I Am Not Uptight!

Daniel part 2

“Alright, the chef is in!” Daniel exclaimed as he pushed the front door wide open, only to be met by a rather unenthusiastic Dustin who was still on the couch where they left him. “Where are we at with Jane and Wells?” Daniel asked as he looked around. Josh went ahead to the kitchen and hurriedly began preparing.

“Gary went to wait for Jane at the bus stop. Wells hasn’t replied to the group chat,” Dustin reported with a flat tone as he scrolled through his phone.

“Ah, speaking of which, Josh, I'm going to add you to the group,” Daniel excitedly said as he leaned on pillar on the entrance to the kitchen. “That’s where we post announcements but you can also send us memes, and cute videos of animals would also be very much appreciated. It’s a house thing.”

Josh simply hummed in response as he busied himself with cutting vegetables, while he overheard Dustin mutter, “It is not a house thing.”

“Okay, so I’m the only one who does it,” Daniel rolled his eyes. “When I stop sending those one of these days, you’re all going to miss the gesture terribly.”

Dustin met him with a scoff. “That’ll be the day.”

“Ignore that bitter young adult,” Daniel said to Josh with a dismissive waved of a hand, even though Josh had already been doing a good job of ignoring the both of them. “What’s—" Daniel was about to ask something when he suddenly stopped. From the corner of Josh's eye, he saw the man look at his phone with a frown before suddenly leaving the kitchen to go upstairs.

After a few minutes or so, the kitchen tops were already filled with plates and bowls and cut up ingredients. Dustin had been quietly using his phone—occasionally chuckling or muttering something about whatever it was on his social media feed. Josh was tenderizing the pork with a meat mallet when Daniel returned.

‘Whoa, what’s happening here?” he asked, the frown in his face gone as he stood beside Josh to observe. “What did Peppa do wrong?” He playfully gasped, before realizing what he had just said. “Sorry, that’s pretty dark, wasn’t it?”

“A bit,” Josh lightly shrugged.

“Can I help?”

Josh looked around the kitchen, reluctant to hand over any responsibility. “Can you dice the onion?”

“Dice the onion…” Daniel thoughtfully muttered as he put on an apron and picked up a knife. “Like, cut them into cubes? Do I need to peel them?” Obviously, the man was privileged enough not to have cooked for himself in his 20-plus years on the planet.

Josh pursed his lips as he thought. “On second thought, can you just heat up the skillet?”

Daniel's face lit up. “Now that I can do with confidence!” he exclaimed. As he picked it up and placed it on the stove, he noticed that most of the surfaces in the kitchen were filled with bowls of cleaned vegetables, plates of breading, whisked eggs, and a lot more. He didn’t know how long he had been gone, but he was impressed at how much and how fast everything was being prepared.

“Is this all for one dish?” he couldn’t help but asked in his amazement.

“Three, actually,” Josh replied without looking up from the chopping board, “but just simple dishes. Brussel sprouts with bacon, breaded pork chops, and fried rice.”

“Three?” Daniel exclaimed just as the front door opened. “Boy, you work fast. Are you sure you work at an office and not a restaurant?”

“Maybe he’s a house dad.” It was Jane who said it as she entered the house with Gary behind her.

“Are you a father, Joshy?” Gary asked.

Despite being called the nickname he had yet to get warm up to, Josh lightly scoffed and muttered, “That’s impossible.”

Jane threw her handbag to the side and made a beeline to the kitchen. “Oh, something smells delicious!” She stood on her tiptoes behind Daniel and Josh to get a look at what they were doing.

“Josh here is making three dishes tonight,” Daniel told everyone with pride.

“A proper meal?” Gary gasped dramatically, even putting a hand over his mouth as he plopped down on the couch next to Dustin.

“A proper meal,” Daniel nodded, looking at the back of Josh's head with a smile.