"Ana, this is too tough." Emilyn tries to chew the meat and spit it out.
"Let me try it." She cut a piece and chew it. "You are right." She scrunches her face and tries her hardest to chew it. "I'm going to try a new one." She spits it out.
"Are you sure you got it?" Emilyn asked her.
"Yeah, don't worry. Yesterday, I spend the whole night watching youtube videos." She puts another meat on the pan and it sizzles loudly.
Emilyn push the plate away for the 10th time, "Do you need my help?"
"Do you know how to cook this?" She turns around.
"Not really." Emilyn shook her head. "I'm going to check online how to do it first." She gave a sheepish smile before checking it online. But her mind is caught somewhere else instead of searching how to cook a tender steak. "Why do I feel so weird about the whole situation with Christopher and that girl Chloe? It is not like they kiss, I shouldn't be thinking about it, or should I?" Emilyn thought.
"Emilyn! Emilyn!" Ana snapped her fingers in front of her face.
"Huh? Yes?" Emilyn answered, and look up from her phone.
"What are you thinking of so deeply?" Ana asked, frowning. "Have you find any recipe?"
"Oh yeah, I did." She showed her the page. "They said that you should cook your meat for 4 minutes for medium-rare each side."
"Alright then." She places another piece of meat on the pan.
"Hey, what happened to the previous one?" Emilyn asked.
"I burned that," Ana said sheepishly. Emilyn chuckles and sets the timer for 4 minutes. "So, what were you thinking so deeply about?" She asked.
"I don't know if I'm thinking too much about it," Emilyn told her.
"Tell me." She insisted.
"Uhm...it started when I went to Christopher's office, then when I went to open his office. I saw a girl's arms around his neck and his hands around her waist." She explains
"Then what did you do after that?"
"You know what I always do if I got put into an awkward situation," Emilyn said.
"Standing there in shock and starts to ramble." Ana reply.
"Exactly, that's what I did."
"What?!" she shouted. "You just stood there." The timer ring on her phone.
"Flip it," Emilyn told her and set the timer for another 4 minutes. "What am I suppose to do?" She asked Ana.
"Uhm...confront him? Your boyfriend holding onto another girl, you asked me what you're supposed to do?" She places one hand on her hips.
"But I don't think that anything is wrong about the situation, he might catch her when she's about to fall or they are just hugging." Emilyn shrug.
"Oh my god, Emilyn Walker." Ana groans and shakes her head. "He shouldn't be hugging another girl."
"but Pierce told me that they were old friends."
"What's this girl's name?" The timer rings again.
"Take the meat out of the pan first," Emilyn told her. "And next they say to cover with foil and rest for 3-5 minutes." Ana did as she was instructed.
"What's her name?" Ana took out her phone.
"Chloe Anderson," Emilyn told her.
"Oh my god, Chloe Anderson as in Chloe Anderson the international model?" Ana asked.
"Yeah, you know her?"
"Everyone knows her, she is freaking famous." She covers her mouth with her hand. "Your boyfriend used to date her before."
"Yeah, that's what Pierce and Jax told me."
"And you are not worried at all?" Ana asked with an eyebrow raise.
"Should I be worried at all?" Emilyn tilts her head to the side.
"Obviously," Ana said. "What were you feeling when you saw her with your boyfriend?"
"I don't know, it was so weird. When I saw them my stomach feel like it drops and I feel uneasiness and a little weird bug in my stomach." Emilyn frown at the feeling.
"That's jealousy." Ana laughs. "My little Emilyn finally have a feeling of jealously over a boy." She laughs even more.
"Jealousy?" Emilyn scrunches her eyebrow. "This is what you feel when you are jealous?" She asked.
"My Sweet, sweet Emilyn." Ana pats her on the head. "You have a lot to learn."
"I'm really confused. I'm not sure if I should be mad or not?" Emilyn said. "Why is being in a relationship so hard." She sighs, her shoulders slumped down. "Give me that meat." Emilyn opens the foil and cut a piece. "Oh, this is so good." She moans.
"Really?" Ana cut a piece. "You are right." She moans.
"But is not as good as Finley," Emilyn said and Ana grimaces. "But is still good."
"So what are you going to do?" Ana asked.
"Do what?" Emilyn chewed a piece of meat in her mouth.
"Deal with the situation with Christopher and that girl."
"I don't know, I'm just going to think about it," Emilyn told her. All of the sudden, the doorbell rang, "Are you expecting anyone?" Ana asked. Emilyn shakes her head and heads to answer the door to find out who is it.
"Christopher?" Emilyn said. "What are you doing here?"
He took off his mask and said, "I miss you."
"Come on in," She pulls him in and quickly closes the door. "Did anyone look at you suspiciously?"
"No, there's no one in the elevator." Emilyn let out a breath of relief. "What's that smell, it smells so good." Christopher sniffs the air.
"Ana is learning how to cook a perfect steak," Emilyn told him.
"Can I try?"
"Sure." She leads him to the kitchen.
"Oh, hey," Ana said as they enter the kitchen.
"Can I have a piece?" He asked
"Uhm...sure." Ana grabs an extra knife and fork for him. He cut into the meat and took a bite. "So how is it," Ana asked as they watch him chew.
"Not bad." He gave a thumbs up.
"Yay." Ana clapped happily. "I'm going to take this and brag to Finley." She grabs the plate. "I'm going into another room, you guys talk or do whatever you want. I'm not going to be the third wheel." Ana left the kitchen and went into Emilyn's room.
"Can I eat all of this?" He pointed the steaks on the table.
"Uhm...if you want to." Emilyn shrug. "But trust me you don't want to eat those."
"Why is it bad?" Christopher asked and she nods. "Let me try it." He struggles to cut into the steak and place it in his mouth. Immediately, he spits it out. "Nope, shouldn't eat it. Is this even edible?" He asked.
"Nope, I told you not to eat it." Emilyn chuckles. She took the plates on the table and throw all the meat out into a separate plastic bag until she can figure out what to do with them. Christopher helps her by bringing the rest of the plate to the sink.
"What's wrong?" He asked, leaning against the counter.
"What do you mean?" Emilyn asked, not turning her attention to him.
"You seem a little quiet today." He said. "What's bothering you? Is it about your grandma?" Emilyn shook her head. "Then, what's wrong?"
"I don't know if something is wrong," She told him while cleaning the stove.
"What do you mean you don't know if something is wrong?"
"I don't know, it should felt wrong. But somehow it feels like is not wrong." Emilyn explains.
"Can you explain it? I don't seem to get it." Christopher frowns.
She sighs, "I don't know how to explain to you." Emilyn turned around to face him.
"Just tell me what you are thinking about."
"Is about this afternoon when I went into your office, I know that is not my business to ask, but I just feel a little uneasiness about what I saw." She told him.
"What you saw is nothing, Chloe fell and I caught her. That's all." He said. "We used to date, but now we are just friends nothing else."
"I know, Pierce and Jax told me about her before," Emilyn said
"Trust me, I don't feel anything about her at all." Christopher put his hand on her shoulder. "Now, you are all I could think about, every single day, every single minute and hour. Look at me." He tilts her chin up so that her eyes are locked into his. "I said this before and I'll say it again. I only want you, no one can come in between of us. You got it." Emilyn was speechless by what he said, so she could only nod. "Good girl." He pulls her close and hugs her tight.
***
"We are going to brief you on what's going to happen tomorrow." The doctor said. "Tonight you can't eat anything and we will give you a medicine to have you clear everything that you have out of your system."
"When will the surgery start?" Emilyn asked.
"Tomorrow at 8 am." She answers. "Is there anything that you still want to ask?"
"Will the surgery be successful? How many percentages for my grandma to come out of that surgery room safely?" Emilyn asked with a worried tone. Grandma Lou takes a look at Emilyn's worried face and places a comforting hand on her hands.
"I can't give you the confirmation that it will be 100%. But your grandma is in good hands, we got a surgeon who has operated on many elderly patients. And 90% of the surgeries are successful." The doctor said.
Emilyn nods, "thank you."
"You're welcome, so if there aren't any concerns. I'll let you rest for now." She said.
"No that's all, thank you once again."
"No problem." The doctor gave a small smile and left the room.
"Don't worry so much about me." Grandma Lou said. "Once I go into the surgery room, I'll come out better again." She smiles.
"Aren't you afraid of doing this surgery? The surgeons are going to cut you open." Emilyn shiver at the thought of it.
"Of course, I'm afraid. But I'll get through it so that my granddaughter will stop having those frowns on her face."
"I don't frown all the time."
"See you are doing it right now." Grandma Lou pointed. Emilyn quickly stops frowning. "There you go, so much prettier now." She chuckles. "Don't worry too much, I'll be fine." Emilyn nods and accompanied her until visiting hour is over.
"I'll come to the hospital early in the morning before you go into the operating room." Grandma Lou nods, with one last wave and Emilyn left the hospital.
She took a cab to the convenience store near her apartment. Every time she feels uneasy about something, she goes to get ice cream to ease her nerves.
Once she got her ice cream, she walks down the street to her apartment building. On the way back, Emilyn finished her ice cream and threw it away before getting into the elevator.
"Christopher?" Emilyn said in a whisper when she saw him pacing around her house door. "There you are." Their eyes meet and he stops pacing, he rushes towards her. "Where have you been? I've been calling and texting you."
"Sorry, I mute my phone." Emilyn smiles sheepishly.
"Do you have any idea how worried I am?" He frowns and pulls her into a tight hug. "Is already 10 pm."
"I told you that I'm going to visit my grandma." Emilyn breaks away from the hug, then she notices something is wrong. "Where are your mask and hat?" She quickly looks around to see if there's anyone around and pulled him into her apartment. "You shouldn't have done that. What if someone sees you?"
"I don't give a F*** of anyone seeing me here!" He shouted and that made Emilyn jump a little. "I need to see you, I miss you." Christopher buried his head into the crook of her neck.
"You just saw me last night, aren't you being too clingy?" Emilyn giggles.
"We have a deal, we meet every single night." He said not lifting his head. "I'll go insane if I don't see you every day."
"You are being too clingy." Emilyn chuckles and lift his head from her neck and squeeze his cheeks.
"I don't care, I want to see you every single day." Christopher takes her hands from his cheeks. "Because you are my girlfriend and you are too beautiful to stay away from." He gives her a small peck on the lips. A rosy blush grew on her cheeks.
"Have you eaten yet?" Emilyn asked
"Not yet, I was worried about you." He stroke her nose from the bridge to the tip of her nose in a quick downwards movement.
"Is late, should I order some pizza?" Emilyn suggested.
"Sure, but let me order it." He offers and pulls out his phone.
"I know what you are doing, you are going to pay for the meal," Emilyn said.
"Wow angel, I didn't know you are so smart," He chuckles.
"Put that phone down, I'm going to be the one paying for the meal this time," Emilyn glare at him, but it didn't affect him at all. "Christopher put your phone back where it belongs before I take it from you," She warned him.
"I'm entering the order." He smirks.
"Christopher," She said in a warning tone. "I'm heading to check out," Christopher said.
"Christopher!" Emilyn said again, sternly. He teases her by placing his phone halfway into his pocket and then lifting it. She gave up on being nice and march towards him to snatch the phone from his hand. But since he is way taller than her, he lifts his arm high until the phone is out of her reach.
"Jump for it." Christopher teases. She jumps as high as she can, but still can't reach it. He had to use her disability to his advantage.
"I give up." Emilyn huff and sat on the couch. "If you want to order go ahead."
Christopher slowly puts his arm down when he sees his girlfriend pouting on the couch. He walked over to the couch and crouch down in front of her, "Hey, why are you pouting?" But Emilyn refuses to look at him and turn her face to the side.
"Hey," Christopher said softly and grab her chin softly to turn to face him. "Tell me." he urges, but Emilyn refused to tell him and just stares more like glared at him. Suddenly a loud grow erupts from her stomach. Christopher chuckled at the sound. "If you don't tell me, then we will sit here all night."
"Fine." She huff. "I want to pay this time, you always pay for my food since the very beginning." She pout. "How is that fair?"
"Silly girl." He let out a small laugh and grab her hands. "You can just tell me."
"I did and you didn't listen." Emilyn pouts.
"Is not that I didn't listen, I'm just teasing you that's all."
"Well, is it fun?" She frowns.
"Okay, let me make it up to you." Christopher got up from the floor and sat next to her. "I already order the food, how about you pay from my phone." He shows her his phone.
Emilyn took the phone from him and pay for the meal. "Happy?" Christopher asked and she nods.
"Let's make a deal," Emilyn said. "We will take turns paying for our meal. I don't want you to pay for all my meals."
"Alright, whatever makes you happy," Christopher said with a smile. "Come here." Gesturing her to lean in close to him with his arms around her. "Next time just tell me, I'll try to abide by what you say. Depends on the situation only."
Emilyn looked up at him and scrunch her eyebrows. "What do you mean by depends on the situation? Care to elaborate?"
"Just depends on some situation which I feel that should not be handle in your way," He started. "But as always, I'll listen to your opinion and you will listen to my opinion before making the decision. Is that okay with you?"
"Yup." She nods. Christopher tilts her head a little upwards so that he can kiss her.
"Thank you, Angel." he gave her another soft kiss before releasing his hands from her chin. As they wait for the delivery, Emilyn snuggles close to him which makes his heart flutter in awe.