by Skylar Dawn
I took a deep breath in satisfaction.
"Looks delicious."
His face creased into a crooked smile.
"It's not my best, but it's good to begin with."
I took the cue to sit at the table and open two beers, handing one to Noah.
"Thank you." He took a sip of beer and his expression was of satisfaction. "Cold!"
I eyed him in curiosity.
"So," I turned my body to face him. "Where did this talent come from?"
He turned towards me and looked up as if he was organizing his thoughts.
"My mother was a beast in the kitchen. I used to spend every weekend with her trying out a lot of recipes. I ended up learning something over the years." He turned the hamburger meat and stirred the onion with care. "When she died it was my sister who took over the house, I was about fourteen. And even though she had good intention, her cooking skills are terrible," he shot me a nostalgic smile, "so I took over the stove for good."
"I'm sorry," I said in an awkward tone, looking down.
He looked at me with tender eyes, his thoughts far away.
"That was a long time ago." He smiled, shaking his head and took another sip of beer. "But what about you," he was curious, "what brought you to Vegas?"
I tilted my neck in surprise.
"How do you know I'm not from around here?"
"Lucky guess," he winked.
I denied it with my head, pondering whether I should tell him my entire saga. I ended up deciding it was the best thing to do, and while he was preparing the hamburgers I practically spat out the whole story. From Valentina's legs to Mia's ride, the reason for my diet and work out sessions, my vlogs and even my revenge goals, praised by the idea of exotic dancing. His expression was indecipherable and then he pushed the hamburger to me.
"So are you a good dancer?" He sat next to me.
I narrowed my eyes and glared at him.
"If I danced I wouldn't need to take lessons. It's phase two, I have to lose a few pounds beforehand."
Noah shook his head, amused.
"It won't work with all that smoked provolone I added to your hamburger."
"It's diet," I giggled. “I wrote diet with your homemade ketchup. And by the way, this is so good I could have the whole bottle!"
Noah seemed pleased.
"Well, there's about four hamburgers for each one of us. They're different, so that means you have to try them all."
I dove into the hamburger with gusto.
"Fantastic," I replied with my mouth full. "Everything is now diet."
He smiled and shook his head, staring at me.
"May I ask you a question?"
"Sure," I nodded, inclined to answer anything he asked.
"This guy, Brett, right?" He stared at me and I nodded. "Is he worth this much?"
I stared at him, perplexed.
"Of course not," I laughed. “I'm getting near him to get even. I still don't know how, but once the plan is complete, I intend to continue miles away from him."
He watched me bite his hamburger and smiled.
"So it's kind of a detachment ritual?"
"Sounds about right." I nodded.
We sat there eating and chatting away while the night snuck up on us. By the third hamburger, we both gave up.
"I can't stand to eat anything else," I ran my hands on my stomach, satisfied.
Noah’s eyes widened as if he'd remembered something very important.
"Oh no," he jumped up from the bench. "Help me put this together, let's go to my place."
"Sure," I got up in sequence. "But what's in your place? Don't tell me there's another spider to kill, because after eating this much I'll lie down and let it carry me if possible."
Noah opened a wide smile and began to pile the empty bowls in a hurry, but we walked to his apartment in slow motion. Actually I'd rather have gone rolling, but there was no way something would push me up the stairs. Noah turned on the lights of the living room, took the bowls from my hand and threw it into the sink.
"Take these cushions off the couch and put it on the floor."
I obeyed, curious.
"What are you up to?"
Noah giggled and took a plate of cheesecake out of the fridge. It wasn't that big, but in the current situation it looked gigantic. Noah opened the counter drawer, took out two forks and joined me on the cushions, placing the cheesecake between the two of us. I sat down, accompanying him.
"Here," he held out a fork. "We have to finish it today. "
"What? I can't eat anything else."
He stuck the fork and took a good chunk out of it. The aroma of raspberry cream with lemon took over my senses.
"Damn it," I laughed. "I can't say no, it's my favorite."
Noah smiled and pushed the plate towards me, encouraging me to take a bite.
"Raspberry cream and lemon?"
I shook my head, smiling.
"No, cheesecake."
CHAPTER five
Cheesecake Factory
On the following week, Lou came to my apartment after work. We agreed to do a weigh-in session to measure the results of my efforts on the last few weeks. He sprawled on my couch and I got the computer to videochat Mia. It didn't even rang twice, and her face appeared smiling on my computer screen.
"I miss you! It's been a million years since I've seen you!" Mia said excited and waved to me and Lou, shaking their long brown hair."
"Oh so this person is the voice of your tiny senses!" Lou laughed and Mia burst into laughter on the other side.
"I try, but this one is very stubborn."
"Don't I know," Lou sighed. "She doesn't listen to a word I say."
Mia shook her head in agreement.
"I've talked to mules who are much less stubborn, and who gets stuck a lot less too."
I decided to join the conversation.
"You're not going to start a plotting against me, right? That's at least unfair, considering how incredibly annoying you both are. And irritating. In equal proportions."
"Speaking of boring," Mia made a strange face, "You don't know who I ran into at the bar on the corner of my house the other day. And asked about you."
It was certainly not Hugh Jackman or Benedict Cumberbatch, let alone George Clooney. I wasn't that lucky anyway. It could only be one person in this whole world, the number one jerk, Brett.
"You didn't say where I was, did you? "
Mia's eyes widened and she shook her head, denying it.
"Hell no. I said you were busy. And..."
Lou giggled, sensing the story would get interesting. I was impatient, drumming my fingers on the coffee table.
"Spit it out, Mia. What did you say to him? "
"Oh, I said you were super busy with so many dates. Especially after you met an MMA fighter at the club. You were tired of so much sex.”
Lou and I burst into laughter.
"What the hell?" I couldn't stop laughing. "Since when do I date wrestlers? I don't even know what a date is, and it's been so long I can't remember what we do in one. Sex is a vague memory."
Lou smirked.
"She didn't date anyone," he whispered. "But she found a super gorgeous neighbor. A hot one."
Mia's jaw dropped two inches.
"Are you dating a hottie neighbor?"
I slapped Lou's shoulder and frowned in disapproval.
"Of course not," I rolled my eyes. "Lou's the one who keeps saying these things. Noah's my friend."
Lou turned the laptop over to him.
"A super hot friend who lives door-to-door with her, and who gave her a ride to work one day."
I tucked my head over the laptop, blocking Lou's face.
"It was an accident in the hallway, and I was late. No big deal. And if you two watched my vlogs, you'd know that he's a friend who dines with me sometimes."
Lou giggled.
"What kind of dinner?"
I glared at him.
"The kind you eat with y
our mouth when you're hungry!"
Mia laughed on the other side of the screen.
"I know a lot of things that fit that category."
"You!" I grunted and stomped to my room in search of my scale. It was like talking to a door, neither of them would hear me, or they did it only to annoy me. I also couldn't understand why the provocation irritated me so much, it was nonsense, but anyway, I was in a bad mood because of that crap.
"Don't be mad," Lou's voice echoed from the living room, muffling a giggle that came from the laptop speakers.
I came back with the scale under my arm and placed it next to the coffee table. It was time to know how my diet was going. I took off my shoes, socks and I thought about taking off my pants too, a sad attempt to make a difference, but that was too much. I climbed up the scale step by step and looked forward, afraid to face the numbers on the digital display. The scale made a strange metal grunt, and I stood there motionless. I couldn't even breathe with nervousness.
Lou got up from the couch, shrieked four octaves above normal and hugged me, shaking my shoulders hard.
"Girl!"
I took a deep breath, waiting for the verdict. And then he completed, excited.
"Five pounds less! I can see my empire of detox juices already!"
I smiled relieved. It meant that the diet and exercise was working even with the occasional food fests with Noah. At least now I knew I could eat cheesecake when he offered me without feeling so guilty.
Mia also seemed pleased with me on the other side. She threw me a friendly smile and made an observation.
"Don’t you think it’s time to start your dancing lessons now?"
Lou sat on the couch again and gestured for me to sit next to him, patting on the cushion twice.
"She's right," he pointed to Mia. "The audition season should begin soon. It's no use being a beautiful woman but tough like a broom handle."
I folded my arms and leaned back on the couch.
"Yes, I'm going to start looking for places."
They both stared at me stupefied.
"So you're going to take our advice?" Mia sneered at the other side of the screen.
"On one condition," I chuckled, "you're going to have to stop annoying me with this Noah thing."
They both laughed.
"And you're going to have to watch my vlogs." I added.
They both agreed, but I was sure it was about the vlog part, and not about anything referring to Noah.
"Are you making any money from that?" Mia looked at me, curious.
"Not much," I shrugged my shoulders. "Enough to help me even out my piggy's balance."
"You need to do something like that for my juice empire." Lou nodded and looked at the ceiling, lost in thought. "You saved the Caffé, now you need to make me rich. Or get rich and hire me. I wan’t a very inviting salary."
"Hey, me too!" Mia laughed on the other side of the screen.
The three talked for at least another hour, until Lou decided he was going to find another jerk on a Vegas night, since the last two he had arranged weren't even good enough to brighten up lonely hearts. According to him there is a quota of Bretts until we find one that is decent. The problem is the concentration of them seemed much higher in this city.
Mia was ninety on a twenty-six year-old body and always slept before ten. What was missing was a bunch of vitamin jars on the side of her bed. And I was left with nothing to do, bored. I turned on the TV hoping to find a movie, but there were only reruns going on, nothing that would capture my attention. I was about to give up and go to bed when the doorbell rang.
I walked to the door already knowing who was on the other side. But in this case, I always felt excited to open the door.
"Noah, hi!"
He opened a wide smile when he saw me, and leaned his arm on the doorway as if he intended to say something very important.
"Are you busy? I need an opinion."
I shook my head in denial.
"I'm free and bored."
"Let's go to my place then."
"Right away," I said closing the door behind me.
#
Noah's apartment smelled so sweet it made me want to stretch my tongue out of my mouth and to lick the air. I detected the aroma of chocolate, red fruits, blackberries and even citrus, like lemon and orange. The scent guided me to his kitchen, and then I noticed the amount of cheesecakes on the countertop. Some decorated with chocolate syrup, others with lemon zest and a leaf of mint. It was the true sight of paradise.
"Are you having a party?" I sat on one of the stools and rested my elbows on the countertop, admiring all that.
Noah pulled up another stool and sat across me on the other side of the mountain of cheesecakes.
"It would be a very nauseating party don't you think?"
"Nonsense," I smiled. "If heavens exists, it sure looks like this."
He laughed with his eyes and cut a small piece of chocolate mousse cheesecake, handing me the plate.
"Try this one first."
I frowned in disapproval.
"Why such a small piece," I pointed the fork to the almost transparent slice on my plate.
Noah burst into laughter.
"Stop complaining. Today you have to try all of them, then you can eat more."
I took a bite out of it. It had a very thin chocolate crust on top and was stuffed with a layer of chocolate cheesecake and a second layer of mousse, slightly thinner. All covered with chocolate chips and whipped cream. I wasn't ready to eat just a little bit and I was sure I could eat the whole thing.
"More." I said with my mouth full.
Noah shook his head.
"Let's try another one." He put another tiny piece in front of me, this time with fresh strawberries and a red syrup of the same flavor.
Of course it was delicious, but if I had to choose, the chocolate one was phenomenal. And I love strawberries or anything with red sweet syrup, but next to the other cheesecake, this one was kind of bland.
"Didn't like that?" Noah wrinkled his forehead.
"It's yummy," I raised a finger to my cheek thinking of my culinary review. "The problem is that after that explosion of chocolate, the strawberry was quite timid."
"I see," he smirked. "Try this now. It's only lemon and syrup."
It was simple, nothing but a crust of crushed vanilla wafer, lemon pie and whipped cream, covered with a very citrus syrup, but it was as yummy as the chocolate.
"I like it as much as the first," I concluded.
Noah shook his head in amusement.
"You have an odd taste."
I shrugged my shoulders.
"I like what I like," I smiled. "But why am I having so much cheesecake?"
Noah's eyes sparkled for a second.
"At the hotel, they are opening a pastry-chef position. It's better than chopping stuff all day long, so I want to give it a shot."
"That's awesome! And how will that be?"
He looked up, organizing his thoughts.
"We'll have to make a dessert right there, like a competition. I thought about baking a cheesecake, since it's a traditional thing, but I'm not sure about the flavor."
"This job is yours," I snatched up a piece of the already-known lemon and raspberry cheesecake, the same one that we had to eat after the hamburgers. "So far everything you cooked was absolutely fantastic. In fact I can testify with all certainty that you are a danger to my diet."
Noah smiled, excited.
"I only offer you food, you don't have to eat it."
"You mean you think I don't have self-control?" I feigned irritation.
"No," he put another slice on my plate. Another one with chocolate. "I think you prefer to avoid it. Try this one."
My sweet tooth smiled as the layers of chocolate mousse, ganache and pieces of Godiva chocolate flooded my mouth. I'd die for that cheesecake, no, I'd kill someone for it. It was so creamy and so soft that I could end up in a pool of mousse and ganache for the rest of my
life. Or make a sweet little nest and live happily ever after. I wouldn't need anything else during my humble existence in this world.
"This one." I sighed. "You have to do it. It's a phenomenon."
He looked pleased.
"Is it your favorite?"
"Among all those options here, it is." I nodded and didn’t even ask for permission to cut a decent piece.
His face lit up and he ended up cutting a slice for himself.
"Yeah, I like it," he concluded. "I'll do this one."
"Excellent choice." I nodded in agreement.
Noah took another bite and looked at me with curious eyes.
"And what's your favorite?"
I was puzzled and didn't understand what he meant by that. Didn't I just picked one? He then noticed my confusion and smiled.
“I'm asking of every single one. Your favorite."
"Ah," I sighed. "You're not ready for this. I'll keep it a secret."
Noah shook his head from side to side in disapproval.
"What if I guess?"
"I'll tell you about it someday."
He stared at me for a second, his expression a mixture of defeat and curiosity. Then he lifted his fork and went back to eating his piece.
"What?" I widened my eyes, curious.
"You're indecipherable Emma Woods."
"You think so highly of me," I laughed. "I guess I'm more indecisive anyway."
He shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't think so. You always know what you want, but don't go around talking about it. That's why you're so hard to read."
"You're very philosophical today," I laughed with my mouth full.
"It may be the sugar affecting me," he joked.
"If I became a philosopher every time I ate dessert I would have changed my occupation." I got up from the stool and took a deep breath, it was time to go home and take care of my vlog. I had to share all about this feast of the gods.
"Are you leaving already?" he asked disappointed. "Its early."
"I'll shoot tomorrow's vlog and I have to kill the internet with sugar jealousy."
Noah smiled, a little shy.
"Then you should take cheesecake with you."
"Any of them?" I hopped up and down my seat in excitement.
"Take your pick."
I wrinkled my nose.
