60 Dinner

Lianne rolled her eyes when hearing what Kai had ordered Zayn to do, but she understood.

She also got a look into his rather jealous side?

Then again, she did anticipate this since he hadn't even let her shake Zayn's hands. For now, it seemed to be a small matter, so she let it slide.

Give and take.

If he got to be too excessive, then she would need to have a talk with him about it.

It would be too stifling otherwise.

"It's getting late," Lianne said, "So let me make something for dinner now, okay?"

Kai nodded and let her go reluctantly.

Lianne headed to the kitchen and got out some ingredients from the fridge to make a simple chicken soup: chicken, onions, garlic, ginger, carrots, and celery. She then took some spaghetti from the drawer and a strange looking contraption from the cabinet.

"What is that?" Kai asked Lianne curiously, coming close to her.

"This is called a Thermomix," Lianne replied, "I don't normally use it but it's good for now as it saves cooking time."

"Huh," Kai replied, still confused.

The item looked like a steel pot placed inside a semi-circle casing that covered half of it. There were loads of buttons and such on the panel in front and it just looked rather futuristic.

Lianne cut the chicken into cubes and placed it into the pot, and added chicken stock from a container she had taken from the fridge. She pressed a few buttons and let it do its thing.

She then started preparing the vegetables, that is, she peeled and diced the carrots, and slicing the celery. She then diced the onions and garlic and smashed one knob of ginger. As for the spaghetti, she just broke it into half.

Kai looked at all of this strangely.

Earlier, she had said that she was going to make chicken noodle soup but at the moment, it looked like it was something else. Of course, Kai knew the spaghetti was in place of the noodles but she hadn't even started the stove.

After 12 minutes, Lianne poured the water out of the pot and then placed the pot back into its 'home'. She pressed another button and a sound like a blender filled the room. It was only about 3 seconds and she then poured out its contents: shredded chicken.

Cleaning the pot, Lianne then added the garlic clove, and onions and the blending sound came again. This time, it was louder and sounded faster. She then opened the pot, poured in olive oil and pressed a few more buttons.

Now, the sound of frying came on and after 3 minutes, Lianne opened the pot and poured back the soup she had poured out earlier, added in the shredded chicken, diced carrots and celery, ginger, spaghetti, and salt. She pressed a few more buttons and then started cleaning the counter top.

Kai came over and took the chopping board and all the things Lianne had used, and started washing them. Once he was done, Lianne then said, "Thank you. Dinner will be ready soon. Just another 3 minutes or so."

Kai turned in shock.

What?!

It had been … what? Barely 10 minutes since she started.

Lianne laughed, "I told you this thing saves time. It's like a mini kitchen and several appliances at once. I can use it to blend, chop, puree, cook etc. It's also like a pressure cooker so everything cooks very fast."

She then turned to another cabinet and took out a couple of ceramic bowls and mugs. Just like the colour theme of her apartment, the bowls and mugs were a mix of teal and aquamarine.

Even the handles of the fork and spoon that she took had the same sort of colour theme.

The thing that Kai found interesting was that each bowl, mug, fork, and spoon did not have the same colours but when put together, it didn't clash.

Once the food was cooked, Lianne opened the lid and Kai immediately came over, "Careful, it's hot. Let me do it."

Lianne let him, handing him the ladle, "I don't want a lot. Just half a bowl will do."

"Okay," Kai replied as he scooped up the spaghetti noodle soup. The smell of the chicken and ginger was both strong and enticing. The spaghetti mixed with the shredded chicken and small pieces of vegetables also made it look colourful and appetizing.

"Do you want some chilli oil?" Lianne asked.

"What's that?"

"Just some chilli flakes fried with sesame seed," Lianne replied, taking a container and opening it, showing him, "I am not sure if you like it spicy, so you can add this to the soup."

He saw the red oily concoction and thought that, to be on the safe side, he better not. It wasn't that he couldn't take spicy food but having it late at night might mean a tummy upset. Something he would rather avoid.

"No, but thanks," Kai replied as he carefully brought the two bowls to the dining table.

Once they were seated, Kai took one spoonful and smiled.

It was really delicious.

There was just something about having a nice, warm soup at night. It was good when he felt the warm food going into his rather empty stomach.

Lianne watched Kai eat first and seeing him going at it quickly, she knew that it was okay. They ate in silence, something that Lianne appreciated as she wasn't one to talk during mealtimes.

Yet, the silence was not awkward at all.

While they were eating, the doorbell rang and Kai got up, saying, "That must be Zayn. I'll get it."

Lianne nodded and then got up to go to the kitchen.

Kai opened the door and took the small sports bag that had his clothes, "Thanks, Zayn."

Zayn could smell the chicken soup that filled the room and he salivated a bit, but didn't show it. Instead, his face remained impassive as he told Kai, "I have placed a couple of clothes for the night."

"Awesome," Kai replied. Now he could leave some of his clothes over at Lianne's apartment. Slowly make his mark here.

Kai turned when he realised Lianne came by and he frowned a bit when he saw Lianne carrying something.

Zayn nodded to Lianne and said politely, "Sorry to disturb you so late at night."

Lianne replied, "It's me who is sorry that you have to come here at night. Here, something for you as a gesture of thanks. It's nothing much. Just some spaghetti chicken soup that we're having for dinner."

Kai wanted to grab that item before Lianne could give it to Zayn, but he knew he could not. Lianne would probably scold him for not sharing; so he could just glare at Zayn instead.

Zayn didn't dare look at Kai as he took the bag with the container full of warm food and said, "Thank you. I'll be going now."

Without waiting for an answer, he left.

Kai closed the door and pouted a bit, but he didn't dare say a word as he followed Lianne back to the dining table.

When they sat down and resumed eating, Lianne smiled to herself.

She could see how upset he was when she gave the food to Zayn, and she was both impressed and touched that he didn't make a fuss. At least, it showed that he was trying not to be too possessive.

So there was hope for improvement.

The duck pout was cute, though.