(Changed my reading settings. Forgot I could lol. Gonna take time getting used to but it'll be so much better yay)

Part 4 — Checkup

"Okay, this shouldn't be too hard. On a daily basis, what would I do if Xin wasn't home? Not fight with her... that's for sure. Wow, we do that daily? It's strange how I got used to that." Zap looked around. "I mean, I cook regardless of whether she's home or not, and it's almost lunchtime..."

Zap got a pan from the lower cabinet and started a fire on the stove. "What else do I do? I'm going to have to get used to this... ah, that's right. I have some books that I set to read in my spare time. I have so many books that I need to start. I can finally get back to that..." He poured cooking oil and spread it across the pan. "Shoot, the essay on jaguars is due next week, and I'm not even halfway done... I'm going to have to work on that." He cracked two eggs on the rim of the pan and let the egg fall into the pan. "Well, it doesn't look like I'll need that break anymore. I need to start working at that restaurant again soon... can't run out of money this soon." Zap turned up the heat and covered the top of the pan.

He was surprised when his phone rang again. Careful to check whether it was a telemarketer, he answered the phone, surprised to see that it was under Xin's name. "Hello?"

"Hey."

"What's up?"

"Did you get all my notes?"

"Um... how many were there?"

"Well, there was four sticky notes, and I wrote on a card, too."

"Yeah, I got all that. Wh—"

"Cool. Just checking." He heard the sound of her hanging up.

Shocked, he set down the phone on the kitchen counter and walked out of the kitchen. The eggs began to blacken. More smoke began to rise.