Hailey spent the rest of the afternoon preparing her house for a guest. On the way home from the restaurant she stopped at the grocery store to pick up the meat and a few vegetables she would need for dinner. Once at the apartment she reorganized the pillows and blankets she kept in her living room as furniture so that they were all placed in a semi-circle in front of the television. She replaced all the used candles in the candle holders that were on her cheap, build-it-yourself, entertainment center with new ones from the same batch of pink wax from which the gift she had given Tom was made.
When everything was tidy she went in her bedroom and sat cross legged on her bed and prayed to the goddess that her mother and father were in good health and for the night to go well. Then she got to work making the light dinner she promised her guest.
It was a minestrone soup, the recipe was one of her mother's. She felt that food one could share was romantic and what was sexier than Italian? She rolled the lean ground beef into tiny meatballs and flavored the broth with love-inducing spices like garlic and basil. Soon the apartment with filled with the delightful smell of vegetables and spices melding together in hot soup on the stove.
Day had turned to dusk out side the window and her guest would be arriving soon so Hailey set about lighting the candles in all their magic themed candle holders. The last candle lit illuminated the glass eyes of a statue of a cat dressed in a little witch hat and cape that stared out of the entertainment center. The candles were the light of the room except for the glow of the florescent lights coming from the kitchen door way.
Hailey sat down amongst her pillows in the living room and flipped on the History Channel while she awaited Tom's knock.