Dinner for Two
POV: Meldon
When Lucien had announced that we would be going on dates during this retreat, I was ecstatic. I knew how I felt about Alesha and I thought that she might have the same feelings. Since she was always around Litha who was always around Alexandra, I wasn’t really allowed to go out with her. It was considered guilt by association by my family. I never liked the attitude they had towards House Batiste and I always felt that I was born with more compassion and empathy than anyone in my family. Even my own mother was cold and ambitious for power and she wasn’t naturally a Maigny. I knew that this retreat was for Alexandra but it helped me to get away and breathe from the suffocating atmosphere of my own home. Even if I was in a dorm, I was asked to come home every night for a family dinner with my parents and twin sister. I shook the thoughts from my mind that were starting to suffocate me and finished getting ready. I knew we were learning how to cook but I still wanted to look nice so I wore black slacks and a white button-up shirt. I rolled my sleeves up to look a little more casual. I put some gel in my and ran a comb through it then put a small amount of cologne on. I was always mindful of the amount of cologne to wear as I remember once that Alesha was complaining to Litha that guys bathe in the stuff and it was off-putting. From that day on, I put a small amount on just enough to know I was wearing some but not so much that you knew I was wearing it long after I left a room.
I left my room and walked down the hall where I saw Lucien watching the ladies file out of Jess’s room. Alesha was walking towards me in a red dress and flats, her hair was up in a bun and she had on bronze makeup that accented the darker tone of her skin. She smiled as I offered her my arm to escort her, “Thank you, sir.” She leaned into my face and kissed my cheek then took my arm. We walked in comfortable silence towards the kitchens. I looked down at her admiringly, I guess she had noticed because she looked up at me, “What is it, Meldon?” I smiled, “I was just admiring how you look. Did you do your makeup differently?” She giggled, “Only you would notice something like that on me. No, Alexandra did it. Do you like it?” I nodded, “You are always gorgeous, don’t get me wrong but the way she did it just makes you glow even more. I’m on a date with the most gorgeous woman in all of Vellum and Alexandra help to accentuate your natural beauty.” She got really bashful and looked away, “You really know how to render me speechless. You know that?” I shrugged, “I’m just saying what I feel.” She laughed, “The only House Maigny trait you do have but I suppose you could also say that about Alexandra and Jess. They really suit each other as best friends. Litha and I really are opposites.” I stopped in my tracks, “Why do you say that?”
She looked out the window where she was watching Blake help Litha get into their carriage, “She’s dainty and girly. She enjoys things like dressing up and wearing heavy makeup. She’s very outwardly emotional. Don’t get me wrong, I like to dress up on occasion. I just prefer a tank top and shorts. I prefer sports and effort. The only emotions I know how to show in spades are determination and courage.” I shook my head, “You’re more complex than that in your emotions. You may not outwardly show them but that doesn’t mean you don’t feel. I bet Jess would tell you that much.” She shrugged, “Who knows, perhaps I will have to ask her tomorrow when we’re going home.” I nodded, “You should. You’d find out a great deal more about yourself than you realize. I know you’re confident in yourself.” She sighed, “I just lack the emotional intelligence I guess.” I started to walk forward again, “I wouldn’t say that. You’re just not perceptive of yourself I think. It’s your only flaw.” She nudged her elbow gently into my rib, “I have plenty of flaws.” I shook my head, “It’s impossible, you’re perfect.”
We got to the kitchen where one of the cooks was standing by two stations with various ingredients set up at the stations. She handed us each an apron, “Please put these on, most honorable lord and lady. We don’t want to ruin your clothes as we proceed.” It was weird to be addressed this way since we had all gotten used to being so informal during this retreat. The servants rarely addressed anyone but Lucien. We helped each other tie our aprons. The cook nodded, “We are learning to make a dish called alba pullum.” She pulled out some lemons and asparagus. She taught us how to chop up the asparagus into bite-sized pieces and how to juice and zest the lemon. Each finished piece went into small prep bowls so that we could put the dish together later. Next, we took the chicken and cut them into filets, and pounded them out thinly. We cut up various herbs as well. When all the preparations were done, we put butter in the pan and pan-fried each cutlet of chicken. We placed the herbs in there to infuse the flavor into the chicken. Next, we added lemon juice, lemon zest, and honey wine. This needed to simmer for a while until the chicken was infused with the flavors. As those simmered, we steamed the asparagus then added the steamed vegetables into the pan with the chicken and added cream and a little more butter and some cheese. Once the sauce thickened, the meal was done.
We plated the dishes and headed out of the kitchen to the banquet hall where candles were set up along with wine with glasses and the flowers I had bought in town when I went out with Derek. I was happy to help him set up his date because of the pact I had made with Alexandra to help her set those two up. I was still skeptical of Derek’s real feelings because he talked about both women excessively but I didn’t want to let Alexandra down. I hated the idea of her being disappointed in me and it was sort of odd since this was the first time we really even spoke. I waved at the flowers, they were pink daisies, “I got these for you earlier when I went to town with Derek.” She smiled, “Thank you, Meldon. Those are my favorites.” I took a bite of the meal we had made, it was the first time I cooked and it was so delicious. We both were amazed at how well we did with the cooking. Alesha remarked that she made cookies which became “an unmitigated disaster of epic proportions.” Apparently, she was trying to bake the cookies when she was a young girl as a gift for her father. Her father had been the one to train Talon and when he had thought to have been lost in the great dragon attack, he was really sad. She wanted to cheer him up in any way possible. She had remembered that her father liked peanut butter cookies dipped in chocolate so she had tried to make them. Foolishly she attempted this without a recipe so not only was the dough too sweet but she overbakes the cookies. She left a huge mess in the kitchen and not only that she had done all this in the middle of the night so she could surprise him. The smell of the smoke billowing out of the kitchen woke the whole house and she was in serious trouble after that. We were laughing throughout her story and once it concluded I said, “Who knew that that young girl would grow up to make the delicious dish in front of us.” I smiled at her and she shook her head, “WE made this delicious dish, Meldy. As a duo, we make perfection. A collaboration that I hope to keep going in the future until we are old.” She smiled at me and this caused my heart to beat very hard. I blushed, “Same here, beautiful.”
After we finished our meal, I walked her back to her room. She told me that she wasn’t ready for us to end the night just yet. We promised to meet up at the hot spring after getting changed, a promise that was kept a short while later. I told her that I would swing by the kitchens to get us some cold bottles of water before I would meet her. I knew that she would need a little more time to get herself ready. She wanted to shed the dress, shoes, and makeup. While Alexandra applied minimal makeup, as Alesha had implied, she would need to get it all wiped off. She said that it would make her feel gross to sweat in the hot spring with makeup on. She didn’t want to clog her pores, she said. We found ourselves in the hot spring carrying on with the night with our usual flirting. We talked about what it was going to be like going back and she had not been looking forward to it. She sighed, “I just don’t want to be in the Queen competition but at the same time I have to make it look like I’m trying so my parents don’t get upset. They believe in appearances. I argued with them that I had no desire to be Queen but my father had said that as a noble lady it was my duty to offer myself for my kingdom. I believe it to be archaic to offer oneself up to someone they don’t love.” She stared deeply into my eyes, put her arms around me, and kissed me. As I was enjoying the taste of her lips on mine, a door flew open and an enraged Blake came through it. We both looked up at him and he looked back down at us with narrow eyes. I said, “What’s up man?” He grunted, “Is my brother back yet? I want to talk to him.” I shook my head, “I haven’t seen him and the servants certainly don’t seem to act like he is.” He clenched his jaw, “Great. Not only was that date irritating but now my brother isn’t around to talk to about it. What’s worse is she’s with him.” I pulled myself out of the water, “Did something happen?” He put his hands on his hips, “I was just hoping to get rid of that annoying woman and now I can’t."
