Phoenix saw how eager Ashton was to cook. So she agreed to Ashton's invitation. She didn't have the heart to reject him anymore. She remembered what he had asked and said before and he was right. She had been rejecting Ashton too many times, maybe it was okay to say Yes to him, and it was okay to ask for help and to receive one from others. She had been too used to depend on herself. She wondered if it was okay for her to rely on others?
Ashton left Phoenix to wait in the living room while he went to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients. He had gone out earlier this morning to get the ingredients that he would need to used to cook at the supermarket, with the help of his housekeeper.
He opened his tablet and put it on the tablet holder on the kitchen counter.
He searched for the video for the dishes that he wanted to cook, played it and started following the instruction that were shown in the video.
While Ashton was preparing to cook in the kitchen, Phoenix was looking around in the living room.
Ashton's living room was decorated mostly with grey, black, and white. The interior was simple, but there's warmth in it. The sofa was really cozy; it blended with your body once you sat on it. The massive glass wall showed the greenery outside.
Phoenix stood up from the sofa and walked around the living room. There were art pieces displayed on one side of the wall, while there was a television mounted on another wall. A few frames displayed on a console table and a book was neatly arranged in an angle bookshelf between two walls. Phoenix walked to the console table and was about to look at the pictures inside the frames when she heard loud noised coming from the kitchen, sounding like glasses were breaking.
She placed back the frame on the table and rushed towards the kitchen.
Phoenix was shocked by what she saw in the kitchen. She scanned the kitchen with her discerning eyes.
There were pieces of ceramic bowl on the floor, boiling water was overflowing from the pot on the stove and vegetable peels and unrecognised items were scattered on the kitchen counter.
Her eyes then fixed towards Ashton and her eyebrows furrowed, "Are you okay, Mr Qin?"
Firstly, Phoenix walked into the kitchen and turned off the stove. She then went to Ashton, who was squatting on the floor, pinching on the tip of his forefinger.
"I'm fine. It's just a small cut." Ashton tried to brush Phoenix off.
"Let me take a look at it." Phoenix was worried, thus she pulled Ashton's finger towards her and saw a drop of blood on his finger. In a reflex, he put Ashton's forefinger into her mouth and sucked on the cut.
Ashton was frozen in place when he felt her wet tongue grazing on the tip of his finger and her warm lips clamp on that finger.
Her action was just her instinctive action, but it made his throat dry and he gulped in his saliva, seeing his finger being sandwiched between her two lips.
Phoenix didn't notice the consequences of her spontaneous action, she took Ashton's finger out of her mouth and asked, "Do you have a first aid kit?"
"Y…yes. In the first cabinet on the left," Ashton managed to say with so much difficulty.
Without delay, Phoenix went to the cabinet and searched for the first aid kit and took out an antiseptic and a band aid out of the box. She helped clean the cut with a wet cloth, put the antiseptic and cover it securely with the band aid.
When she was done, she looked at Ashton, and said, "How about you let me do the cooking and you can wait in the living room?"
Ashton opened his mouth and was about to protest, but Phoenix cut him off. "You already hurt yourself. It looks like I'm bad luck for you, as you keep getting hurt when I'm around."
"That's not true. Don't say that. The weather is beyond your control, and this, I'm just clumsy." Ashton didn't like hearing that from Phoenix, and it clearly showed in his face.
"Okay. Then, let me cook for you," Phoenix said again.
Ashton sighed, "Sure. But I want to sit here." Phoenix raised her eyebrows. Ashton quickly added, "so I can observe and learn. Don't throw me out of my kitchen."
"Suit yourself."
Phoenix let Ashton sat on the stool at the kitchen island, and she began by cleaning up the kitchen first. Then she started by working on the ingredients on the counter.
Phoenix moved swiftly, chopping and stirring and cleaning, while Ashton looked at her in wonder. 'She can cook too.'
His eyes didn't leave Phoenix, and he was helping Phoenix by getting her apparatus that she needed for cooking.
After an hour, Phoenix managed to make a stir-fried mixed vegetables, egg drop soup and lemon chicken dishes.
While Phoenix was scooping the foods into their respective bowls, Ashton set up the dining tables with plates, cutleries and napkins. After he was done, he helped Phoenix carry the dishes to the table.
Ashton looked at the foods that Phoenix had cooked, it wasn't anything fancy, but he could already tell that the food would,, taste amazing.
"Let's eat," he said, he didn't want to wait anymore.
They both started eating, and true to his assumption. The dishes tasted delicious, and he was so happy that he got to taste Phoenix's cooking. 'I thought I had ruined this dinner. But, I think this is not bad either. I got to taste her cooking.'
"This is delicious. Thank you for letting me have a taste of your cooking." Ashton said.
"You're welcome. So, does this mean my debt is cleared?" Phoenix asked.
Ashton stiffened hearing that, and his mind sent an alarming signal.
'Oh no. How am I supposed to ask her out again?'
Ashton smiled reluctantly to Phoenix, "Sure. It's settled."
The rest of dinner went in silence. Phoenix, as always, was not someone who talked much, while Ashton was trying to find an excuse to keep contact with Phoenix, but remembering that Phoenix had agreed to let him help with the renovation of her house, and the fact that they would be neighbors soothe his worry heart.
After dinner, Ashton sent Phoenix back to the hotel, as he didn't want to keep Phoenix longer than they both had to go to work tomorrow.
The weekend was ending and there would be many more weekends that he could look forward to.