Chapter 206 - Kitchen Ghost

It was the fifth day and Scarlet was close to pulling her hair out. Edward had been very patient with her and behaved no different from the ordinary. However, Scarlet found herself avoiding him on purpose when she could. Sure, she still ate together with Edward, went to the campus together and came back together. However, they never had any real conversations apart from casual greetings and Scarlet felt horrible.

Unknown to Scarlet, Edward was feeling a similar sense of frustration but he was patient. If there was anything that had been drilled into his head early on, it was that haste made waste. If he wanted to perfect the plan, he must wait for a perfect opportunity to present itself and grasp it when it came. Scarlet had been skittering around the edges lately and tip-toeing around Edward. The distance between them might have indeed again but Edward was willing to gamble that after this, they would become one more step closer to each other.

Scarlet was debating how much she should let Edward know about her. While she trusted Edward with her heart, she couldn't endanger his life by telling him all her secrets. Some of her secrets were meant to be carried with her to the grave. For starters, Scarlet couldn't let Edward know that she was investigating a dangerous crime boss. Secondly, she couldn't just tell Edward that she was a celebrity and a business owner and expect him to take it well. Right?

There were only two more days and Scarlet wondered how she was going to break the news. Ever since they confirmed their feelings for each other and decided to trust each other, Scarlet felt bad for not telling him the things she knew she should be telling him. However, the consequences should things go very wrong scared her so much that Scarlet hesitated. She wished that there was someone she could talk to about it but right now, nobody came to mind.

Scarlet could easily never tell Edward and the poor boy would never find out. However, Scarlet would be a terrible lover if she did that. Sure, Edward might never find out but what would happen if they eventually got married and all? It would be worse for her the longer this dragged on. Edward would be extremely mad and the sense of betrayal could very well put an end to their relationship. She didn't want that.

Or she could just put it off until Anastasia was dealt with. Scarlet would never want to keep Edward in the dark forever. She knew her boyfriend had many secrets too but she didn't ask about them. Edward and Elfie were friends and that alone made her very curious. How did he know Elfie? Where did they meet? Even the Special Class and E.C. Class students weren't very close with the hacker. Elfie was only close to Jasper, Alex and her because he worked with Wilmer. Danny was on some job before and Elfie lived with them for a good while. It was inevitable that they were closer than the other classmates. However, Elfie and Edward seem to be on a whole new level of closeness. It was as if Elfie and Edward put each other's lives in the other's hands. Was this the rumoured bromance that she heard of in China?

Blushing at the thought of Elfie and Edward sharing that kind of special relationship made her very fl.u.s.tered. For some reason, the thought of her boyfriend and her friend sharing a rather intimate relationship made her more embarrassed than picturing herself marrying Edward. What was wrong with her? No wonder the ladies in China were so crazy over bromance. The power of bromance was very real when a ship sailed between the right people.

"Are you alright?" Edward asked. They were in the middle of preparing dinner when Scarlet drifted off and became embarrassed all on her own with the thoughts her brain supplied her with.

Looking at Edward, Scarlet's blood pressure skyrocketed. She could only imagine those kissable lips whispering secrets into Elfie's ear while they shared a mouse over a laptop.

"E-Excuse me!" she screeched and ran to the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her, leaving Edward alone in the kitchen looking very confused.

Scarlet might have snapped out of her zone for some reason but her reaction was very odd and her face too red to be normal. Edward decided to wait for a little and focus on finishing up the rest of dinner preparations. He was careful to only give Scarlet a potato peeler instead of a knife. While the writer was in the zone, Edward took care of her the whole time and moved all the potential dangers away. He fed her, took care of her schedule so she wasn't late for classes even though he barely made it on time for his own lectures after escorting her to her lessons. Edward also picked her up as quickly as he could and kept tabs on the assignment that Scarlet was assigned through the school's student learning portal.

He looked over to the peeled potatoes and decided to continue. They were going to make an easy mashed potato dinner when Scarlet bolted on him. Edward took over expertly. Thanks to his training as a spy and working at several restaurants before, Edward knew how to cook simple dishes.

Now that the potatoes were peeled by Scarlet before she ran away, Edward cut them up quickly into cubes and added them into the pot filled with water together with the broccoli. Once that was done, he added a little salt to the water and let it boil, putting the lid on and leaving a gap. Then he pulled out the bacon from the fridge and cut them into small pieces.

He didn't really cook at home so the couple decided to go shopping for necessities and got themselves a small pot, a non-stick frying pan and some cutlery, crockery and some basic cooking utensils. It cost a lot for an ordinary student but Edward had money and the Wildes paid him so that didn't amount to much. Still, he didn't want to go overboard to get everything so he only bought the bare necessities. There wasn't an oven or a microwave so he didn't get any bakeware.

The pan was heated up on the induction stove and Edward threw in the cut bacon slices, watching them sizzle and flinching at some hot oil splashes. He might not be able to use the lid to prevent splashes but he could definitely wield it like a shield when he flipped them.

While Edward busied away in the kitchen, Scarlet was finally done with brainwashing herself into denying her fujoshi awakening. Still, she slowly crept out of the bathroom and what she saw made her fall for Edward all over again. The way he moved around in the kitchen at ease spoke about his capabilities. Not going to lie, Scarlet knew that her talents came with a price. Even though she was majorly gifted in many areas, the kitchen was one place she was severely lacking in. Whenever she tried to do something, everyone would chase her out. Claire didn't mention it in the contract so Scarlet was determined to slip into Edward's kitchen and learn how to cook. She was actually excited to explore the mysterious world that she had been banned from until that weird thought stuck in her head.

Sure, there might be a few times when muffins caught fire and gas exploded1 but Scarlet swore she followed the book!

There is all his glory fighting oil splatters was the love of her life, in the kitchen. Scarlet bit her lip. If she told him about her identity, perhaps it would be alright after all. Edward had never once let her down and she had no reason to start doubting him now. Still, to be extra sure about it, she wanted to talk to Alex before she told him everything.

The potato and broccoli were boiled and soft enough so Edward turned off the heat. At the same time, the bacon was fried so he let it sit in the pan while he drained the water and started to mash the vegetables.

Scarlet crept behind Edward as he added salt, pepper and herbs while mixing the butter in gently. She couldn't help but be curious about what people normally did in kitchens because she had been banned from entering.

Edward was focused on the task that he didn't realise how close Scarlet had gotten until he saw a long strand of black slithering pass his forearm and a shadow to his right. The teen yelped but held onto the bowl steadily and collapsed onto the floor, clutching it when he realised it was only Scarlet and not some ghost.

Scarlet was equally startled and flinched when Edward looked at her. She didn't mean to scare him but she was very afraid of getting kicked out of the kitchen. Instead of scolding her, Edward only sighed and smiled at Scarlet as if nothing had happened. 

"You're back," he smiled. "Could you grab the plates? I'm almost done here."

Happy that he wasn't angry with her and was entrusting her with kitchen duties, Scarlet complied. She was careful with the plates and thankful that she convinced Edward to get plastic ones instead of ceramic. She lost count of the number of spoons she broke while she was in China and it wasn't something she would ever tell Edward about. That spoon count was simply too ridiculous.

Edward tested the consistency of the mashed potatoes and nodded at the greenish mixture, he taste-tested it and was happy with the results. For the final touches, he pouted the cooling bacon and oil on top and brought it out, ready for serving.

Author's Note: Disclaimer, do not follow the recipe. I am not a cook and I was banned from my own kitchen as well as everybody else's kitchen. If you're curious to hear my story and the difficulties I faced writing this chapter, I will be making a video to be uploaded on my Youtube channel. You can check it out and subscribe to it if you like such content! It's a real story from yours truly. More on Youtube, I make videos to explain it.