Friday, May 30, 2014

Cravings...


Nick looked over this week’s layout on the computer screen and liked what he saw.  The articles were all well placed and wrapped around the graphics.  There was no unnecessary white space and the headers and leads were appropriately sized. This week’s edition of the gazette was going off without a hitch, which meant, something else was about to implode.

Yeah, that went against the whole power of positive thinking mantra, but so far in his life, this was the norm.  Good in one area meant difficulty in the other.

“Hey there, bossman.” Penny stuck her head into his office and addressed him with her usual irreverent respect. “Your pops on line two.”

“Thanks Penny.”

“Penelope, boss-ass, Penelope,” she said while closing the door.

Nick grabbed the handset and braced himself for the coming problem.  As the pack leader, everything came back to him to work out…even issues from the previous leader.  “Hey Pop, what’s going on?”

“Boy, get your mangy ass over to the Bighorn Diner and take control of your woman!”

“Excuse me? What did you say, old man?”

“You heard me fine.  Right now, that lovely young lady carrying my grandpup…who should be my daughter-in-law, by the way…is making trouble for my wife at the diner.  Go fix it now or I’ll nip your backside like I used to when you were young.”

“You could try old…”

“Nicolas, please…go take care of Ziva.”

Shite, Vernon McMahon rarely called him by his full first name.  His mom had called him Nicolas always, but dad only did it when he was concerned about something. “Yes, Sir.  I’ll head over now.”

“Good.” Click.

Nick hung up the phone and left via the door in his office.

###

Ziva pointed to her favorite yellow fruit from her seat at the front counter and hoped to hell she wasn’t drooling in public. “I’m thinking more pineapple, yep, pineapple.”

“Um, okay, Miss Ziva, but then you won’t be able to taste the mango.”

“Oh shite, you’re right.  Definitely add more mango as well.  Yep, just like that.  Hey is there a reason the strawberry flapjacks are taking so long?” Ziva asked, nibbling on the delicacy from the jar in front of her.

“Um, well, I…I,” the waitress stuttered while looking a little green around the gills. That was literal as the lovely lady helping her was a fish in her alternate form.

“That’s okay, Luna, I’ll talk to Ziva if you finish making her mango/pineapple smoothie.”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you, ma’am.”

“Hey Elly, guess what…I’m finally keeping stuff down!  And man am I hungry.”

“That’s wonderful, dear.  I’m so glad.”

“So did I come at the wrong time for some strawberry flapjacks?”  Ziva raised her open jar and smiled at Elly McMahon.  “I even brought my own topping.”

“Yes, dear, about that…”

“Holy Lupa, Miss Elly, what died up on in here?”

Ziva turned to see Arglen, a lone wolf trucker who’d been sniffing after her aunt for years, bellow as he walked in the door.

“Arglen, that is not necessary…”

“Smells like dog farts.” The loud mouth barked. “It’s gonna make it hard to eat your delicious flappers.”

Ziva stood, her jar in hand and made her way over to the irritating brute.  “That was rude, Arglen.  There is no bad smell in here, apologize to Miss Elly. Now!” She shook her hand at him, splashing some of the contents of her lunch down his shirt.

“Fuc…dging hell, Ziva, it’s that stuff that smells and you got it all over me…what is wrong with you?  Nose out of whack?”

“My nose is fine, Arglen, this is delicious and it will compliment my strawberry flapjacks nicely.”

Ziva looked around as the diners in the seats around her all grimaced and gaged.  Elly shook her head with a half-smile and grabbed a to-go box from the server window.  Luna had her smoothie ready, also in a to-go glass and Nick came through the door, quickly covering his nose and mouth with his hand.

“Ziva-love.” He sauntered closer and took the jar from her, covering it with his hands and moved to the counter where she’d left the top. “What are you doing here?”

“Getting something to eat.”  She smiled at her alpha wolf, thrilled to finally be telling him the good news. “I’m keeping my food down now and I’m starved!”

“That’s wonderful….but, what are you ordering?”

“Strawberry flapjack, hash browns, a bowl of oatmeal with raisins and apples…yum, and a mango/pineapple smoothie.  Why?”

“What’s this for then?”

Ziva smiled as Nick waved her jar around.  “I’m going to sprinkle it on the flapjacks. I can’t wait!”
The room at large groaned and pushed their plates away, throwing her for a loop.  What was wrong with everyone?

“But it’s, it’s…”

“Sauerkraut. Wonderfully delicious sauerkraut.”

“Ziva, my love, you take the, um, sauerkraut and head outside.  Don’t open it until you’re outside.  I’ll get the rest of your food.”

“But…”

“We’ll have a picnic.”

“Awesome!”  Ziva turned toward the door, but still heard Nick and Elly’s whispered comments.

“Sauerkraut? Is she okay, Elly?”

“It’s just a craving, Nick.  It’s an odd one, sure, but it will pass in time.”

“But will my sense of smell ever be the same?”

Ziva didn’t listen to the rest of the exchange and focused on taking another bite of her cabbage-y treat.  Craving, huh.  Not likely. They just didn’t know what was good. 

~~~

Ha! Much as I like sauerkraut, I really can't imagine it with flapjacks, oatmeal and a smoothie.  I was lucky when I was pregnant with my Darling Diva...I craved steak, peanut butter and OJ.  Not at the same time though.

How about ya'll?  Any strange cravings you care to share?  :)

Have a great weekend!
Serena

10 comments:

Rebecca Gillan said...

Oh, man, should not have tried reading that while eating my lunch... Excellent post!

Rebecca Gillan said...

“Smells like dog farts.”

Savanna Kougar said...

Oh, that was good! I kept wondering what it was Ziva was nauseating everyone with... I thought of sardines and Limburger cheese... but not sauerkraut. ~smiles~

I've had some serious food cravings but not while pregnant.

Serena Shay said...

LOL...Sorry, Rebecca. Yep, dog farts...my doxie let fly last night and Alpha hubby said "Damn who gave that dog sauerkraut!"

He inspires many of my sillier moments. :D

Serena Shay said...

Hehe...yep, Savanna I thought about those things too, but sauerkraut has both the look and the smell to repel most wolf noses. :)

Limburger, or stinky feet, cheese would have been my second choice but harder to write about from Ziva's POV. My Grandpa loved Limburger only he would send the house running for cover every time he ate it! ~shudders~

Savanna Kougar said...

I've smelled some dog farts in my time, but none caused by sauerkraut... ~grins~

Fortunately, I've only smelled Limburger and couple of times...and could escape.

Pat C. said...

Fudging hell, that was funny! I thought maybe Ziva had brought some kind of meat into the veggie oasis that is the Bighorn. I wonder if Elly got meat cravings during any of her pregnancies?

Our dog used to cut wind, then run like mad to get away from it. If only the rest of us dared do that when my dad started blasting.

Serena Shay said...

LOL...Alpha Hubby has been know to clear a room a time or two, but then he laughs as we all do the "Oh Man" moans. Dudes are lucky that way...if I did that, I would be a tad mortified.

Oh shoot, I bet Elly did crave meat. I wonder if she hid it or chomped down whenever and wherever she got hungry? hehe

Serena Shay said...

Hehe...it was pretty bad, Savanna. Thing is, we don't give our guys sauerkraut so I'm thinking some must have fallen on the floor when we had it with our brauts the other night and our sneaky little one got a hold of it. Dang it was bad. :P

Savanna Kougar said...

Yep, some kraut must have fallen... the worst I've smelled is when we were on the road away from home, and likely caused by stress.