Chapter 19

Nik carries Jane back into the house after the eventful afternoon they had. Her legs are too weak to support herself, so it's the least he can do. He sets her down on the nearest sofa, plopping down beside her. Their two rounds out of the water gave them plenty of time to dry off so he isn't worried about the sofa being ruined or anything like that.

Nik pats Jane's head and then combs his fingers through her hair. Her hair is so soft and nice. Nik continues to play with her hair. "So what are our next plans for today? Should we get lunch? It's been a while since we ate breakfast." Jane shifts so that she is laying down. Her head rests on Nik's lap so that he can still mess with her hair.

"Yeah, that's probably a good plan. What are you in the mood for? We could order something?" Nik offers.

"No. I don't want you to spend more money than you already have today. We can just see what ingredients you have here and figure something out from there? I'm not the best cook, but I'm sure I could make it work."

"You do realize that money is not a problem for me right? And I'm not sure I even have anything here to cook." Nik twirls some of Jane's long brown hair around his pointer finger. He unravels it from his finger, letting it fall, and then repeats this action, waiting for Jane to respond.

"We won't know until we go look." Jane sits up. She attempts to stand, but her legs are trembling, so she falls back to the couch. She pouts at her inability to support herself on her own two feet. Nik just laughs and stands up, scooping her up and carrying her towards the kitchen. She will never get over the fear that she is too heavy for him to carry. He has disproved this multiple times, but the concern still lingers in the back of her mind.

"I guess you're right. Might as well give it a look." He enters the kitchen and sets Jane down on the countertop. Nik begins searching through cabinets and things. Jane takes this moment to explore the kitchen.

Nik's kitchen shares the same color scheme as the majority of the house. Lots of white and brand-new shiny appliances. The excitement of his crazy house has faded already. It's too white, too clean, too symmetric, too robotic. These thoughts swirl through her head as she searches the room for any touch of personality. Then she sees the dining room table. It sticks out like a sore thumb.

"So we have a few options Jane. I have tons of basic ingredients like flour, eggs, salt, sugar, etc. I just don't know what we should make with it all. Only one thing comes to mind, and it might be a bit too basic if I'm really trying to wow you."

"What are you thinking? I've already been wowed too much for one day Nik. You don't have to make everything you show me some grand show. Simple is nice too. I love simple." Jane continues looking at the odd piece of furniture. Jane would have expected some expensive-looking glass table or something else more modern. There is something strange about the matching oak table and chairs. It doesn't look all that special or expensive. It just looks like any old table and chair set from a furniture store. It's nice.

"How do you feel about fresh pasta? I can make a decent spaghetti if I have to," Nik jokes.

"Pasta sounds amazing." Jane turns her attention back towards the handsome man, "Nik, why do you have this table?"

"What do you mean?" Jane gestures towards the ordinary gently used table and chairs.

"This one. It doesn't match the rest of your house. Everything else is made of glass or crystal or something else like that. If not clear, I would have expected it to at least be white. It's just different."

"Oh. That table? It belonged to my mother. When she passed away my father sold off most of her belongings. Fortunately, my grandparents were able to keep a few things of hers for me. It doesn't necessarily fit the rest of the décor because I didn't decorate this house. When I bought it, I also bought the furniture that it was staged with. This table is the only thing I've added." Nik attempts to explain his odd dining table as he pours flour out onto the countertop.

"I like it. This is the only thing in this entire house so far that has felt remotely lived in. Just looking at it I can tell that memories were made here. You should put more stuff like this in your house." Nik was expecting a far different answer from Jane. Most of the people who have seen this place (which isn't many) always complain about the table. They will try to show him images of tables that would fit better or offer to buy it and take it from him so that he has the space for a new table. This is the first time someone actually seemed to appreciate his mother's table.

"That sounds like a good idea. Maybe I should hire you to be my new interior decorator. How much do you charge?"

"Hmm, one-thousand dollars an hour. How does that sound?"

"What! That's highway robbery. No way you charge that much. I bet I could make the place look decent enough on my own. No deal." Nik and Jane are both in a fit of laughter now. In all their silliness, Nik manages to accidentally flick some flour at Jane. Jane takes that as a declaration of war and snatches the flour bag from the counter, grabbing a fistful and sending it flying towards Nik's perfect hair. He tries to dodge, but most of it still manages to hit him.

"Are you sure you want to start this with me Jane?"

"I already have." Jane chucks another handful of flour at him and runs away from him as fast as her small legs will carry her.

Unfortunately, that isn't very fast, and Nik catches up to her in no time. As soon as he has her cornered, he pulls out his weapon of choice. Eggs. "What! That's not fair. At least you can just dust the flour off. Don't do this to me Nik. I thought we were friends." Nik slowly closes the distance between them. He lowers the eggs, dawning an innocent expression.

"That wounds me, Jane. It hurts to think that you would dangle our friendship in front of me like this in the middle of a war. You are lucky that I like you so much." Jane releases the breath she had been holding. As soon as she thinks she is in the clear, she hears a cracking sound and feels something oozing down her scalp. "You are also lucky that I have a shower."

"You turd. Do you know how hard an egg is to wash out of hair?"

"Nope. I did warn you. You started this." Nik sticks his tongue out and runs back into the kitchen to continue his meal preparation.

"I don't know how hard it is either! But it bet it's really hard." Jane follows him back into the kitchen, arms crossed over her chest, a sour look on her face.

"Well, you better get started then. I'm sure as soon as you are out of the shower, lunch will be ready. See, it's not all that bad." Nik gives her a quick kiss on the cheek before sending her towards the stairs. Jane makes her way back upstairs, trying to remember where Nik's room is. It takes her some time, but she eventually finds her way.

She peels her bathing suit off and turns on the sink. She leans down towards the faucet, trying to wash out as much of the egg as she can before she hops into the shower. She is able to remove most of it. Jane turns on the shower and waits a few minutes for the water to warm up before stepping inside. She lets the hot water warm her cold body. She didn't realize how chilly it was downstairs. She hopes she doesn't get sick. It would suck for her to spend an entire week in such a lovely place with an attractive male and not be able to explore any of it because she has to stay in bed.

Once her body temp has risen enough, she looks through Nik's stuff, searching for the shampoo. "Body wash, face cleanser, beard gel? He doesn't even have a beard? Where the heck is the shampoo?" Jane curses the hyper-hygienic man under her breath. Just as she prepares to give up and use whatever the hell beard gel is on her hair, she finds what looks to be shampoo. She lathers up and gives her hair a good rinse.

Jane lathers up a second time to ensure all of the egg has been cleared from her hair and then decides she might as well clean her body and condition her hair. Once she has completed all of these steps, she exits the shower and wraps herself in one of the towels hanging nearby. She groans. The towel is too small. She should have guessed that a muscular, narrow-waisted bachelor wouldn't have big enough towels. Sometimes it really sucks to be larger than the norm.