Chapter 2 - dessert

It felt rude, serving up dessert and not giving any to Damon, who watched them all eat, looking envious. Jenny was glad when everyone had finished so that she didn't need to watch anymore. She was also glad that she could finally pack off boring Fran into the lounge for a bit whilst she tidied up. "I'll stay here and help," Damon stated, as Jake and Fran started walking away; the conversation already turning back to work.

"I'm alright cleaning up by myself," Jenny smiled, feeling grateful none the less.

"No, I'd rather be in here, it's better than listening to delightful anecdotes about boring clients in Texas, or Nebraska, or wherever else the pair of them have been recently," Damon sighed, echoing Jenny's sentiments exactly, despite the fact that she kept quiet about it.

"How come you didn't have dessert?" asked Jenny a couple of minutes later.

"Oh..." Damon laughed nervously. "Sometimes I get a bit carried away when I'm eating and Fran reins me in. She doesn't want me putting on any more weight." He patted his stomach as if he were overweight, but the reality was that, even with a huge bloat, Damon was only 10lbs or so off having a completely flat stomach.

"Did you want pudding though?" asked Jenny, feeling a little disgusted that Fran would try to control Damon's eating.

"Well, yeah, of course I did. It looked delicious. You really are a talented cook!" smiled Damon. "I'm the chef in our house as well; but Fran's not all that interested in the type of food I like. She'd rather eat rabbit food."

Jenny huffed, feeling determined. She pulled out the leftover dessert tray and gave a spoon to Damon. "You enjoy it," she ordered. "You don't need to listen to what Fran has to say about it. It's Saturday night after all. If you want it, you have it!"

Damon smiled, with the spoon in his hand, he didn't need telling twice.

Jenny couldn't believe that she didn't have any leftovers to try and pack back into the refrigerator. It saved so much time and effort. Damon had polished off enough dessert to make three servings as well as the last of the ice cream. Jenny really had never seen anyone with a better appetite. "That was amazing!" Damon huffed, rubbing his stomach. "I could eat that all day long."

Jenny smiled. She tried really hard with her cooking, but Jake rarely even commented these days. "Well, I'll have to make a larger amount next time you're over so you can take some home with you."

Damon chuckled. "I'm not sure whether Fran would go for that!" he smiled, holding the top of his bloated stomach and burping silently into his fist.

"Don't you listen to Fran! If Jake ever told me what to eat and what not to eat, I'd be so annoyed. I think that's really awful.' Jenny realised she had to rein herself in. She was being rude.

Damon simply smiled at her. "I suppose we had better go back into the lounge to be bored rigid."

Jenny smiled. "Maybe in another five minutes..." the pair smiled conspiratorially.

"Well, I think that was a success!" Jake nodded after Fran and Damon had left that night. "Fran is funny isn't she?" Jenny simply nodded. Somehow she'd managed to avoid her for the last half of the evening. "I'm not sure what to think about her husband though," Jake went on, scowling.

"Damon is brilliant!" Jenny jumped in defensively. "We've arranged to meet up at the food festival in town next weekend when you're both away at the annual conference in Florida. Damon wants me to try these cheeses they sell there. He says they're amazing."

"Good!" nodded Jake. "See, things are working out well. I think we may actually have some new friends to hang out with!"

Jenny really did see Damon as a friend back then; someone to go with to try new places to eat, when their partners were away on business trips. Damon was a handsome man so there was always going to be temptation, but she could handle that.