How Not to Fall in Love with Your Worst Enemy

Chapter 32

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

For those who might have forgotten his image, that's our culinary expert Aungpao.

Third Person POV

After Mark left Neo's house, Neo immediately searched online for a recipe of beef massaman curry.

Neo knew right away, after reading the list of ingredients that he would need to go to the supermarket to pick up most of the stuff needed to put together Mark's favorite dish.

Neo planned to buy double the amount of ingredients needed because he needed to use the first batch to practice on.

Neo was walking down his driveway when he noticed a bright yellow school bus amble slowly by his street. It stopped right across his house because there were several cars parked on the curb across from Aungpao's house and the only space it got left was from right across Neo's driveway.

Neo covered his ears as the loud conversations and yelling and screaming from the school kids grated at  his auditory nerve.

"Hey, Neo!"

Oh shit, Aungpao had seen him and was half walking half running towards him.

"What do you want, kid?" Neo had one hand on his car door, ready to jump into his car.

Aungpao pouted at Neo.

"Don't call me 'kid' " Aungpao complained. "I already turned eighteen last March."

"I'm getting ready to go to the supermarket, kid," Neo said with some impatience in his voice. "So tell me quickly what it is you want from me, kid."

"My dad said I could invite you to dinner this evening because I will be cooking a special dish and I would like for you to try it." Aungpao said.

"And what dish is that?" Neo got curious.

"Beef massaman curry," Aungpao replied.

"Show me the palm of your hand," Neo ordered Aungpao.

"Why?" Aungpao hesitated to do as Neo asked.

"Just show it to me," Neo said, grabbing Aungpao by the wrist and turning his hand palm facing upward.

Neo studied the lines on Aungpao's hand carefully before saying, "You have been gifted with a strong psychic ability."

"If I really have it, I must have inherited it from my dad," Aungpao said. "He can read my mind very easily."

"How did you know that I badly needed someone to teach me how to cook beef massaman curry???" Neo just couldn't believe the almost supernatural way that things were clicking into place for him.

"I didn't have the faintest idea about that," Aungpao replied. "I just like to cook special dishes on Friday evenings to celebrate the end of school week."

"Hey, I got an idea." Neo said. "Go ask your parents if I can take you with me to the supermarket. I need you to go shopping with me for the ingredients for your beef massaman curry."

"But I already have the ingredients I need for it at home," Aungpao said.

"Don't use them yet." Neo said. "I want to be the one to cook the dish, with you by my side to guide me. In case I ruin the dish in any way, then you have your back up ingredients, capisce?"

As if Aungpao could understand Italian, he replied, "Si,amore mio."

"Holy Moses, where did you learn to talk like that?" Neo asked wide eyed.

"Italian is one of my elective subjects at school," Aungpao informed Neo.

"Wow," was all Neo could manage to say.

"Wait for me," Aungpao said, half walking half running away from Neo. "I'm gonna get my parents' permission to go with you to the supermarket and I need to drop off my backpack at home first."

Neo could only stare at Aungpao's receding figure as he disappeared from Neo's view.

Neo found himself asking if he had made a mistake turning Aungpao away the last time that they were together. Aungpao's culinary skills were admirable and those were what Neo was pitifully lacking in his life.