19

Jean woke up the next morning with a smile on her face. She had had so much fun the day before and she had sulked like a child when they had to leave. They had engaged in so many fun activities, but at that moment, what she was most interested in was the chocolate aroma coming from the kitchen.
She followed the scent like a bee drawn to honey. When she got to the kitchen, Jason was bending over, checking whatever was in the oven. He looked up and gave a bright smile when he saw Jean.
“Good morning, sleepyhead.” He looked at her from head to toe, “I can see the eye bags are coming in nicely.”
She rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. “Shut up, bozo. I have bags under my eyes anytime I sleep really well. They disappear after like half an hour though.”
Jason nodded. “It's nice to at least know that you had a good night's sleep.”
“The first one in a long time,” Jean muttered to herself.
“What did you say?” Jason asked, turning his head to face her.
“Nothing.” She quickly replied.
Jason gave a small laugh. “I heard what you said, Jean.” He saw the panic in her face, “But don’t worry. I'm not going to question you by asking you why you haven’t had a good night's sleep in a long time.”
Jean sighed with relief.
“Yet.” He added which earned him a wooden spoon thrown to the head by Jean.
“Woman, you are one brutal tiger, has anyone told you that?”
“Only about a million times.” Jean snorted.
“And your aim is crazy. How did you manage to get the apex of the head?” He asked, rubbing his sore spot.
“Talent,” Jean replied smugly. She knew she had skills in some certain areas due to training but it had been a long time since she had shown the ‘tiger’ side of herself to anybody.
After some minutes of silence, Jean asked the question that had been boiling inside of her since she woke up.
“What’s in the oven?”
“Brownies,” Jason replied simply like he wasn’t currently baking one of the best chocolate desserts.
Jean clapped with glee and her eyes glowed. Jason saw this and laughed at her happiness.
“Don’t be too happy yet. They’ll probably taste like nonsense. This is my first time and I had to use a cookbook. I just hope it's edible.”
It was then that Jean noticed the cookbook lying on the counter.
“You should have just woken me up to come to make them since you don’t know. I would have been delighted to.”
“I didn’t want to disturb your ‘beauty sleep’ because yesterday was quite an energetic day.” They laughed quietly, “And besides, I wanted you to meet the brownies when you woke up but I guess your chocolate sensor is too strong for that.”
“Aw, I can't believe you went to the extent of possibly baking poison just for me,” she touched her heart and sniffed dramatically, “I'm touched.”
He rolled his eyes but went to check the brownies when the timer on the oven went off. They seemed fine to him so he put them in the fridge to let them cool. They conversed while waiting for the brownies to cool and once they were satisfied, they cut the dessert up into squares and carried them off to the dining table.
“I will never make the mistake of eating the whole of anything sugary ever again,” Jason said.
“Roger that,” Jean replied, remembering the chocolate cake they had previously devoured.
Jean went to the fridge in the dining area and brought out whipped cream, peanut butter and Nutella while Jason looked at her open-mouthed. When she noticed his expression, she rolled her eyes.
“Oh, come on,” she whined, “eating brownies plain is so last century. I like to spice them up. And besides, we don’t know what kind of concoction you have whipped up for us.”
Jason blew a raspberry at her but went to get a butter knife. The brownies were actually good, despite the fact that there was a little too much flour in them, but they used the other confectionaries to cover up the flour.
“So,” Jason said while licking Nutella off his fingers, “what are we doing today?”
“Can't we just stay here and relax?” Jean just wanted a relaxing day watching television and the beach.
“No, here’s boring. Lemme see…” Jason was deep in thought for some seconds before an idea struck him, “How many other clothes do you have apart from your work clothes?”
“I have three sets of pajamas, I also have a few work-out clothes, some t-shirts, a pair of shorts, two dresses and I think that’s it. Oh, wait, I own a bathrobe.” She smiled at her final addition while Jason just rolled his eyes.
“I find you very fascinating. Scientists are meant to slice your brain into two and closely examine it.”
Jean gasped dramatically, “But why would they want to do that. I'm a regular person.’
“No, you’re not.” Jason argued, “Let me analyze it all for you. Your wardrobe costs at least twenty million dollars just from what you’ve been seen wearing but you do not own a pair of jeans. Your house has a huge pool and you don’t have a swimming trunk and while other women pray for your money so they can buy the latest designer dresses, you do not own a single designer dress. Not even one.”
Jason pinched his nose like he was stressed.
“I just don’t like it, okay?”
“Well, whether you like it or not, we are going shopping today. So wear something you can easily remove when you’re trying things on at the boutique.”
Jean groaned but she knew arguing was useless. Jason would win anyway.