Chapter Seven: Pastries Reserved Just For The Female Lead

Eveline's POV

The awkwardness was in the air as Axel slipped his body under covers, seemingly not disturbed by anything he said earlier. He kept moving until he found the most comfortable position for him as he laid his head on my pillow without a hint of shame or unease. I only stood next to the brown-haired male and squinted my eyes at him, as if I was trying to communicate with him using telepathy which failed miserably.

Axel was still making himself at home when he realized that I had been standing before him and not making any effort to get onto the bed with him.

"What are you doing? I thought you were fine with us sleeping together." He was mocking me. My eyebrows furrowed slightly and I strode towards the queen-sized bed, lifted the large blanket, and shoved my entire body between the bedding and blanket. My arms crossed as I sat there, eyeing my future husband skeptically. Axel chuckled and beckoned for me to lie down. I did as he requested.

Seconds after being sure that I was safe and snug in bed, Axel turned off the lights and commented on going to sleep.

"It's late now. Go to sleep."

I yawned and then nodded my head albeit I knew that he could not see me in the dark. My eyes fell shut and my brain proceeded to order every single one of my organs to pause work and have a goodnight's rest. Respiration continued to occur to ensure my living and extant. Similarly, I could only hear soft breathing coming from Axel although he was facing away from me and I could not get a good look at his attractive face.

The silence within the air was cut off by the sound of my rumbling stomach. Turns out the meal I had earlier was not enough to satisfy my hunger. Both embarrassed and reluctant to get out of bed, I was in a dilemma and did not know what I should do.

The vibration must have woken Axel up. I heard the shuffling of the blanket and there Axel stood, towering over my body.

"You're hungry right. Let's go. I'll treat you to something." Three sentences and then Axel was off, putting on his slippers and slipping out of the room.

I blinked, still showing no sign of moving. What did he mean by that? I quickly jumped out of bed and shoved my slippers on before scurrying downstairs. The lights were on and Axel was seen in the kitchen. I walked toward him.

"What are you making?" I inquired, peeking over Axel's shoulders. His skillful fingers held onto the kitchen knife firmly and then he began to move the blade up and down as if he was slicing or dicing or cutting ingredients at a high pace.

My eyes trailed to the wooden cutting board below and saw strawberries being sliced into microscopic bits and then shoved aside using the area of the blade that was touching the cutting board. On the left side of the board I see big and juicy strawberries just waiting to be further broken down while on the right side of the board, I see strawberries that had already undergone 'special treatment' given by Axel and his kitchen knife. They looked so tiny that I almost thought that the gigantic lump of strawberries was a mixture of a solid and liquid slushie.

I nodded my head in approval albeit I knew that Axel could not have seen my small reaction towards his superb ability to wield a knife with much control.

A light chuckle escaped the gorgeous man's lips and he shook his head gently before resting the knife in the sink where it is much much safer than out in the open.

Seeing that Axel may not use the knife anymore for this dish he was making, I scurried over, turned on the tap, and allowed the lubricant to spread across the steel knife. A yellow sponge that I rinsed with water was then covered with dishwashing liquid and then firmly held in my hands. I scrubbed the knife bubbly before rinsing it clean. Afterward, the steel kitchen knife was kept in the countertop knife block.

Axel had already moved on with the next step in creating a meal. He whipped out a bowl and filled it with milk; flour; butter; sugar and god knows what else he added, each content measured using its appropriate measuring instrument. The substances within the bowl matched the interior color of the ceramic bowl.

"Can you get me the mixer? Preferably the stand mixer, please. Thank you." Axel commented, making his way towards the refrigerator and then pulling out even more ingredients, displaying them on the marble countertop. Another ceramic bowl which was smaller in size compared to the previous bowl was also positioned on the countertop. Similarly, those ingredients were measured and then all tossed into the same bowl.

I crouched down, open a cabinet situated near Axel's lower body and then carefully I clutched the stand mixer before lifting it into the air. My small figure followed the weight on my arms. My knees straightened slowly and then I trudged next to Axel, gently plopping the heavy mechanism down before huffing a breath of exhaustion.

Axel mumbled a simple 'thank you before shoving the two bowls into the stand mixer, one at a time.

Switching on the stand mixer was all that it took for the mixer to whirl and swirl, forming an imaginary whirlpool within the bowl. The annoying sound of the mechanism working filled the air and gave me frustration. However, after that awful sound was the gorgeous sight of ingredients being mixed, not a piece of substance out of place which put my mind at ease.

Axel picked up the larger ceramic bowl and poured its content onto a steel tray, making sure that the gooey substance is evenly spread out on the tray before tossing the bowl into the sink and then fitting the tray into the oven.

The kitchen appliance was turned on for approximately forty-five minutes at around fifty degrees. Only then did Axel finally relax and then clean up the mess he caused in the small room. I pitched in to help.

I noticed that the bowl of whipped cream Axel made(in the smaller bowl) and the strawberry cubes were still visibly unused on the countertop and I was confused as to why it was still there.

"Why didn't you use the whipped cream and strawberry cubes?" I asked as Axel began to make himself at home on my velvet couch. The male turned to look at me and shrugged.

"I'll use it later, "He shrugged and then turned to me, gesturing towards the space beside him."Why don't we wait for the oven to finish baking the pastries by watching the television?"

Visibly reluctant I was as I slowly made my way towards my fiance who was still looking at me as if he was judging my every movement.

I lowered my body, relaxed my limbs, and sat down next to Axel. I turned towards the male who was already bending forward, hands gripped the remote control before retreating his arm. Axel leaned back and straightened his arm with the remote control still in his hands.

"What would you like to watch." He asked, scrolling through the different channels, remembering to stop briefly to let me view the content before moving on.

"Anything is fine, I don't have a preference," I replied nonchalantly. Axel did not say anything more and settled down on a Korean drama series I bet neither of us has seen before.

Screams and cries blared from the bright screen. The voices of every dramatic actor or actress filled the awkward silence in the air. Axel and I stared blankly at the colorful screen before us. Neither of us enjoyed what we were seeing but we also did not want to be the ones to change the channel. Therefore, the two of us just sat there nonchalantly, eyes glaring at the screen but our minds were elsewhere. Anywhere but the room we were currently in.

As I was thinking about something else completely irrelevant to what was being showcased on the screen, one scene caught my eyes and I turned my attention toward it.

It seemed that the male lead and female lead had finally made up and were shameless yet romantically making out. Typical me would gag and feel disgusted at the fact that the actors and actresses were willing to carry out such a revolting action. However, today I was looking at Axel eagerly while hoping that the male did not notice my staring.

To my surprise, Axel was already looking me in the eye, a sincerely gentle expression on his face which was in contrast to the stoic and cold look he had on daily.

I turned away immediately. My face was heating up and so was my body. My eyes widened at the fact that he was staring before I was and that he had already captured the look of a daydream on my face. My fingers intertwined with each other, attempting to calm my hyper heart down.

Axel smirked.

"What were you looking at me for? Do you want to make out?"

I would be lying if I told you that I did not nearly faint out of embarrassment.