7 FRIED RICE

It was the fifth time I yawned but never get out of bed. I wasn't willing to leave this soft mattress. "What time is it?" I whispered. Enjoying the insanely magnificent scenery was enough to dissolve my mind until an hour had passed.

I played the available music through the speakers, precisely M2M's song - Dear Diary. Then, I rushed to the bathroom.

I was sitting in the bathtub. Relaxing my mind with the scent of the candles I had lit. I enjoyed every second of the scenery in front of me through the glass even the cold air made it slightly covered with dew. I could see a green landscape and high hills so far away. It was giving me peace of mind to the soul.

I love M2M's songs. The first time I heard their songs in early 2005 before the accident happened to me. I remembered how much Alia idolized Marion Raven, a member of M2M. While I had been liking both of them. Their voices were pleasant and comfortable to hear. Especially the song that I was currently listening to.

Speaking of Alia, I missed her. I'd imagined her who had grown into an angelic girl at the age of ten years. I needed to know her state, her condition, her growth, her current appearance. But, I couldn't stand it when she didn't even recognize me.

After showering and got dressed, I immediately left the room, turned left, stopped right in front of this brown door. I hadn't had time to knock, when Elsa came to me. "Young Master came home so late last night, I'm sure he hasn't woken up at this point." I was silent, feeling a pang of jealousy when other women knew more about him than me. Even though, I knew Elsa was only doing her job here, sometimes my jealousy wasn't easy for me to tame.

In the past, I had scratched the face of my friend---no, ex-friend, Tasya. I hated it when she tried to keep Haytham away from me by constantly seeking his attention. I couldn't take it anymore and made a mess with my crazy idea. I was a freaking lunatic back then.

"Sorry, I don't know." I said as I turned my body, looking at her.

Who wouldn't be jealous when seeing Elsa this beautiful? Her body was ideal, her thick short hair was dark black, and those bewitching mature face.

She smiled back at me, but I shifted my gaze without returning her smile, going back to my room. "Excuse me, but." My steps stopped. "I have an idea to kill your time, Young Lady." I turned around just to found her already looking so jumpy under my gaze. "How about we cook together for lunch this time?" I tilted my head, as if there was an argument in my brain, "Sure." But, I agreed.

Don't judge a book by its cover. Maybe that was the wise words I needed.

I shouldn't have think all bad things about Elsa. Honestly, she was so nice and good at adapting. She also shared how she started working here. Since she was little, she had helped her mother, but now her mother wasn't strong enough to work so she replaced her. What a strong woman!

Actually, this mansion had provided a reliable chef. However, Elsa's idea had a point too, I didn't want to just stay in the room.

"Do you know Barra's favorite food?" I asked while chopped off the onions. She thought for a moment as she handed the minced meat to the cooking chef, Lucas.

"I don't know, because he's rarely home." She said again after wiping her hands.

I needed to rely on my memory then. "Don't you know it?" She asked me back. "You're his best friend since childhood, if I heard right." She added.

"Yeah, it's just that I think people's favorite foods can change over time." I explained.

"If he had liked it before, he would still like it. Although now he likes the other food." She got a point.

My memory of his favorite food was fried rice. Jazzlin often cooked fried rice even though it never tasted good, but Barra happily finished off her homemade fried rice. Poor little Barra.

"Fried rice then." I smiled brightly.

"Let me help you." She offered to help but I refused. It was easy! Clarissa once taught me how to cook the best fried rice ever. I told Elsa to leave me, and let me finished my special dish alone.

Kinda hard when it had been five years since I hadn't cooked it. My eyes sting when chopped off chilies. It was watering, making my concentration disturbed. I tried to brake for a moment but it didn't help. Arrrggh! But, I didn't stop until ... I sliced my finger.

"Oh shoo!" I was like a fool, just grimacing without doing anything, until a hand pulled my finger. I looked up to find those hazel eyes looking at me full of worry. "You should've been more careful." He led me to wastafel and washed the cut immediately. I started crying softly because the pain was getting worse. "Wait here." He ran and came back again with first aid in his hand. He carefully gave the antibiotic oinment and covered it with a bandage.

"You better rest. You don't have to cook anyway." He wiped my tears while his right hand raised my chin.

"But, I want to." I answered a little whining.

"You don't have to. I hired chefs here to make them do their job." He still stared at me calmly.

"I wanna surprise you by making your favorite food." His face suddenly changed, forming a smile. "Unfortunately, now it's not a surprise because you know it." My voice was filled with emotion.

"I can pretend that you never told me about this." He smirked. "But, your finger is injured. Next time you can still make one for me." I didn't know what to do with this man. He was so gentle and understanding. Those eyes ... I never get bored looking at them. They were my favorite, especially when they only stared at me.

"Do you want to get an ice cream?" He smiled.

I perked up, "Leggo."

I got ready and put on a light make-up before running out. My eyes were already on a man leaning against his sport car, wearing a black leather jacket and ripped jeans. His lips were sticking out when he saw me walking towards him. I couldn't see his eyes because he was wearing sunglasses.

He looked even more attractive, especially when he opened the car door for me. "After you, principessa." I couldn't control the feeling of butterflies and my racing heartbeats anymore. Without him realizing it, along the way I just paid attention to him. Seeing his every move. The way he talked, laughs, and looked at me. I wanted to know what was on his mind, what his feeling or how he felt.

"Principessa?" At his curious look, he continued, "Is there something wrong?"

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I brought myself to reality.

"We're already in front of ice cream parlor."

Just stepping out of the car, all the paparazzi had their pictures taken. And there were also reporters who were busy asking questions. Last time when the car broke down we were lucky because the night streets were quiet and no one was around. Meanwhile, at this time, they were scrambling to ask. The question was enough to made my blood boiled.

"What is the continuation of your relationship with Niki?" For God's sake! Who the hell is Niki?

"Are you two dating now? Many fans support you two."

"Then, what about the Ainsley's company that is rumored to be working with the Sanders's?"

The Sanders? The name sounded familiar to my ears. Ah that's right! It was the family that had adopted Haytham.

He didn't answer all their questions. His hand gripped mine tightly as if he was afraid I would be kidnapped or separated from him. I just followed him and then as quickly as possible into the ice cream parlor.

"What do you want to order?" I could sense his mood turning colder and stiffer.

"I want it, and the next one." I pointed chocolate and vanilla ice cream, adding bittersweet chocolate chunks as toppings. "That's it." I smiled to the waitress.

Barra paid more so that the rooftop was immediately vacated. His mood was clearly infuriated because of earlier. I understood, so I kept my mouth shut.

He was silent as his avocado ice cream started to melt. "If you don't want to eat, you can give your ice cream to me." I said, not willing to see food nearly wasted. Without looking, he gave his ice cream. "Auch." I was shocked by the ice cream which landed right on my nostrils.

"Sorry, my bad." He smirked devilishly as his finger wiped the cream over my face and then licked it. I froze and couldn't move when his eyes stared at me fixedly.

Still looking at his face I remembered the reporter's question. Who is Niki? A memory flashed through my mind. Niki. A beautiful model who was rumored to be dating Barra two years ago.

I turned my gaze away from him. I got to wash my face in the restroom. "I need to clean my face." I said in a low voice. He looked at me confused but just nodded.