Hungry for Love Pt. 01

I've been wanting to start this story for a while and I have recently been needing a distraction from a ton of other stuff happening, so this seemed like a great time to jump in. As with "Your Love" an editor was not used so PLEASE leave constructive feedback. And yes, this involves A LOT of the same characters from your "Your Love"! What can I say? I grew attached!

Thanks, and enjoy!

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***December 23***

"Aunt Car Car!"

Carmen flinched at the sound of her name being screeched as she stepped out of the freezing cold and into the cozy brick home she'd flown all the way from L.A. to visit.

"Hey little one!" She replied, beaming at a chocolate batter covered 3-year-old that was bolting in her direction with his arms reaching to be picked up.

"Not so fast Henry!" His father said as he scooped up his son. "Pretty sure Aunt Carmen doesn't want chocolate fingerprints all over her sweater.

Henry pouted in response.

"Hey Carmen!" Stephen said, turning to her to give a sideways hug while trying to keep Henry out of reach. "How was the flight?"

"Eh, minimal turbulence so I survived."

"Good to hear. I would have come and picked you up myself but "Crazy" insisted." Stephen said as he rolled his eyes.

"I heard that!" Christina yelled from the doorway.

She dropped a huge bag of luggage down on the hardwood floors revealing her seven-month pregnant belly.

"Jeez Carmen!" Christina exclaimed breathlessly, "Moving the whole apartment?"

"Yes, actually! Carmen replied.

Christina cut her eyes, "You know what I meant."

"Babe, why are you lifting that any way?" Stephen fussed, "Go sit down, I'll get the rest after I finish Henry's bath."

Henry had been wriggling around in his Father's arms, trying to make his way to back to the kitchen table where they'd been working on cookies.

Stephen hauled the toddler upstairs for his bath as Carmen followed her waddling best friend down the hallway and into the living room.

"Sure you're not carrying twins in there?" She joked.

"Even I'm starting to wonder." Christina replied, clearly unamused with her condition. "Everyone said the second time around would be a breeze, but this pregnancy has been so much harder than Henry's was. This little girl is wreaking havoc on my body."

The living room had been decorated for the upcoming holiday. Lights and greenery were wrapped around the banister that went upstairs, fake snow lined the windows huge, and a colorfully lit Christmas tree stood in the corner with perfectly wrapped gifts tucked beneath.

Christina plopped onto the couch and yawned as Carmen sat down in the cushy chair across from her.

"Pregnancy has never looked easy to me," Carmen said thoughtfully, "Don't get me wrong, you've got the whole "glow" thing going, but just the idea of carrying around another human that's literally feeding and living off of you for nine whole months sounds inhumane. It's a literal parasite."

Christina laughed at her friend.

"I cannot wait for you to have kids, you will be a miserable pregnant woman and then I'll get to enjoy the other side of this."

"Ew, no thanks. Watching you do this twice has been more than enough birth control for me. My baby making factory is closed."

"Nope!" Christina said as she shook her head, "I'm literally not allowing that! Once I get you hitched then all my evil plans with fall into place."

"Extra ew."

"Oh come on Carmen, are we still doing the whole aversion to marriage thing?"

"It's not an aversion, I just don't really have the time, energy, or...interest to be in a relationship. Besides, I have two food trucks and a restaurant to worry about. Anything else is bothersome."

"Obviously you can spare some time to date if you're already willing to move across the country."

"I'm moving to expand!" Carmen replied, "And even then, I'll be going back and forth a ton. There's no sense in getting involved with someone that can't handle my life, and most guys can't."

"I think you're just being difficult. There are plenty of great guys out there who can handle a woman who is handling her own shit."

"The closest I got was Ash and we all know how that ended."

"Ash was a cheating douchebag! PLEASE tell me you're not actually thinking about going back to him!"

"Of course not! My point is that the only type of men who can handle what I do are the ones who actually do what I do, and the type of men that do what I do are almost always assholes. Men in the food industry, especially the successful ones, always have rock star size egos and dicks that get hard for anything with legs."

"So then date outside of your field!"

Carmen laughed, "The only men I meet are in my field! Ash owned two restaurants, Jax owned three, Shein was a caterer, Paolo was a personal chef, Frankie did food trucks, and Sammy was a supplier. They were all assholes Chris."

"Well welcome back to North Carolina! Our food scene is still growing so your pick of romantic careers prospects is much broader! Also, L.A. has all but wiped out your southern accent and guys here love Cali girls. You were there long enough, so it counts."

Carmen groaned as she stood up and made her way into the kitchen. Conversations about her love life never ended well. It was bad enough her parents wouldn't stop badgering her about it but now even her best friend wouldn't let it go. What's wrong with just being a career woman? She was damned good at what she did!

Since leaving North Carolina years ago and moving to L.A. on a mere whim, she had opened an insanely successful restaurant and two highly stalked food trucks, one of which was featured on the official Instagram page for America's top Food Trucks. And now she was moving back across the country to spread the love to her hometown! Yet for some reason her hometown was only concerned about the love she wasn't getting!

Carmen started swinging open cabinets looking for food, she'd made her way to the pantry and had only come up with half a bag of chips and lemonade mix.

"I am starving!" She said as she opened the fridge, "And you guys don't have anything besides leftovers."

Christina had followed into the kitchen and was smiling guiltily.

Carmen knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Let me guess," She said as she closed the fridge door behind her, "You thought that I'd come here and play personal chef for the holidays."

"I mean..." Christina started before Stephen walked in behind her with a freshly cleaned Henry on his shoulders.

"The exact word she used was caterer."

"Wow Chris!" Carmen exclaimed as she watched Christina swat at her husband.

Christina quickly came to her own defense.

"It's not that I can't cook, it's that you are sooo much better!"

Carmen stifled a laugh as Stephen vigorously agreed from behind his wife.

"Shut up Stephen!" Christina said without turning around.

"Sut up Teefan!" Henry yelled from over his father's head.

"See?" Stephen said accusingly, "I told you it was you!" He turned to Carmen to explain.

"His pre-school teacher has been sending home notes that he's been using inappropriate language around his friends and now parents are complaining about their kid's potty-mouths."

Carmen couldn't stop giggling at the collective scene in front of her.

Henry was now showcasing all of the "special" words his mommy had unintentionally taught him while Stephen fussed at his wife who was doing her best to quiet the toddler on top of her husband's head.

Amidst the noise none of them besides Carmen heard the doorbell ring.

She wasn't remotely interested in getting caught in their crosshairs, so Carmen went off to answer the door herself.

The noise in the kitchen didn't subside even as she swung the door open to find a somewhat familiar face standing on the front porch. The tall man looked like an older version of Stephen, except with a full beard and a little grey sprinkled throughout the top of his head.

"Hey!" The name escaped her as she had only met him once before at Christina and Stephen's wedding. "You're Stephen's brother, right?"

The man smiled warmly at Carmen, "That I am. I'm Travis, and this is Max." Travis side stepped a bit to reveal a sullen looking 13-year-old teenager who was busy texting on his phone. "You're Carmen, right?"

"I am, I remember you guys from the wedding, I'm just really terrible with names."

Travis laughed, "It's no problem, normally I am too, I just remember Christina saying you were coming in tonight."

"Oh great!" Carmine replied cheerfully.

An awkwardly quiet moment passed before Carmine realized the two men were still standing out in the cold.

"Oh my Gosh! Come in! I'm so sorry!" Carmine stepped back to let them in as Travis chuckled.

"It's fine, another second and I would have just started singing carols or something."

Carmine smiled as she tried to hide her embarrassment.

Stephen rounded the corner followed by Christina with Henry holding onto her hand.

"Hey you two!" Stephen said greeting his brother and nephew who still wasn't paying attention.

Carmine stood as she watched the greetings go around.

Stephen snatched Max's phone from his hands and held it high above his head.

"Give your Aunt a proper hug and you can have it back." He said while laughing.

Max huffed as he walked over to Christina and wrapped his arms limply around her before returning to Stephen.

"Can I have it back now?"

Stephen snickered as he extended the phone out to him but was interrupted as Travis snatched it away.

"Actually, I'm thinking a break from your phone is a good idea tonight. You're visiting family and it's Christmas."

"It's not Christmas yet!" The teenager replied obviously annoyed.

"It's close enough." Travis smiled as he slid the phone into his back pocket.

"Travis!" Christina spoke up, "You remember Carmen, right?"

"Yea I do! From the wedding! She didn't remember me though, thought we were carolers when we answered the door." Travis looked back at Carmine and winked.

"Carmine! Rude!" Christina fussed.

"No! I..I." Carmen stammered as the two walked off in front of her.

"Hey Carmen," Stephen called from the front entry and she spun around quickly to respond, "Where are your keys? I was gonna get the rest of your stuff out of the car."

"Oh great!" She replied, "It's really just Christmas gifts and they are all in the trunk, my keys are on the table next to the door."

With that Stephen walked out and Christina returned to the living room with everyone else. Travis and Christina were sitting across from each other on the couch talking, Max was leaned back in the cushy chair looking incredibly bored, and little Henry was sitting at his feet trying to get his attention.

"Carmen, Travis was just saying he has a few last-minute gifts he wanted to pick up tomorrow, I figured we could swing by the mall, if you were up for it?"

"Yea, no problem, there's actually a couple things I wanted to grab as well."

"Awesome," Christine said as she stood up from the couch, "I'm gonna call Cat and Andrew to see if they want to join us. To be honest, I don't think Cat is every really done shopping ya know?"

Travis laughed as Christine walked off and Carmine walked over to take her spot.

"So do you guys live nearby?" Carmen asked.

"Just about 20 minutes away, which is awful because we still barely see each other. I know those two are so busy being parents now and work keeps me tied up."

"Plus having a teenager has to be pretty time consuming."

"Oh, not at all. Actually, Max is probably the easiest thing going on in my life. I just check to make sure he's breathing in between meals."

Carmen laughed as she looked over at Max who was obviously too spaced out to care he was the subject of conversation.

"Never really worry if he's getting into trouble since all he does is stay on his phone."

"I get that though," Carmen said. "I'm glued to my phone. It's my lifeline."

"Right but see, you actually have an job and responsibilities. People you need to be available for. He's 13, can't imagine what business he needs to be glued to that thing 24/7 for."

"Very true."

"Speaking of business, how's yours going? You're running a restaurant, right?"

"Yep, and business is great. Actually, I'm out here to do the same thing I did in L.A."

"Nice! Same kind of place?"

"Sort of, I like reflecting local flavors and things like that. California and North Carolina have very different tastes in food, so I want to use what is known here but prepare it in a way that may not be familiar."

"Gotcha, so putting a new spin on classics."

"Well yea, but also some new stuff altogether. I've got a couple of chefs that I've been talking to and they have some great ideas."

"Sounds great! Got me looking forward to eating there!"

"To be honest, I'm looking forward to eating now. I've been hungry ever since my plane landed and the lady of the house actually expects me to do the cooking here."

"Well I remember eating your food when you catered the wedding and it was pretty amazing. Comparing that to some of the meals I've eat here...well..." Travis trailed off.

"Well what Travis?" Christina spoke up from behind them and Christina and Travis burst out laughing.

"You two can shove it." Christina said pouting.

"Tuv it!" Yelled Henry.

"Ugh! Don't you start mister! I'll never hear the end of it from your daddy."

Christina walked around the couch and picked Henry up.

"Let me feed this one and put him down for bed and then we can order chinese or something?"

"Sounds good to me." Travis replied.

"Dad, can I get my phone back please?" Max finally spoke up from his chair.

"You've barely spoken to anyone, heck no."

Max sighed, crossed his arms, and went back to staring at nothing.

"Actually," Carmen spoke, "Max, what do you like to eat?"

Max looked over at her and shrugged. "I don't know."

"You don't have a favorite food?"

Max thought for a moment.

"Pizza."

Of course. Carmen smiled.

"Well how about we do pizza, except for one catch."

"What?"

"We have to make it."

Max's face scrunched up in confusion while Travis looked amused.

"Make it?" Max didn't look convinced, "I don't know how to make pizza. Isn't it easier to just order it?"

"I mean sure, but homemade pizza tastes way better and luckily for you I know how to make pizza. Like the best pizza."

Max still didn't look convinced.

"The best huh?"

Carmen pulled out her phone and clicked around a bit before tossing it to Max.

"No way, you own the Pluto Pizza food truck? They make the mega monster mash! It's all over Instagram! It looks so good, but you can only get it in California!"

"Who do you think created the mega monster mash?" Carmen pointed towards herself and Max's eyes grew, and he sat up excitedly.

"Can we make it for dinner?"

"Only if you help and go with me to the grocery store for the ingredients."

Max nodded happily in agreement before looking to his dad for permission.

Travis had been watching in amazement as Carmen pulled an actual response from his son. The one that was normally only capable of one-word answers.

"Awesome," Carmen spoke before turning to Travis, "Up to drive? I have no idea where the store is here."

Travis nodded and stood up.

The three of them headed to the door as Stephen was making his final trip of bringing the gifts in.

"Where you guys headed?" Stephen inquired as Travis pulled his coat on.

"Grocery store," Carmen replied, "In the mood for pizza?"

"Works for me." Stephen shrugged as he made his way into the living room with his arms full of gifts.

Travis, Carmen, and Max stepped out into the cold December air and headed for the SUV pulled into the driveway.

They all stepped into the vehicle when Max asked, "Dad can I get the aux cord?"

"Uh..." Travis hesitated as he looked towards Carmen.

"It's fine," Carmen said, assuming he didn't think she'd be into Max's music tastes.

Travis gave Carmen a look before replying under his breath, "Your eardrums."

Max grabbed the cord and Travis started the car and soon the speakers were blaring a loud screaming base that Carmen could feel vibrating in her chest.

Travis quickly slammed the volume button and a ringing silence filled the air.

"Oh my God." Was all Carmen could whisper.

"Told ya." Travis replied. "Maybe we should just do some Christmas radio Max, safer for everyone."

Travis turned to a local radio station that was playing Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You".

"Definitely safer." Carmen whispered, and Travis smiled.

The three of them arrived at the grocery store 15 minutes later.

Carmen grabbed a cart as Max and Travis followed her in.

"Do you remember the recipe?" Max asked Carmen.

"Know it by heart, first we need dough. Normally I'd make it from scratch but it's a bit late for that much work." Carmen spoke as she did a visual sweep of the store. "Usually the bread section has bags of it."

"I'll get it." Max said as he ran off towards the bakery.

Carmen turned towards Travis, "So it's pizza that gets him excited?".

"Honestly I don't think it's that," Travis replied. "Pizza nights at our house don't usually get this kind of response. Video games do but not pizza."

Carmen laughed.

"I'm thinking having an exclusive slice of pizza from a world-renowned chef is what cinched the deal." Travis continued, "Trust me, this is going to be all over Instagram tonight."

"Well I'm happy to help then." Carmen giggled.

The two walked down the aisles grabbing various items and sending Max off for other ingredients.

He was only too happy to help as it was all being logged on his "Insta" story.

They finally met up at the check-out counter and started placing things on the belt.

Various meats and cheeses were the bulk of their purchase as well as a special blend of herbs and spices to go into the sauce.

"Not going to lie," Travis said. "This looks like heartburn waiting to happen."

Carmen chuckled as Max rolled his eyes.

They made their way back to the car and loaded up before heading back to the house.

Travis watched as Carmen maneuvered around the kitchen giving instruction to Max.

He didn't want to jinx it by saying it out loud, but Max had actually opted to give Carmen his full attention and put his phone down.

They were both covered in a light dusting of flour as they placed another layer of cheese on what looked to be an already full pizza.

The mountain of cheese, meat, and sauce was impressive in size and even Travis found himself wanting to take a picture of their creation, but he thought the moment was best preserved without technology.

"Man, it looks exactly how it does in the pictures." Max said as he helped Carmen carry it to the oven.

The two got all the way to the over when they realized they had forgotten to actually open it first and neither was willing to risk dropping it.

Carmen and Max both looked over to Travis who had been waiting for them to notice their fluke.

"Do you mind?" Carmen said expectantly.

"Not at all." Travis replied as he walked over, reached in between them and pulled down the over door.

They carefully placed the pie into the heat and closed the door behind it.

"Alright kiddo," Carmen said as she slid off he mitts, "That's going to be another hour at least. Up for a movie?"

Travis thought Max might have wanted to grab his phone, but it didn't seem the thought crossed his mind.

"Ever see The Babadook?" Max asked.