She had already decluttered the entire kitchen and checked all the stocks on her pantry and fridge and was already preparing for the rest of the cook.

Sid nodded on both question and responded, "Any dish is alright Laurice, thank you."

"I should be the one to thank you, you bought all of these. I would not be able to cook you anything if not for it. By the way, send me your account details later." Laurice recalled that she owed the man for the purchases and had not much cash on hand to pay him back.

Sid furrowed his brows and asked, "What for? You don't mean ..?" He has a hunch and he was hating the idea already.

"I can't accept all these for free Sid. It's just too much." Laurice uttered.

Sid was about to speak when she interjected, "This will be done in no time. Are you getting hungry?" Laurice looked up to him and smiled. She seems excited and all her prior frustrations strangely vanished.

He heaved a sigh.

How can he complain when the woman was already smiling at him and will be cooking for him at that?

Sid felt helpless in her presence and realized that he was easily pacified with a single smile.

Laurice begun preparing a few ingredients which actually did not need that much effort to prepare. She only had to debone a slab of salmon which she cut in quarters and cooked a portion in a hot skillet while she spread some garlic on top that she minced rather finely in seconds, squeezed some lemon and sprinkled some dillweed herb on top which Sid was quite familiar with. Laurice covered the skillet and reduced the heat and left it to cook.

It was that simple and she was now proceeding towards sauteing a batch of aromatics such as onion, celery, bell peppers, and garlic in a certain order and timing in another skillet, an electric one which she preheated moments ago. She then added the uncooked long-grain brown rice and peas and chicken broth which she dissolved earlier but was somehow disappointed that she did not have much time to prepare her own stock but reminded herself to do batches soon to help her make tastier dishes in the latter days to come.

Laurice seasoned both dishes and headed towards a.s.sembling the dining table while waiting.

The entire cook only lasted approximately 20 minutes and soon they were already sitting across each other on the table.

Laurice prepared a simple lemon garlic salmon and rice pilaf for the both of them to eat as dinner.

"It smells appetizing and it looks delicious. I bet it would taste even more delicious." Sid took a spoonful of food to his mouth and he was no longer surprised that the dishes would turn out to  be quite palatable. He was confident that Laurice was a good cook just by observing her back in the kitchen. She did not waste a single minute and was doing a lot of things at the same time. The woman even managed to clean the rest of the utensils used while waiting for the cook to finish. Basically, she need not need him to help her with anything even if he did not have an injury.

'Delicious indeed.'

Sid's mouth watered and he was pleasantly digging in when Laurice spoke.

"I'm glad you like it. It was pretty simple, i thought it would not fit your tastebuds." Laurice was quite unsettled to serve this particular man whom she knew wasn't someone simple at all. She wasn't worried at first but now that she had actually made him food, she was starting to doubt her skills.

His lips curled into a smile and said, "What are you taking about? It's delicious. You did great. Thank you for the meal Laurice. Let's eat now or the food will get cold." Sid leaned forward and spooned some steaming rice over her empty plate.

Laurice heaved a sigh of relief and thanked him for the praise and gesture.

They peacefully enjoyed sharing the dinner together and finished up not long after. Sid presented himself to atleast wipe the table while she washes the dishes. Laurice could not refute him and just let him do as he pleased.

...

After everything that has happened, Laurice could somehow a.s.sume that her particular guest did not have any intentions of leaving yet and considering that it was almost nine in the evening and the man had initially dismissed his service already, she reluctantly offered him to stay for the night instead.

'Like i have a choice?' She thought the bold man had already planned everything beforehand.

Looking back, she thought she would be the shameless and heartless one if she threw him out of her house especially at this hour.

"Accompany me for a bit." Sid said when she seemed to be heading upstairs to prepare for bed.

Laurice was a little stunned by him and looked straight into his eyes.

"Aren't you sleepy?" Laurice was getting a bit nervous with the way he was staring at her at the moment.

"Hmm." He muttered under his breath while he pinched his creased brows.

Hmm?

What hmm?

Laurice did not know what was going on his head but there was an evident uneasiness on his eyes.

An idea flashed in her mind.

Laurice lightly chuckled and teasingly asked him, "Sleep disorder? First night-effect?"

'First-night effect'

Sid could deduce what she actually meant but somehow only the words first-night was registering on his brain instead. The idea made him feel somewhat unsettled and with such a beautiful woman near him, he was having difficulty trying to relax his mind and body. He had just initially wanted to spend more time with her and even asked her to stay for a chat but the woman wasn't cooperating at all.

She was even deliberately and innocently teasing him instead.

"You go wash up before heading to bed. Listening to some music could calm your nerves." Laurice said.

How can he now be able to calm his d.a.m.n nerves down after that statement?

'Wash up, head to bed' The woman wasn't insinuating anything other than advising him so he could sleep later but her words were unknowingly making a mess on his thought process. His heart quivered.

Afraid that he might say anything inappropriate or do anything to her, he resigned himself to bed after saying, "I'm good. Go sleep. Good night."

Laurice watched the man's back as he hurriedly entered the guestroom and shut the door behind leaving her dumbfounded.

'Whatever happened with not sleeping yet and accompanying him instead??'