled, thinking about the last time his wife had hand-fed him grapes just like these. It had been a romantic moment between the two of them. Warmed by memory, he slipped the fruit past his lips and crushed it slowly between his teeth, causing the sweet juice to drizzle across his eager tongue.

One after the other, each grape was equally drained of its nectar and crushed before being swallowed.
Once the grapes were gone, he opened the package of saltines and laid one of the salty dry crackers across his tongue as a palate cleanser. After both crackers had been eaten, the rest of the Pepsi was drained unceremoniously, and he turned to his cookies.

"You guys want an Oreo? I got plenty here." Each of Kain's friends said yes and were passed a cookie, leaving two for himself.

The first cookie was wrenched apart, all of the grainy, sugar-filled filling licked clean before the chocolate cookies were put back together and tossed into his mouth, coating his teeth with a thick, cocoa-flavored paste.

The second cookie was placed on his tongue and allowed to soften with his saliva before his tongue crushed it into a sweet mash. He was just licking the last remnants of dessert from his teeth when the whistle sounded, indicating an end to his lunch.

"Back to the daily grind." He sighed as he cleaned up his section of the table. "Well, see you later fellas."

Everyone said a quick goodbye before heading back to their own work stations. Kain thought to himself that lunch never did last long enough. But at least it came once a day.