King of Alacrya

Chapter 5: Bested by the Souffle

Whenever there had been a quiet moment during the day, Tessia had found her mind automatically drifting to the man who had left such a large impression on her.

She wanted to know if the chef would be experimenting in his little kitchen again tonight.

She wanted to know if the man-who-could-be-a-model had a better day than yesterday and actually got to eat dinner.

She wanted to ask, after seeing Central Academy, if the man she had mistook for an angel had attended and what he had studied.

If he had been to the Orlaeth Gardens.

If he had a favourite spot in Cardigan.

She had shared one meal with the chef and immediately following it every spare synapse that wasn't occupied with doing her job, had been taken over by golden eyes and a soft smile.

Tessia wanted to see him again. Needed to see him again.

Hence why, at close to midnight, Tessia snuck out of her bed yet again and retread her steps back to the corridor she had stumbled upon last night. She approached the door she had fallen through and found herself hesitating, worrying that the chef wouldn't actually be there even though she could see light escaping from the bottom of the door, or even worse didn't want her coming back.

Hadn't the chef said he liked cooking at this time because no one else was around, Tessia bleakly remembered as she gnawed worriedly on her bottom lip. Tessia couldn't comprehend why she was suddenly so overwhelmed with fear about being rejected. No one liked being rejected, but Tessia had never let that stop her. Numerous times she had put herself forward when it was unlikely she would get a yes.

Tessia had never let fear hold her back... until now.

Tessia forced in a deep breath through her nose in an attempt to gain control of her nerves when she smelled it.

The heavy acrid scent of smoke.

Before she had a chance to really think it through, Tessia was racing into the kitchen at an impressive speed considering she had gone from standing still. The chef was stood by the slightly open oven waving a dishcloth around in a valiant attempt to disperse grey clouds spilling forth. Tessia slowed for only a second, appreciating how calmly the man was handling this culinary disaster in the same casual wear he had been wearing last night, before running forward to grab the oven glove laid out on the counter nearby.

The chef glanced up, his at ease expression changing to one of mild shock at the sight of Tessia's sudden appearance. Tessia threw the man a small smile which she hoped made her look cool under pressure but most likely gave the impression of a rather unstable personality instead. Tessia gently nudged the chef aside with a tap of his elbow before proceeding to bend down to pull out the blackened, unrecognisable mess in a white ceramic dish and quickly drop it into the sink where she turned on the tap causing a hiss of steam to be released.

"Thank you." Tessia turned away from the smokey, unappetising mess only to find the golden eyes she had been hoping to see obscured behind the heavy blanket of steam around them. The disappointment about the loss of that sight though was more than made up for in Tessia's opinion by the wide smile accompanied by an adorable dimple on the chef's face.

"Don't worry about it." Tessia tried to nonchalantly dismiss the gratitude, hoping to keep up the appearance of coolness she thought she had gained during her timely intervention. Unfortunately for Tessia, whose hand was fiddling with the tap on the sink, she accidentally turned the water streaming out to full power when she attempted to lean casually against the counter-top. "Shoot!" Tessia exclaimed, her blue pyjamas getting sprayed liberally as she struggled to remember which way to turn the tap in her panic.