Arranged Roommates

|25| An Almost Kiss

I knew it.

"And how long is the slightly longer time?"

He flinched, visibly. "Maybe like forty minutes."

I pursed my lips. "That's a perfectly normal behavior. Completely understandable." I couldn't keep the sarcasm off my voice.

Dumping the dead black strands of noodles in the trash, I actually felt my heart break into half for wasting food.

"If you so wanted to celebrate, why didn't you order something from outside?"

A heavy sigh, followed the confession, "The delivery doesn't work till eight. And I wanted to make it myself because you are always the one who always makes food. I wanted to do something nice as well, as a gesture of thanks."

I nodded, my anger melting like butter on a hot pan at his genuine words. And then that innocent look of his accompanied by the hotness of his shirtless torso also did help a little in forgiving him.

I am in deep shit, I am telling you.

Steeling myself, not allowing my silly crush to ruin my fiery image, I said, "Let's establish something. Whenever you want to do something nice," I looked at him, to see if he was listening to me or not, "You won't do any activity that concerns cooking, chopping, or that has anything to do with making food. Even fireless cooking isn't allowed. Do anything else, if you want to show a nice gesture, okay? But not cooking. Never come near the gas stove."

His gaze dropped as he sulked toward the kitchen stools. I called, "Do you want to do a nice gesture right now?"

He glimpsed at me with a dejected look. "What?"

"Wash the dishes and clean the mess you made. It would be a nice enough gesture."

"I was going to do that anyway. Let me just sit for a few seconds so that I can soak up the agony of this insult I have faced today." He noisily took a seat, all while pouting childishly.

Such a Drama King.

"Why are you spoiling your mood, huh? I didn't even say anything harsh to you till now."

"I don't know..." He whined, "My whole plan is ruined. I just wanted to do something to make you happy. And then all of it backfired. This feels like a defeat."

I chuckled at his drama. "Come on now. You have just burnt some food. Nothing too big about it. It's not like you lost a war or something."

He scowled at me.

"Why do you men take everything to your ego?"

He snapped his head away from me like a kid throwing a tantrum. "You won't understand."

"Are you...on your man-period or something?"

I concealed a smile when a gasp left his mouth.

"It's not funny."

"How about I teach you how to make perfect Maggi? And then when you want to show a nice gesture in the future, you can make it by yourself. That way your fragile ego won't be hurt," I offered.

"But you only said that I am not allowed to come near the gas stove. What about that condition?"

"We can make it an exception. If you learn how to make noodles this time then well and good. But if you can't do it, then we will invoke that condition again."

He bobbed his head in approval. "Fine."

"First things first, Clean that saucepan. After that, we can get started."

Within a minute, Aryan had washed the utensil. It looked completely new.

One thing about this man that I have learned after living with him for three weeks is- He can't cook to save his life but does the dishes meticulously. With precise perfection.