chapter 10 -Her joy for cooking

He entered her apartment and was stunned at the sight of it, it was so clean and organized the interior of the house that was mostly made up off white is what impressed him however, it was small he is so sure that the whole of her apartment is the size of just his bathroom.

"Make your self comfortable, I'll go change my cloth" she said jotting back to reality. He took note of the pictures on her wall which mostly comprises of Kim's mother, younger sister and herself, the picture of Kim's family got his attention and he noticed that his little tigress and her younger sister both looked like their mom but the younger one had brown eyes like the mom that means his little tigress could only have gotten her green eyes from her father whom he noticed is more saying in all the family portrait hanging on the wall.

Alex heard soft footsteps behind him, he turned to see her wearing a white pyjamas but it's tob was crown and was fully designed with panda designs everywhere. " you better stop string or I'll pluck out your eyes" he heard her say, honestly her sharp tongue and her fiesty character were the thing that attracted her to him. He sat down comfortably while she asked "what would you like to eat ?, Asian, Italian,African,French, English which one will you like wait can I suggest African I haven't tried it before" she said practically grinning in excitement. "Yea sure, surprise me with your dish as long as it doesn't have peanuts or apple" Alex teased

"Okay what do you think about cocunut rice, I learnt it is a Nigerian dish, so I created a new recipe for it, so what do you think ?" She asked excitedly as she brought out the ingredients to cook.

"Wait let me Assist you" Alex requested as he took off his suit and then rolled up his sleeves making her roll her eyes at him [who is he trying to show his strong arm to ?] she thought but her mind teased her ~like you don't like what you see~. She gave him the coconut to blend while Alex just stared at the coconut cluelessly not knowing how to blend it.

" er Kim can you show me how to blend this I haven't done it before" Alex said scratching his neck in embarrassment causing Kim to laugh.

"Seriously I can't believe that you're totally useless in this kitchen right now, you know what just stand there while I do everything okay" Kim instructed like she was talking to her kitchen assistants.

Seeing that he was totally useless in the kitchen he just stood there watching her cook, today he discovered her joy for cooking, whenever she is cooking he noticed a smile plastered on her face like she is having a sense of pride in what she is doing. " why did you become a chef ?" He suddenly asked. His sudden question made her paused as all the memories came flooding back.

" how about we go sit for a while, the food will take some time" she said. As they say down on the couch,she stared at him and took a deep breathe " I never really wanted to be a chef, I wanted to be a music artist, sing in stage and even dance to instrument" she finally broke the silence "Then why are you a chef ?" He asked "My mom used to be a very good cook, sometimes on my birthday mom would make the most delicious food and cake I have ever tasted, but after my mom and dad separated things changed. Mom became depressed leaving me to take care of my younger sister Reese when I was just eight, it was from then I learnt to take responsibility. I couldn't watch my baby sister starve so I started to use cooking book to cook meals for my mom and Reese. But my cooking joy started when my mom smiled after tasting my food for the first time and my baby sister too laughed, I was so happy that I could make people happy with may my cooking, you know the joy that comes with doing what you love right?"

" yes I could imagine the joy you had"Alex replied after she narrated

"Well mom complimented me on how good on how cook my omelette and toast is, so since then I started the cooking stuff seriously while my mom began to heal gradually. After that, I started to make difficult dishes and when I turned ten I was already good, I and my mom would make dishes and sell it out. That was how we survived till I turned eighteen and went to culinary school to get to where I am today" after listening to her story, his respect for her grew more, how can a kid take care of her family at the age of eight wow" he thought.

" wowh is that's why you have this smile on you're face whenever you cook" He asked winking at her . She giggled at his words " is it that noticeable?"?she shyly asked and Alex nodded

"Well I like to see the reaction on the faces of people when they eat my food, wait where is Ezekiel your assistant ?" She asked . It was only after she asked that he remembered Zeke "oh he might be outside why did you ask?"

" call him in, he must be hungry" as she requested, Alex took his phone to inform Zeke to come inside.

One second... two seconds... three seconds ... till 10 seconds

Zeke entered the apartment with a paper bag " boss I the prescribed drugs for you" he said and Kim took notice to the drug it looked like a sleeping pills and that made her wonder if he was indeed having difficulty in sleeping.

Kimberly watched both men eat with satisfaction in their face and this made her happy. After they had both finished eating, Alex kept complimenting her cooking. " little tigress, can you cook for me every day?" He asked

" why would I do that ?" She questioned folding her hands on her chest

"what are friends for"

" I haven't even agreed to be your friend yet" she replied making him pout again

"What that's so unfair, I thought we've passed that stage"Alex murmured making her smile

" well you're probably the first male friend I've ever had, but hey no free food for you, you'd have to pay" she replied making Alex and Zeke laugh.

They bid their goodbye before leaving Kim.