Diabolical

Olivia, who was clearly not expecting that question, nervously tried to come up with an answer. She started with an awkward, nervous laughter, before saying, "I don't know where he got that. He must have heard me wrong or taken the words out of context. I only meant that by me being your wife's best friend, I am as close to you as she is. At least compared to other women in your life. With the exception of your parents of course."

Noah replied a bit coolly, saying nothing more than a "Uhm-hmm". Taking another bite of the food that had been spread out in front of him, letting the silence strengthen the awkwardness that had filled the room. After a short moment of silence, Noah asked another question. "I really do love the dishes you brought me. Did you make them yourself?" Olivia feeling relieved, thinking he had believed her lie and that she was getting an opportunity to show off, excitedly replied, "I did! I was just in the zone. Happily cooking away and before I knew it, it had became far too much for me to eat. But I am glad to find out you like them. I guess that shows we have similar taste. A necessary requirement for both friendship and something more."

Noah felt himself getting a bit disgusted by Olivia's behaviour. Wondering how she could possibly think that her comment was subtle or appropriate to say to the husband of her so called 'best friend'. That is why he enjoyed the next question he was about to ask. "I guess it does. But tell me, how did you make this?", Noah asked as he pointed to one of the more complicated dishes. "I have been meaning to learn some cooking myself to surprise Laila and she absolutely loves this. But of course you already know this, since you are her best friend. You two probably bonded over food as much as we are about to."

Olivia's face was full of shock. Facing another question she did not expect, she found herself at a bigger loss for words than the first time. The first one she could lie about and laugh away. How was she supposed to do that with this question after bragging about it just now. As she was cursing her own mouth, Olivia was muttering nothings to buy herself some time. Letting out a deep nasal sigh after each failed attempt at giving Noah an answer. "Uhm." "Well." "You see." "I mean." When that wasn't working, she decided to use awkward laughter as a way to break some of the tension. "Pff, I made so many dishes and you pick just this one to focus on?" "Well if you are really interested I will start digging in my memory. Give me a moment to think on how I made this particular one."

Though Noah was laughing on the inside, on the outside he had a stoic expression on. An expression that seemed to add to the pressure Olivia was already feeling and made her feel that much more nervous about what answer she was going to give him.

After a few seconds of muttering nothings and giving stammering excuses Olivia tried to think of something based on the ingredients she could recognize on the plate. Hoping that since Noah was looking at her for the recipe, he would not notice if anything was missing or if she said something wrong. But sadly for her, since she had not cooked a day in her life, she didn't know a thing about it. Not even the most basic things. Causing her story to crumble right from the start. Giving Noah plenty to poke and jab at.

"Well, uhm. Let's see. I first grabbed all the ingredients, onion, tomato and chicken. Then I chopped it all up and threw it into a pan. That is about it."

With raised eyebrows Noah asked, "Really?". "I thought you were supposed to first fruit the onions before you add the tomatoes and then the chicken? There were no herbs in there? I can clearly taste some. Are those three ingredients really all you used? I thought a skillet dish needed a lot more to bring out all the flavours. What kind of chicken meat did you use?"

Olivia was feeling overwhelmed by all Noah's questions. Not knowing where to begin, how to come up with the answers and quite frankly, she did not even remember what questions he had asked. A romantic lunch for two where she would be showered with praises, had turned into a cross examination for her. "Well, I didn't want to overwhelm you. I was afraid it might be too much to throw on you right here. Especially if you want me to take you through every step of the process. After all it is quite a difficult dish to make for someone who doesn't have much experience in a kitchen. I will forward you the recipe as soon as I get home. So, why don't you just enjoy the dish and focus on making some for Laila later. After all, the purpose of today was for us to get closer. Not for the topic to shift to Laila."

But Noah wasn't willing to let Olivia get away with it just yet. He was in quite a diabolical mood and Olivia was the perfect recipient for whatever the result was of that mood.