Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover.

Four pairs of male eyes were directed at a plate of refreshments, on one side of which were delicious croissants, and on the other side there was something black and shapeless.

Sean reached for the plate, but Elena stopped him, "Wait, baby. Let them try first." She looked at Armand and Nick again with a charming smile. Marcus seized the moment and slipped over to the dining table, where a decanter of water was.

The man poured two glasses and went back to the others. "Thirst is tormenting me. Sometimes I have this weird feeling," he demonstrated his snow-white teeth, answering David's mute question.

Nick looked from the plate to Elena, "There is some kind of trick, right?" He saw the unhealthy anticipation in the woman's eyes. It reminded him of the expression on Ashley's face when she sat down opposite and watched as Nick tested her next super-device for the first time.

"Why do you think so?" Elena blinked innocently.

"Whatever guys. I'll get more then," David took the burnt biscuit and stuffed it into his mouth, demonstrating the relish with which he was chewing it, "By the way, it's crazy yummy," muttered the man with his mouth full.

"Yeah, just amazingly delicious. You are losing a lot," said Marcus. He had already tested on himself all the delights of his daughter's "unusual" pastries at the base. He didn't know what Elena was up to, but he prepared for a good show.

"God, but why are you so suspicious? These are ordinary cookies with a secret!" Elena pouted her lips, pretending to feel offended. People are always like this - they think too much where you need to trust your heart, and vice versa. They follow the lead of emotions when you need to turn on the brain.

"Okay...," Nick reached for the black cookie, his hand hung for a moment, then he changed his mind and took the croissant. Armand took what was closest to him, and it also turned out to be a croissant.

Nicholas broke the bun in half. It hadn't smelled such an amazing smell even in Corey's pastry shop. The dough was airy and soft when pressed, but immediately returned to its original shape. He hadn't tried it yet, but he was about to grab the whole plate and take it to his room to enjoy this magical dessert.

Nick opened his mouth and put the croissant inside. The airy dough began to melt like cotton candy. Armand did the same.

"Mmm, that's just-" The guy rolled his eyes in pleasure and swallowed the treat. He brought the other half to his mouth, but did not have time to put it inside.

Nick and Armand looked at each other, then at Elena. The woman smiled, and the guy wanted to cry. He pressed his lips together and grimaced, but he could not bear it any longer.

"Ahhh, what the hell?!" Nick opened his mouth and gasped for air, tears welled up in his eyes and his throat started burning as if it had been doused with flame from a flamethrower. A veil of water covered his eyes, he felt with his hands, as someone handed him a glass of water and he drained it in one gulp.

The heat in his throat subsided, but the feeling of a scorched desert remained - everything inside was tickling, itching and scratching. Nick wanted to cough, scream and drink at the same time.

"More water?"

He rubbed his eyes from tears and saw Marcus who was standing with the outstretched glass of water and smiling. He had an empty glass in his other hand.

"No, I'm good," Nick muttered under his breath, either from resentment at Elena for such a joke, or from anger at himself that he had accepted help from the hands of the enemy. "It wasn't funny! What did you add there?! There was not even a hint of spiciness in them!"

"Don't judge a book by its cover. Not everything is what we think," Elena smiled, not looking a bit guilty. "Sometimes, true beauty is hidden behind a mask of ugliness," she broke off a piece of charred cookie and handed it to Nick.

The young man carefully put it in his mouth and realized what a colossal difference there was between the first and the second. He didn't care what ingredients Elena used in cooking and what this black shapeless thing looked like. It was the best thing he had ever tried in his life.

He looked at the plate again. Croissants didn't seem as tasty as they used to. On the contrary, they looked pale and stale, gray copies of each other. But the cookies that were lying nearby began to cast some kind of warm light, as if they were covered in a shiny glaze.

At first glance, they looked unsightly, but the more Nick looked at them, the more he noticed that each cookie was different. Each of them was unique in itself, had its own strange shape and attracted attention, aroused the desire to look closer and study it.

He looked up and his gaze slammed into Marcus, who was standing behind. The man was looking at the guy with a sneer, but this didn't cause such fury in Nick as twenty minutes ago, when they bumped into each other.

"David, may I take your car? I promised Daniel to come to the clinic tonight." Nick turned to his father, ignoring Marcus. Apparently, this man was not going to leave their house in the near future, and then Nick had not the slightest desire to portray joy.

David glanced at Elena, who nodded in return. "Sure, no problem."

"Or you can take my bike," the woman suggested.

"What?!"

"What?!"

David and Nick both exclaimed, but David looked more shocked.

"You let him take your bike?! Are you serious?! You never even allowed me to sit on it, I had to buy my own!" David was indignant with sincere resentment.

Elena put her hand on her husband's shoulder and stroked him, "The boy deserves a present. Nick, have you learned to drive? My thunderous beast has no fancy artificial intelligence, like your toys from the future."

Nick was utterly taken aback. He had the same happy face as Sean did when Elena handed the boy the robot he wanted. "El, are you really giving it to me?! Honestly?! Ahh, you are the best!! I knew you were the best!!"

Elena more than once noticed with what adoration in his eyes Nick was looking at her motorcycle when they entered the garage. And although the guy was twenty years old, in fact, he remained the same child. Adults who did not play enough in childhood remain children forever.

"There is another gift for you in that big box. It will come in handy," Elena nodded towards the gift box that was delivered by helicopter.

Nick remembered that Marcus mentioned that the man and Elena chose these gifts together, but the guy decided not to dwell on this detail.

He walked past Marcus with pretended indifference, took out a box with his name, walked back in the same businesslike manner, kissed Elena on the cheek and left the house.

Marcus realized that Nick did not want to open the gift in front of him, although the man would not refuse to look at the guy's reaction when he saw what was inside.

"What is in the box?" David asked his wife. He still looked a little offended, but Elena mentally reassured the man that an equally pleasant gift awaited him.

"Nothing special. A regular helmet and motorcycle gloves," the woman explained.

"Yeah, right. Nothing special. Just pink gloves and a unicorn helmet," Marcus smirked and stuffed a fire croissant into his mouth.