28 Mean Eve

The slim figure of a girl was busy running around in the kitchen like a little butterfly. With her back facing him, she had a spatula in one hand and a flat iron pan in the other.

Next to her on the worktop was a small mountain of broken eggshells. And the floor beneath of feet was a thick layer of flour that resembled a dusting of fine snow.  

She was wearing a plain white T-shirt, and casually tied a knot beside her waist, and underneath were a pair of loosely fitted light blue jeans. On her feet were a pair of pink bunny slippers.

Nathan had just stepped into the kitchen and he found himself rooted to the ground, momentarily mesmerised by the sight of her.

Mrs Lau, the cook of the Tang family, immediately spotted him and hurriedly ran over to report. "Miss Sefi was already here when I got here." She explained awkwardly. "Shall I serve your breakfast now?"

Nathan nodded as he pulled out the chair, and sat down at the dining table. Mrs Lau handed him a cup of coffee and the morning paper before quickly dashing off.

Upon hearing his voice, Sefi turned around, "good morning," she said cheerfully, "you're up early." She smiled a smile that was far too bright.

Nathan looked at her coldly as if he was not in the mood for conversation.  

Some people weren't early risers, they didn't officially 'wake up' until they've had the first cup of coffee of the morning. She got it. Prince Charming here was not an early riser. No problem, she wasn't that keen either, she was only trying to make conversation anyway. If he didn't appreciate the small talk then it was less effort for her. She shrugged.

Ignoring Nathan's indifference, Sefi started plating the pancakes she'd made and poured the pitiful looking half glass of orange juice.

She contemplated on whether she should've used a smaller glass? It really didn't look much but she had squeezed all of this by hand and this was all she'd managed to get out of six oranges.

Making sure he wasn't watching, she turned on the tap and added some water to make it up to the three-quarter mark. It probably wouldn't taste that much different if she just added a little bit of water?

That looks a bit better. She thought in satisfaction. She carried her labour of love proudly and walked towards him carefully, fearing in case she spilt any more of this precious orange juice.

Before she had the chance to place it on the table in front of him, Mrs Lau came out of nowhere and cut in front of her. Sefi could only watch with a stunned look on her face as Mrs Lau magically brought out a plate and laid it on the table.

She blinked a few times. What had just happened there? Did that woman just ruin her carefully planned plot? Then bringing her back to reality, she heard Nathan's voice, "are you really going to eat all of that?"

There was definitely mockery in his tone. She could tell.  She wanted to say to him she had made all of this for him. But the only word she managed to muster was, "yes."  

He shot a quick glance at her and started eating his breakfast without another word.

Still in a daze, she placed her plate down on the table and pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down.

Her plate was practically double the size of his plate with a huge tower of pancakes, it resembled the leaning tower of Pisa.

If you just looked at the plate and didn't look at the person in front of it, you might've mistaken hers for a man and his for a woman.

She sneaked a peek at his plate. On there were only a few blueberries, a boiled egg, and three pieces of cantaloupe melons.

Oh man, was he on a diet or something? Even her pet rabbits ate more than him. She thought. Comparing it with hers, her plate did look rather beige.  

Well, the brain needs carbohydrates to function properly. She thought. Then as if to prove a point, she cut a huge chunk of pancake and stuffed it into her mouth.

The same familiar taste of home almost brought a tear to her eyes. She was starting to feel slightly emotional. It was amazing what a bunch of flour and eggs could do to a person.

"How on earth can you eat so much food?" Eve also appeared in the dining room, dressed in a fancy pink dress, she was looking at Sefi with unfiltered, open disgust.  

Simple, you just open your mouth. Then ignoring her, Sefi took another huge mouthful and chewed it with enthusiasm.  Thanks to them, she hadn't had a proper meal in days, she was starving.

Eve had a bottle of mineral water in her hands. Darting her eyes between the stack of a dozen pancakes and the mess in the kitchen, she pointed to a pile of empty eggshells, "How many eggs did you use? Ten?" She asked incredulously.

Sefi waved her fork in the air, "more than ten." Seeing the horrified look on Eve's face, she felt a sense of sweet revenge.  She sneaked a smile, then seeing Nathan was looking at her, she looked down again.  

"You are so disgusting,"  Eve said with contempt as she proceeded with drinking her water.  Sefi was such a pig.  She thought. Just looking at that huge plate of food was making her feel sick.  She turned with her back facing her.

The first few pancakes weren't successful so she had to mix up another batch of batter, that wasted a lot of eggs.  Sefi thought nonchalantly.  Practice made perfect.  She already said she hadn't made it in a long time.

The thing with stodgy pancakes was that the first few bites were delicious then it sat heavily inside the stomach.  She probably only had a few bites and already she was feeling full.  

Maybe her stomach had shrunk?  Sefi wondered.  She wouldn't be surprised if it did.  That was what happened if you didn't eat for several days.