An Unusual Dish

After Solis assured CEO Alex that he would visit the construction site and speak to the immigrants himself, the older man was much relieved.

Boss Gaia nodded gratefully. "I'll accompany you, Boss Solis," she said. "After all, we are working together on this one."

Solis didn't refuse her. Things would be much easier if Chaos Demon and Dragon's Breath combined forces.

"Could you have your legal team draft the amendment to our agreement right now?" CEO Alex asked. "It's not very complicated – just a small amendment to say that I'm handing over 30% of Nerium's share to Rosea, and we can sign it right away once we come back from lunch." He smiled brightly. "Let me invite you two to lunch again – a fresh batch came in from our new chef in Violet Country!"

Seeing Noir's hopeful look at the mention of the exotic item, Solis didn't have the heart to refuse. So, he instructed his ever-efficient secretary to arrange for the legal team to quickly keep the paperwork ready, and then the four of them drove over to Nerium's hotel.

A table was already laid out for them and a lavish meal was served as soon as they sat down. CEO Alex had actually called ahead when Solis was explaining the legal amendment to his secretary.

CEO Alex and Boss Gaia seemed completely relaxed now, and they made small talk over the meal – some related to their project and some utterly random.

"We have to thank young Noir for thinking of such a quick and efficient solution," CEO Alex praised. "You're a very talented young man."

"Yes, absolutely," Boss Gaia said. "It is an excellent solution, and if we can manage to implement it, we will get rid of most of our troubles at once, and earn some extra goodwill from the public!"

Noir flushed at their generous words.

Solis pulled Noir close and kissed his brow. "My Noir is very smart," he said possessively.

The older couple laughed. "Yes, we know," Boss Gaia said. "He's your perfect match, Boss Solis. You must cherish him."

Solis nodded seriously. "Of course," he said.

Noir was as red as the tomato on his plate by now. "The food is getting cold," he said in a rush. "Let's eat."

CEO Alex and Boss Gaia laughed and Solis patted Noir's back comfortingly. "Yes, my little darling," he said obediently and put a spoonful of a dish made entirely of carrots and coconuts in his mouth. While Solis was busy talking and his attention was diverted, Noir had slipped a small potion of this carrot and coconut dish on Solis's plate.

Solis almost spat out the food in his mouth as soon as the taste hit him.

Noir burst out laughing at the funny expression on Solis's face.

Dark thunderclouds gathered on Solis's brow as he pinched his nose and swallowed the disgusting mouthful with great difficulty.

"Isn't this carrot and coconut dish really great? After the success of the exotic vegetable from Violet Country, we thought we should try something from other parts of the world as well. This is a delicacy from Barrenia, actually. Not much grows there, but apparently they love this dish so much that some people have made themselves bankrupt buying carrots and coconuts," CEO Alex said.

Noir chuckled. "Solis doesn't like either carrots or coconuts," he said mildly.

"Ah, you naughty boy," CEO Alex said with a chuckle. "You made poor Boss Solis eat it on purpose to tease him, didn't you?"

Noir giggled and passed Solis a glass of his favourite juice.

Solis drained the entire glass in one go and gazed pitifully at Noir.

Noir suddenly felt rather guilty about his prank. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I'll make you your favourite dumplings tonight, all right?" he offered, trying to cajole Solis.

Solis felt his irritation drain away at Noir's offer. Those dumplings really were amazing – just thinking about them made him completely forget the awful taste in his mouth!

"Promise?" Solis asked, putting on a wounded expression.

"Yes, of course, I promise," Noir said immediately taking his hand and patting it gently with his own. "Sorry, Solis. I won't make you eat carrots and coconuts like this again," he promised.

Solis's brow wrinkled. "But you will continue to feed them to me in those mysterious things you cook?" he challenged.

Noir smiled helplessly. "We have a deal," he reminded Solis.

Solis seemed to have been waiting exactly for this opportunity. "Yes, we do," he said cheerfully. "And you owe me five kisses now."

Noir flushed red again, but he didn't protest. "At home?" he offered.

"Right now!" Solis demanded.

"We're in public," Noir pointed out.

"So? You're my fiancé!" Solis retorted.

"Go ahead," Boss Gaia said generously. "If you two young ones want a room to yourself, just let us know. We can do this much for them, can't we, Alex?"

"Yes, of course," CEO Alex agreed immediately.

Solis shook his head ruefully. "Much as I'd love to take up your offer, we still have a lot of work to finish. We'll go back to Rosea and sign the amendment first, then there's other pending stuff Noir and I need to finish," he said sadly.

"Don't spend all your youth working," CEO Alex advised. "You young ones must make time for yourself, otherwise you will regret it greatly when you get older. Take it from someone who has experienced this personally. It was only a stroke of good fortune that I found Gaia. Cherish your youth and enjoy your time together as much as you can. When you get older, you won't be as energetic!"

That made both Solis and Noir flush.

"All right, all right, don't tease the kids now," Boss Gaia said. "Let's finish our meal in peace and then we can go to Rosea to finish the paperwork transferring the 30% to Rosea."

CEO Alex nodded meekly.

Noir took another bite of the carrot and coconut dish – he quite liked it, actually. An idea occurred to him suddenly and his eyes sparkled.

"CEO Alex," he asked with a mischievous smile. "How difficult is it to make this dish?"

He completely ignored Solis's scandalised look!