Two days later.
Noah Cooper sat on his seat in his spacious and unique office. His eagle-like eyes were resting on his laptop and his fingers gently on the table rhythmically as if he were thinking about something.
Unexpectedly, he grabbed his cellphone from the rectangular desk and dialed Jasmine's number.
While the phone rings, he put a finger on his lip as if he were nervous and practicing his lines inwardly.
“Jasmine,” he called out softly as soon as the line connected.
“Yes, Noah, is there a problem?” Jasmine asked worriedly at the other end of the phone. They'd spoken to each other this morning before she left for work, so she couldn't understand why he was suddenly calling her again.
“Hmm… Have I interrupted something?” he asked tentatively, leaning his back in the chair and swiveling around.
Jasmine sat with a slump on her seat, she was about to walk out of the office to check on her patients when Noah's call suddenly came in.
“Not really. Is anything the problem?”
Noah bites his inner cheek and rubs the edge of the table with his fingers, “What are your favorite dishes?”
Jasmine smiled and tossed the strands of her hair behind an ear, “Well, Mr. Cooper, I don't really have a favorite when it comes to dishes, but I think I love baked chicken with salad so much,” she clarified with a beam flashing across her face.
“What about you? What's your favorite meal?” she questioned directly?
Chuckling, “I bet you don't love baked chicken with salad as much as I do,” Noah answered with a crumpled face.
He disliked anything that has to do with salad, but he thinks he would have to start liking it now. He wanted to be the ideal match for Jasmine and by doing that, he would have to like anything she likes.
“Whoa… Really? Does this mean we share something in common?”
“Of course, babe. I'll talk to you later,” after he said that, he hung up and kept the phone back on his desk.
Yuck! Why salad?
Seconds later, he opened the web browser on his laptop and inputted, 'How to prepare salad…'
Knock! Knock!
He scowled and lifted his head to the door, “Just come in,” he reacted, and the door creaked open afterward, disclosing his assistant.
“I'm sorry, sir, but your signature is required on this file,” Mrs. Antonio said while putting forward her pace until she got to his table.
Noah collected the file from her and flipped through the pages. While Noah was still checking out the document, Mrs. Antonio's gaze had inadvertently caught by her boss's monitor, which was illustrating the image of salad.
She frowned and thought inside her heart, why was Noah suddenly searching for a salad? Did he like it so much?
***
Aurora stared at her reflection in the round-shaped dressing mirror in her bedroom. A smile had never stopped flickering across her face throughout the day.
Almost all of her classmates were now willing to become her friend because she was the winner of the competition, and she gladly accepted them.
She shared her experiences in Paris with her new friends and told them some locations they visited, such as Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum, Amusement and theme parks, and many more.
Moments later, she was done changing into her home wear. A yellow flowery gown that stopped right on her knees and left her hair swaying down her back.
She thereafter slid her feet into her white furry slippers and then ambled out of her room.
Inside the kitchen, Noah was carefully slicing the handful of cucumber on a chopping board and wiping out the beads of sweat dwelling on his forehead every now and then.
After he was done with that, he rinsed the rest of the vegetables, carrots, lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, etc.
Right then, Aurora sauntered into the kitchen and saw his father washing out some vegetables.
She blinked rapidly to see if her mind wasn't playing tricks on her, but it wasn't, this was her father trying to prepare a dish.
She darted her eyes over the countertop and found a well-chopped chicken, eggs, salad cream, Irish potatoes, and so on staying on it.
“Daddy?” she called out hesitantly and Noah instantly turned around to face his little adorable daughter.
He grinned, “Hey, sweetheart,”
Seeing her father in an apron, Aurora couldn't help her laugh as she walked over to him.
“What are you doing, daddy?” she wore a mixture of amusement and irritation.
“What do you mean, what am I doing? Can't you see I want to cook?” Noah chided and glared playfully at his daughter.
“Cook? Do you mean the real cook, daddy?” Aurora quizzed with her eyes dilated, however, Noah had walked past her and was ready to set the chicken into the oven.
“Since when did you start preparing dishes, daddy?” Aurora became serious and asked blandly.
“Since today, daughter,” Noah replied simply without sparing her a glance.
“This is the first time I'm seeing you prepare something, Daddy. What exactly is going on?” she nearly shrieks and glances at the salad cream once again,
“And to think that you're planning to make a salad, you don't like salad, daddy” she reminded with a scowl, and Noah finally shifted his gaze to his daughter's little figure.
“I need to concentrate, Aurora,” he said with a tired sigh.
One hour later, Both Noah and Aurora were sitting in the dining room and staring at each other in silence.
Aurora took a glance at the burnt chicken on the table then looked back at her father's face who was now itching his forehead in embarrassment.
“I left the kitchen, so you could concentrate, Daddy. Yet…”
She deliberately didn't complete her sentence as she folded her hands across her chest.
“Okay, I admit that the chicken didn't come out well, but how about we try out the salad, it looks good, isn't it?” Noah grinned and grabbed a spoon to dig in the bowl of salad.
Aurora grimaced, not liking the sight of the salad. It looked like something entirely different from salad that she didn't even know.
“Is there something else I can take for lunch?” she asked blatantly.
Sighing, “Come on, Aurora, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Just try to have a bite first, huh. Don't hurt daddy's feelings,” Noah said his words in a low voice.
Upon hearing her father's words, Aurora felt somehow bad and without saying another word, she snatched a spoon and took a little content of the salad, and then scooped it into her mouth.
The moment her tongue registered the taste of it, she felt like gagging and quickly evacuated the place and headed to the kitchen.
Panic gripped Noah as she ran after her into the kitchen.
Aurora stood on her toes and dipped her head into the basin and spat everything, making a vomit sound.
Noah stroked his daughter's back and thought, was it that bad? But he also had a taste of it and…
“You're an awful chef, daddy. Don't even think of preparing another dish ever again,” Aurora reprimanded after she had washed her mouth.
Noah just stared at her and blinked his eyes twice. Then how would Jasmine like him if he doesn't even know how to prepare such a simple dish?
At night.
Noah stared at his cellphone on the nightstand. He wished to see Jasmine at that moment, but he couldn't think of how to call and tell her that.
The sound of his daughter's laughter erupted in the room, and he then switched his gaze in Aurora's direction.
She was sitting on a single couch in his bedroom, holding a large bowl of popcorn to her chest and her beautiful eyes watching the animation displaying on the TV screen.
Looking at his daughter's face, Noah became envious of Aurora, thinking in his mind that, she had nothing to worry about unlike him.
Scoffing, he lay on his back and an idea snuggled up on him immediately, which brought a wide smile to his face.
Quickly, he sat up again and called out his daughter's name, “Come over here, Aurora, hurry,”
Aurora noticed the impatient expression on her father's face. She stood up and lowered her popcorn on the tea table in the center, and then strode toward Noah on the bed.
“What's it, daddy?”
Noah picked up his cell phone and unlocked it, “I'll call Jasmine now, but you'll be the one to speak with her, telling her that your daddy I've got a fever,”
Aurora opened her eyes in incredulity, “Why, Daddy? You're okay,”
Noah licked his lips, “Sure. I'm okay, dear. It's a game between us, but I promise to explain it to you later. Right now, you've to talk to her first, okay?”
Aurora nodded in agreement as she watches her father dial Jasmine's number and then gave the phone to her.
“Hello, Jasmine,” Aurora spoke up in a crying tone, and Noah gave her a thumb up in ecstatic.
“You need to start coming over now. My daddy has got a fever, and he's shivering so bad,”
At Jasmine's apartment.
Alarmed, Jasmine disconnected the phone immediately, slide her feet into the slippers she saw, and then raced out of the house.
With her heart in her mouth, Jasmine boarded the first cab she found and told the driver her destination.
As the cab drove, tears wouldn't stop rolling down her cheeks as she thought back to the moment Noah had called and asked about her favorite meal earlier today.
“Please, drive faster, sir” she exhorted as she silently wiped out the tears from her face.
The not-too-old driver stared at Jasmine from the rearview mirror and said, “Don't worry, Miss. It will be alright,” his words were quite compelling and Jasmine just nodded.
In a split second, the cab stopped in front of Noah's residence. Jasmine paid the man and then came down, dialing Noah's line in the process.
“I'm outside now. Can you please open the gate from inside?” she requested, and Aurora's voice answered her.
The gate made a chime sound almost immediately and Jasmine quickly pushed it open and ran into the house, trying to stop her tears from falling, but they wouldn't cease.
Passing through the front yard to the front door of the villa, Jasmine had barely knocked when the door unexpectedly swung open, revealing Aurora.
She became stunned at how reddened Jasmine's eyes had become and for a moment, she couldn't find anything suitable to say, feeling bad terribly for lying to her.
“Where is he?” Jasmine asked precipitously, leaving where she was standing at the door and getting ready to take the stairs.
“In his room. Follow me,”
Aurora said. Her heart hurt a lot as she led the way, thinking in her mind that, what game were they playing that seemed so serious?
As soon as they arrived at Noah's door, Aurora opened the door for Jasmine to enter and left immediately. She didn't know how to face her after lying to her.
Jasmine, on the other hand, seemed not to notice that Aurora had left as she summed up her pace toward the bed and instantly uncovered the duvet from his body.
His eyes were shut and seemed to be having a serene sleep.
Jasmine bent over and raised her shaky hand to touch his face and realized that his temperature was okay.
She breathed out in relief and attempted to stand right, but her hand was suddenly caught, and she plunged right into his chest.