Chapter 78 A Gentle night
Axel's POV
When I set up a meeting earlier with Lisa on the school's premises, she must've thought that we'd simply catch up on each other's lives and then go our separate ways. Little did she know that I'd also planned a lovely candle-lit dinner for us back at my place, I enjoyed seeing her reactions to my surprises and that always moved me to do more and do better for her every single time.
It was so easy for me to go out of my way while making preparations for her because there's nothing I wouldn't give just to see a smile on her gorgeous face. After the last dinner we had at the picnic, I took special note of how her eyes widened in adoration at seeing the candles and the setup so I decided there and then to organize more romantic dinners to make her heart leap. I had to make out time especially to prepare the meals for this dinner but I was genuinely excited while cooking because I couldn't wait to see her reaction after telling her that I'd prepared all the
meals from scratch. She had a way of making my heart flutter by simply watching her face light up and I knew that I wanted that every single day of my life, no matter what it'd take to ensure that it always repeated itself.
Her squeals of excitement whenever I did anything romantic had been registered in my mind's eyes and they kept playing on a loop whenever I wasn't near her. More than anything, I needed every moment we spent together to be as memorable as possible so that she'd know just how much she meant to me. I was in love with everything about her from the crown of her perfect hair to the sole of her soft and beautiful feet and I needed her to know that, so I'd never stop coming through for her with grand gestures until she took note of that fact.
As I watched her take in the candle-lit dinner I'd prepared, I was in love with the smile that graced her flawless face. There was a glow that added to her face when she was happy and it stirred something deep inside me that caused me great satisfaction by barely taking in her expression. Did she have any idea what a strong hold she had on my entire being? I doubted that she knew. She rambled on about how much she loved the dinner I'd put together and I tried to listen closely while I smiled at her and focused on the fact that I'd just found a new and more fulfilling purpose in life. I'd love to dedicate the rest of my life to doing whatever was possible to ensure that this lovely smile stayed glued to her beautiful face. I never knew that a person's happiness could be as satisfying and as fulfilling as hers was at this exact moment.
I hadn't even eaten and as weird as it might seem, I felt full from simply watching her smile and gush over everything like a lovesick teenage girl. I was just as in love with her though, if not more in
love, so I welcomed all her cutesy antics and excitement whenever she saw it fit to express them.
The food had gone cold since I left to meet Red at the school park so I needed to microwave some before I served her. I quickly popped the food into the microwave and slightly adjusted the table settings before the microwave's beep went off. As soon as I opened the microwave, the scent of the delicious pot roast I'd prepared filled the entire place and I noticed how Red inhaled the scent happily and with satisfaction while she waited to be served, it made me smile a little at how helplessly cute she could be without even noticing it.
I walked back to the table and placed the microwaved dishes on the table carefully before I served her and myself small portions of each delicacy before us. I loved that Red was a good eater, nothing
ever went to waste with her and she always showed her appreciation for every meal by how she avoided being wasteful.
"This looks so so good! Thank you" she exclaimed and expressed her gratitude just before she dug into the food happily. "You're welcome Red, I hope you enjoy it" I couldn't help the smile that spread throughout my face as I watched her enjoy every spoonful that reached her lips.
She nodded my way instead of offering me a worded reply because her mouth was full of food as she chewed. I was extremely proud of my cooking and the fact that she'd enjoyed it so much that she
would rather send a nod my way than stop eating to offer me an actual reply.
I kept doting on her as I watched her every move even while she ate, every single thing she did was so satisfying to watch.
She coughed slightly and I bolted from my seat to get her a glass of water before it turned into a coughing fit. In no time I'd returned to the table with a glass of cold water and I handed it over to her
quickly as soon as I reached the table.
I rubbed her back gently while she drank some water and cleared her throat to avoid coughing again. I could feel her relax under my touch and that calmed me surprisingly as well.
"There, there. You're okay now" I said to her as I took my seat beside her again after she'd completely calmed down.
"Thank you, you're so sweet, Axel. It was really just a minor cough" She chuckled lightly and blushed as she thanked me. She tried to hide her cheeks as she blushed but I'd already noticed them the
minute they turned red and I smiled at her feeble attempt to conceal it quickly despite that.
"Nope, it might've turned into a coughing fit and I didn't want that. I love taking care of you though, you should know that" I replied as I smiled at her, she looked so beautiful as she blushed again
concerning my response. "Of course, I love it when you take care of me, so much," she said and my ego grew ten times larger just because I got acknowledged by her, it meant so much to me because it meant that she'd
noticed all my efforts and appreciated them as well. She continued eating while I poured her a glass of fruit wine, she always got bolder with alcoholic wine so I figured I'd save that for some other time instead. She threw a smile my way when she
noticed that I'd filled her glass with some fruit wine and I smiled back at her in response. Even while we were silent, we knew what we'd meant to communicate with each other, and this time around it was her appreciation towards me for giving her some fruit wine.
Every moment was just as lovely as the last while we are in silence, it felt weird that I enjoyed simply dining with someone in silence so much but I didn't dwell on that, I decided to just enjoy being
with her instead.
She was about to get herself another serving of food, but I politely stopped her and offered to get it for her instead.
"Let me get that, Red. You don't need to be doing anything aside from enjoying yourself today, okay?" I said as I filled her plate again with more food while she watched me with her eyes full of adoration, it excited me so much that she equally loved me so much.
"You're too sweet, thank you again" She expressed her gratitude as the millionth smile of the day crossed her beautiful lips.
"Anything for you, darling," I said in a charming tone and she chuckled lowly in response to the accent I'd feigned.
We kept eating and the candles got dimmer as time went by, I stood up to light them again to keep the romantic air around us intact. As I lit the candles again, I could feel her gaze on me while I
moved around the room and I knew that she was admiring me which confirmed just how much she loved what I'd managed to pull off for her.
After I was done, I walked back to my seat and focused on my meal rather than fixating on her as I'd done earlier. Somehow, this made her train her gaze on me this time around and I noticed that it
was probably because she'd successfully emptied the food on the plate in front of her and she was satisfied to the brim.
"You good?" I raised my head and focused on her while she fondled with her cutlery playfully and started back at me. "Yeah, yeah. The meal was extremely delicious, I loved every bit of it" She said with the sweetest smile on her face.
Despite the countless things I loved about Red, her gratitude was easily one of my top favorites. She never shied away from giving me compliments or showing appreciation constantly as long as I'd
earned it, and this time, I'm sure I did.
"You're welcome again, Red. I'm glad you enjoyed every bit of your meal" I replied to her and averted my gaze back to my meal after flashing her a sweet smile to match hers as well.
"I've been wondering, did you get someone to make it? It's not like anything I've ever tasted, it almost seems like the work of a professional chef" She gushed about the food and I felt really proud of
myself because it'd taken a lot of
work to make the food.
"I made it, I got the recipes from my lovely grandma. I'm so happy you enjoyed it so much, I put a lot of thought and hard work into it for you" I explained to her while I watched her expression turn into
one of surprise as
each
word left my lips.
"What? I had no idea you were this good at cooking. You're really trying to convince me that you're the full package, aren't you? I don't believe you" She laughed and exclaimed in disbelief, I'd never made
She had a meal like this but did she seriously think that I couldn't pull a meal like this off?
"I cooked every meal you ate here from start to finish, with zero assistance. Don't underestimate me, I'm the full package" I raised my shoulders to show her how proud I was of my cooking and a
A burst of cute sing-song laughter erupted from her throat which made me laugh as well.
"You'll need to show me more proof than that mister, I even thought it was a professional chef that cooked this and you think you can convince me this easily?" She replied with her arms folded and a sly
smile on her face while she waited for my response. "Prove it? Would I have made an instructional video when I was slaving around in the kitchen to cook for you? I'm the professional chef ma'am, you better believe it." I raised a brow at her as she kept
laughing, she seemed to be enjoying the back and forth too much while I tried to convince her that I'd really cooked the meals.
"Sure, sure. I'll take your word for it this time around, but next time you're making a meal you better make sure I'm around to inspect, okay?" She said as she sipped from her half-full glass of juice
that'd been sitting idly in front of her for a while while we bantered about who'd cooked the food she enjoyed so much.
"You better, and you're always welcome to inspect milady if it pleases you so," I said and gave her a polite bow as I ended my statement which earned a little giggle from her that made me smile as
well, it's as though her smiles triggered mine instantly, I enjoyed being the source of her happiness or who her smiles were directed at.
"Lovely, love the attitude." She winked at me and laughed, I seemed to have made her laugh so much today and it was very satisfying.
I focused on my meal after I'd refilled her glass of juice so she could drink it while I failed the rest of my meal. In a few minutes, it seemed she had other plans instead of finishing the bee drink
because I'd noticed that she's begun to trace my legs with her feet slowly.
I didn't respond because I figured she'd been doing it absentmindedly but after a while, I began to her feet tracing up to my thighs and I knew she was probably trying to get my attention. I smiled and
looked up at her but she acted like she was fully focused on her glass of juice and not doing anything else.
"Stop that, Red," I said in a gruff voice because she had inched even higher up my thighs as right before I spoke.
"I'm not doing anything, what's wrong?" She feigned childish innocence and looked at me with a blank expression while she teased me relentlessly.
"You know you're teasing me, Red" I grabbed her feet before they could go any further and she giggled as I tickled them playfully.
"Yeah, now you stop!" she laughed even louder as she wiggled her feet free with no success whatsoever.
"Last warning, naughty girl" I shot her a playful glare and dropped her feet after she'd filled the room with bee laughter.
This was perfect, being with Red broke my scale for perfection.