5.
“I don't eat meat,” Tim told me after I stretched my arm across the table and offered him a bite of my burger. The meat peeking out from under the bun, was moist, rare and topped with blue cheese. It was our second date. I put the burger back on my plate, trying to hide it behind our water and beer glasses. I looked at Tim’s meal. A whole-wheat wrap filled with chickpeas and lettuce. It began to make sense. He had suggested Life Alive, a vegetarian restaurant that I commented was a little pricey and had suggested The Abby instead, only because I thought he'd appreciate their creativity. They offered The Morning Burger—Angus beef topped with two eggs and bacon. The Buffalo Blue Burger—drenched in blue …show more content…
It happened the next Friday night. All I had to eat that day was a banana, a bowl of cereal and an arugula salad that I topped with too much cheese and sliced almonds. I had a staff outing at Julian's bowling alley and came home drunk and hungry. The potential meals invaded my imagination on the cab ride home. Chilidogs. Nachos covered with cheese and shredded chicken. Burgers with avocado and bacon. Of course, I didn’t have any of this in my apartment, but as I stepped into the kitchen and threw my keys onto the table, I remembered the chicken nuggets and hot dogs. I thought of my mother writing that note. Was she laughing as she wrote it or looking the same way that she did at the fire, staring at me like I wasn't her youngest, beloved daughter, but a counterfeit? Tim was asleep in my bed and I dug through the freezer as quietly as I could. I read the front of the box of nuggets: Dinosaur-shaped chicken breast patty fritters with rib meat. Good source of iron. Made with real white meat. 0g of transfat. I placed only three nuggets on a glass plate and told myself I'd wait to make a decision once I cooked them in the microwave. Two minutes later, my face hovered above the microwaved meat. The steam flew up my nose. I smelled the breadcrumbs that blanketed the rib