69 CH69: Learn from failure

It's that process that makes the dishes shine.'"

- Soma Yukihira

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It was a Saturday morning and Delilah was working half-day. Usually, she doesn't have much to do, other than reading the reports being sent to her or just waiting for calls. However, that day, she decided to relax and play her mobile games.

It was not that she was being lazy (well, she was but you did not read that!) but the past few days, it has been slow so there wasn't much work to be done. And since she prefers to do her work when she has more time, she decided to put it off until the next working day, which was on a Monday, next week. So, for now, she was enjoying her time. It was fortunate that her supervisors weren't that strict, the one who hovers while you were working. In fact, her supervisor, Aubree, was also playing games on her mobile. How does she know? She just texted Delilah to not disturb her because she was busy playing games.

Putting on her headphones, she turned on the music and then began playing her games. Ignoring the buzzing of busy people behind her, she concentrated on her games, wanting to get the high scores. She can be very competitive if she wants to.

Soon after, she decided to take a break. Glancing at the wall clock near the door, she noticed that she had a couple of hours until work was over, so she decided to read the reports that were needed to work on for next week. She arranged her reports for the next week, sorting them out based on priorities and putting on post-its on each paper.

Once she was done, she went to Fawkes' cubicle where he was working on a report. She knocked quietly on the wall of his cubicle and grabbed a chair. Fawkes just nodded and held up a finger as if to tell her to wait.

He typed a few sentences in his report and clicked on the saved button. "What's up?" he asked, turning on his seat to face Delilah.

Delilah slumped back against her seat, with her arms hanging down. "I'm bored," she exclaimed.

"Are you done with your work?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Nah, I'm pushing the work to next week," she replied as she sat up.

Fawkes just narrowed his eyes at her.

Delilah groaned. "I don't want to do any work!" she whined.

He quietly passed her some papers and then said, "Then staple this together while we talk."

She pouted. "But I did say that I don't want to do any work," she mumbled, though she stapled the papers for him, in the end.

While she was stapling his papers for him, he was talking about the stuff that had happened and the gossip that he heard before. She likes talking with him since he has so many stories to tell and can be quite open-minded. The two talked until the clock struck twelve o'clock.

Just as she was walking down the stairs to the lobby, there was a text message notification. Once she was at the lobby, she stood at the side, letting other people walk past her. She then checked her phone and saw her online friend texting her in her social media. She chuckled when she saw that her friend had been forwarding recipes one after another.

She began to exchange recipes as well as chatting with her friend while sitting at one of the chairs in the lobby. When she saw one of the recipes that her friend had sent her, she tried to remember what ingredients she had back home. When she realized that she has all the ingredients, she decided to make that.

After replying that she would not be able to text until later since she will be driving, she placed her mobile phone inside her handbag and went out of the office. Waving goodbye at some of her colleagues who were on their way home as well, she went to her car where it was parked at the parking lot.

Soon after, she arrived at home. Inside the living room, her nephew was watching cartoons while his mother was lying on the sofa, watching videos from her mobile phone. The two of them looked up when they saw Delilah walked in.

"KAEEEEEEELLL! GIVE YOUR FAVOURITE AUNT A KISS!"

Kael immediately groaned and got up to hide. Unfortunately, his short legs weren't enough since Delilah was able to catch him and smother him with kisses, much to his dissatisfaction. Miya ignored her son's cries of help as she continued watching her videos.

After Delilah pulled away from Kael, she asked, "Want to eat chocolate?"

"Yes! I love chocolate!" Kael said excitedly, finally grinning widely.

Delilah lovingly tapped on his nose with her finger and said, "Well, your favourite aunt will be making mini chocolate cakes. Do you want one?"

"Yes! Yes!" Kael said as he jumped up and down, looking very excited.

Just then a voice came from where the sofa was, "Huhhhhhhhhhh? Who said you can eat chocolates, hmmmmmm?"

Startled, Kael turned around and saw his mother narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously. He then came running towards her, wailing. "But Mamaaaaaaaa…! I want chocolate! Please! Please!"

After much pleading, Miya finally said yes. Kael began to jump up and down with happiness. Earlier while he was pleading, Delilah had already gone up to her room to change into her much comfortable clothes.

In the kitchen, Delilah was taking out all the ingredients to make steamed lava cake. She carried the steamer to the stove and poured water into it. She then turned on the stove. While waiting for the water in the steamer to boil, she arranged all the ingredients needed on the table; butter, milo [1] powder, two eggs, sugar and plain flour.

Grabbing her phone and placing it upright on the table, making it as her 'cookbook', she picked the video where the woman was going to show how to make a chocolate lava cake by steaming. The "baking" took her almost an hour because there were parts that she messed up a bit. And then she realized too late that her two little bowls for the cake were a bit too big.

She tapped her chin with her finger as she was trying to figure out what to do next. She then decided that since it's larger, probably the duration for the steaming should be a little less longer. Too long might make the cake and the 'lava' inside harden.

While waiting for her cake to be done, she was chatting with her friends in discordance, though, inside she was feeling a bit impatient because she just couldn't wait to eat her lava cake. When the timer in her phone goes off, she immediately got up and switched off the stove.

When she opened the lid of the steamer, a sudden burst of steam came out that Delilah quickly leaned back to avoid the heat. Once cleared, she could see the beautiful chocolate cake inside. She grabbed her baking gloves and put it on. She then carefully took the bowl out from the steamer.

At that time, Kael was already sitting at the dining table, waiting for the cake.

When Delilah grabbed two empty plates for them to eat, Kael was swinging his legs back and forth, looking excited. But then his face fell when he saw the cake kind of 'flopped'.

"Aunt D, what happened?" he asked, pointing at the cake.

Delilah laughed awkwardly when she saw her failed steamed chocolate lava cake. "Oh well, it's still good, though," she assured him.

He got down from the chair and said, "I don't want it anymore." With that, he left the kitchen and back to the living room. Shortly after, she can hear him saying, "Mama! I want popcorn!"

Delilah rolled her eyes. "Dem brat," she muttered. She then looked at her 'failed' chocolate cake and shrugged. "Oh well, more for me."

She sat down and 'poured' the whole chocolate lava into her plate. Apparently, the cake wasn't 'steamed' enough that the cake was still 'melting'. She spooned some portion of the cake into her mouth and ate it. Although it was no longer a cake, it was still delicious. She can just pretend it was a melted chocolate, which it was.

Her friend suggested adding more flour and egg to the 'failed' cake. But Delilah was too lazy to do it and decided to let it be. Licking her spoon, the chocolate tasted velvety, smooth and sweet in her mouth. The chocolate literally just slid into her mouth. It has that rich texture too, making her lick the plate clean.

While she was finishing her meal, she thought to herself. 'Oh well, that was such a DEE-saster. Though, I should try making it again in the future.'

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[1] Milo - Chocolate and malt powder typically mixed with hot water for drinking.