P E N A L T Y | c. ѕaιnz jr.

6| Debrief

C. Sainz Jr.

"So you're telling me, that your whole friend group...flew down to London from wherever they are just because you're suddenly engaged, and that's why you disappeared out of nowhere this morning...and came back with so much things from a corner shop," Salomé tried to confirm with me and I nodded and said, "Sí, I told them that they need to be in on the secret too."

"And why should they be in on the fake marriage secret?," she asked and I answered simply, "Because it would be very helpful in terms of damage control and at least we don't have to bear the weight on our own."

"Is that why you've been furiously texting on your phone during our whole ride back from Wiltshire?," she asked, miming me typing like a madman on my phone. I laughed then said, "Are you going to help me with this paella or not?"

"You mean the paella you're butchering?," she pointed out and then I looked back at the clearly burning mess of food in front of me and shrieked. I quickly threw the food away while Salomé laughed hysterically at me. She took my hand away from the paella pan and said, "Let's start over, let me help you, hmm?"

I nodded and I watched as she snaked her way in front of me to clean the pan. I grinned seeing her get-up. Her curls were up in a ponytail and I could tell that she cared about meeting my friends because I could smell the perfume coming off her and cheeks looked rosier than normal. She was still wearing my shirt from yesterday, but now she was wearing these loose fitting trousers. Brown...almost like my...

"Are you wearing my pants and shirt?!," I exclaimed and she answered so calmly, "Yeah, and? Most of my clothes were planned for clubbing not for being a sweet house wife to you."

"Ah, ah, don't get ahead of yourself princesa," I teased, "You're just the fiancé right now, not the wife."

"Ah yes that's true," she pointed out, "So I shouldn't be doing wifely duties for you, which means I should just let you redo the paella on your own and burn it all over again."

"Wait! Wait!," I said as I grabbed her hand gently, her eyes widened and she spoke to mask her surprise,"What? Are you finally going to admit that you need me?."

"Are you finally going to admit that you just like wearing my clothes and just like making up excuses?," I teased which earned a frustrated groan from Salomé as she begrudgingly held the paella pan.

"Why do you always have to be so annoying?," she muttered and I heard it but I decided to keep quiet. It was nice seeing her be playful and at ease with herself. For a moment I saw the girl I saw 10 years ago with the short curly hair.

It made me smile.

"Are you going to help me chop up some garlic or are you just going to stand there and be useless?," she asked and I laughed then said, "Alright princesa, I'll help, calm down."

She rolled her eyes as I started to peel more garlic cloves alongside her. With the way she was so effortless in the kitchen, it made me wonder where she harboured the skill from. I don't know many trust fund babies who know how to cook. Yet again, she is Spanish, and cooking with the family has always been quite the tradition.

Eventually the paella did get done and she was a whole lot better at it than me. In fact it looked amazing, I was going to ask her if she was secretly a chef but I didn't want to annoy her further. I didn't want that nice smile on her face to be replaced with a scowl.

As she tried to lift up the clearly heavy and full paella pan, she groaned a little so I said, "Let me help you."

"No, I can do it on my own, I don't need your help," she groaned.