Back In time

Thirty-Two

"I would be delighted." Fredricks exuded a warm smile before shifting his attention to me.

"Great! We have just concluded our shopping; you are welcome to our abode for a respite before dinner."

Where is Agnes going with this?

"I was afraid you would not ask." As the three of us made our way back to the carriage, I quickened my footsteps to catch up with Agnes, leaving Fredricks who was a few meters away, behind us.

"What are you doing? Why would you invite Fredricks for dinner? What if our cooking tastes bad? What if he gets a diarrhea from our food? Or worse, killed?" The questions that I bombarded Agnes with only made her shake her head.

"I am not blind Abbey. Did you see the way he looked at you?"

"But I-"

"Besides, I highly doubt that our cooking will turn out to be horrible. If anything, our cooking would definitely be comparable to those of restaurants."

*

"No! You should not be cutting it in this way!"

"Be quiet! Your filleting skills are worse than mine!" I hollered back at Agnes who tried snatching the knife away from me, but I quickly turned my body against her, successfully ensuring that the instrument remained in my grasp. Knowing that it was be impossible to snatch the knife, Agnes swiftly grabbed the fish off the chopping board before running to the far side of the kitchen where another chopping board was located.

Ever since we got back to the house, it has been nothing but chaos. The servants in the kitchen were frightened by what seemed like a premise turned into a war zone which compelled everyone to leave.

"Is everything okay? I can hear the commotion from the living area." Fredricks popped his head from behind the kitchen doors to peek a glance at the commotion.

"Shut up and return to chess-playing with grandpapa!"

"You are the one that should shut up!" Agnes yelled, "Look are what you have done to the soup!"

"Me? It was you! If you hadn't added that stupid thing, why would it look like this?" I retaliated, completely unaware that Fredricks was too, frightened by the scene before him, prompting him to scurry back to his game.

"Look at what you did!" I fired.

"Oh please! You were the one who said that it needed to be cooked a little more and now look at what it looks like?"

The constant firing of verbal missiles together with the clanging of pots and pans continued to wreak havoc into a once orderly and neat area; and no one dared to take a step into our location until dinner was served.

**

"Fredricks, you are the guest, you may have the honor of taking the first bite." Grandpapa offered while staring at the dishes placed before him, which looked like nothing but pieces of charcoal with a potato soup that resembled close to a vomit texture.

"Oh no I could not. Afterall, you are the elder in this house. Guest or not, priority has to be given to the senior." Fredricks replied sheepishly.

"I insist. I am a man that does not take fancy in rules, so please help yourself."

"I also insist-"

"Oh for goodness sake, can the both of you just eat it?" Agnes nodded along, getting increasingly irritated from their squabble. No matter how unpresentable it looks, the taste would not be that horrible. Right?

Both grandpapa and Fredricks looked at the both of us with pleading eyes, but upon seeing our stoic expression, they knew that the only way they could leave the table was by taking a bite out of the dishes we prepared.

Left without a choice, the two men bravely downed a bowl of soup before gagging at the aftertaste.

So much for restaurant-graded food.

"Water! Water!" The two quickly drowned themselves with a cup of liquid before heaving a sigh of relief.

"Next, the fish." Agnes pushed the plate of fish to both grandpapa and Fredricks. Horror was unmistakably written all over their face.

"I-I just remembered that I have another errand to run," Fredricks stammered before he quickly stood up to rush out of the house, completely forgetting his coat.

"M-Me too! There are letters that I have yet to write!" my grandpapa hurried up the stairs, "thank you for the horri- uh I mean, lovely food, my two granddaughters."

Agnes and I were left standing in the dining area with the plate of blackened fish still ogling at us. A few seconds went by in silence before we both looked at each other, only to crack out in laughter.

Note to self: Be it Alice nor Agnes, cooking is to be strictly forbidden.

"Come on, let's wash these up and get ready for bed."

*

"Are you sure you can stay over for the night?" I asked, remembering that Agnes was already married and that she has a husband to get back to.

"It is fine. He is out of town anyway, so I could stay over for a few days." She replied, tugging the blankets so that we were engulfed in comfort. I reached for the light on the lampstand and flipped the switch before finding a sleeping position.

"Abbey."

"Yeah?"

"Tomorrow is the day. You know that, right?"

"Yeah." 

How could I forget.

"Will you be alright?" I turned to face Agnes. Though it was dark, I could feel an aura of concern exude from her.

"It will be okay."

No matter how much I still longed for him, I made a promise to myself to never weep for another man ever again.

I promise, tomorrow shall be the day that I let him go.