𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐙𝐕𝐎𝐔𝐒 - ᴄʜᴀʀʟᴇꜱ ʟᴇᴄʟᴇʀᴄ

21

𝘌𝘭𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦'𝘴 𝘗𝘖𝘝:

Pierre was at my house. He was making me company while Margot was out with Lando. I decided not to ask him about the video. There were more important things on his head right now.

And I was cooking. Yeah, me. I grabbed an egg and cracked it on the bowl but it wasn't cracking. I hit it against the metal as hard as I could and it cracked on my hand. I grimaced and made a face of disgust. I tried to shake it off and gagged.

"You and cooking." Pierre spoke as he walked towards me and clicked his tongue. "Not the best mix." He shook his head as I rinsed the egg yolk off my hand.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just trying new things." I replied giving him a fake smile.

"Are you having a mid-life crisis?" Pierre raised his eyebrows and I glared at him.

"I'm 24, not 50." I dried my hands with a hand towel.

"24. 50." He put his hands besides him faking a balance. "It's the same thing."

"Does this taste good?" I grabbed the spoon and shoved it in Pierre's mouth.

He made a face of disgust and gagged putting his hand on his chest.

"Come on! You're overreacting." I spoke as he walked towards the trash can. "You're such a drama queen."

"Tastes good." Sarcasm dripped from his words as he regained his posture. "What in the world even is that?" He furrowed his brows as he walked towards me and grabbed the book I was looking at.

His expression softened when he saw the note written on the page.

"A little recipe that'll remind you of home
- Olga"

"Olga's cookies." He brushed his index finger over Olga's handwriting. He passed his hand over his eyes. I knew he was holding back his tears.

"Come here mon garçon préféré." I extended my arms and he wrapped his around me.

I passed my hands through his hair trying to comfort him. I felt a tear fall on my shoulder and I rubbed his back.

"I really miss her." He whispered and I closed my eyes feeling my chest burning.

It hurt.

"I really miss her too." I whispered back, pain in my voice.

Pierre let go of me and walked towards the fridge taking out a bar of butter.

"It's just missing some butter. Olga put a lot of butter in them. She said it gave them flavor." He grabbed a knife as he talked.

I saw his hand shaking. He was breathing heavily too.

"Pierre." I put my hand over his.

"I can't breathe." He put his hand on his chest as he dropped the knife on the counter.

"It's okay. It's okay. Let's count, all right?" I told him as he looked around, he looked lost.

"I can't keep loosing people." He mumbled as his eyes fluttered close.

"Pierre." I put my hands on his face trying to make him focus. "Hey." I gave him a comforting smile when his eyes landed on me. "Let's count buddy, okay?" I repeated and he nodded. "1." I started and raised my index finger.

"2."

"3." I encouraged him to continue when I saw him breathing going back to normal.

"4."

"5."

"6. You're doing great Pierre. Come on."

"7." He stuttered and took a deep breath to continue. "8,9,10." He finished counting and I smiled.