Chapter71Splurging on Sugar Babies
Ashley harbored a burning desire to interview Damian. She was curious about the peculiarities of his life. How did it feel to share a meal with a soon-to-be fiancée one moment, then go grocery shopping with an ex-wife the next?Yet, there she was, maneuvering the shopping cart, making careful selections as if she were a hired assistant, all the while trying to appease the extravagant spender. She felt she was on shaky ground, with little room to question him.The neighborhood boasted a single upscale shopping center, its shelves lined with overpriced imported goods. A single carrot cost a small fortune. As she picked out items, she couldn't help but wonder if he was going to make her foot the bill again."What would you like to eat, Damian?" she asked. Damian, nonchalant, sauntered down the produce aisle, treating the supermarket like a fashion week catwalk with his hands casually tucked in his pockets. "What can you cook anyway?"Ashley, ever mindful of the budget, had filled her cart with an assortment of leafy greens. Glancing at her selection, she shrugged. "My cooking skills haven't improved since you last asked." He knew exactly what that meant.In a spontaneous move, Damian tossed a live fish into the cart. "If you don't know, you can learn." The sight of the fish flipping inside its plastic bag made Ashley's heart sink. "You want me to cook a fish?"Damian continued selecting various vegetables and meats, quickly filling the expansive shopping cart before carefully placing a carton of eggs on top. "With your smarts, Ashley, you can't learn to cook fish?"She scratched her head, memories of past cooking attempts ending in disaster holding her back from wasting more ingredients. "Can't they at least clean and kill the fish for us?""We're only a ten-minute drive from home," Damian explained. "It won't be fresh if it's dead.""A few minutes won't make a difference in taste," she countered.Damian glanced at her, dismissing the helpless look on her face. "If you're going to learn, learn everything. There are tons of tutorials online. If one doesn't work, try ten times. Keep at it until you get it."Ashley blew a few strands of hair from her forehead in frustration. Just tolerate it!Passing the kitchenware section, Damian lingered but wasn't thrilled with the options, eventually settling for a pricey set of dinnerware with a begrudging air.She blocked his path. "We've got all the pots and pans we need at home." Three grand for a dinnerware set, as if her money grew on trees?Dismissing her objection with a sharp glance, Damian replied, "Your home dinnerware can double as sandpaper on your lips, can't it?"Ashley could only chuckle at his refined tastes. "Fine, if you like it, we'll buy it."When it was time to pay, Damian didn't move. Sighing, Ashley took out her phone. "Apple Pay."Her checking account was already stretched thin, and although she wouldn't dare touch her savings of fifty thousand, credit would have to do.Damian frowned, observing Ashley use a feature he had never bothered with.The middle-aged female cashier checked out the good-looking guy trailing behind and thought, 'He's quite the looker.' But her next thought was, 'What kind of man lets his girlfriend pay? A kept man, perhaps?'That didn't make sense. Who relies on credit when being kept?Ah, it's just another pretty face without fiscal sense. His gorgeous girlfriend deserves better."Help your girlfriend bag the groceries!" she snapped, tossing a couple of large bags his way.Damian’s expression darkened; he was unaccustomed to being scolded in this manner.Ashley suppressed a smile. "It's fine, I'll do it."With a stern face, Damian handed his car keys to Ashley. "Here."The simple exchange spoke volumes in their subtle power play. The cashier's eyes nearly popped out of her head when she caught a glimpse of the car key fob in his hand. A Rolls Royce? Really? And from the unmistakable masculine design of the keychain, is this guy who drives a car that expensive skimping on groceries? Seriously?Damian was a model of efficiency, even when it came to packing up groceries. His movements weren't swift but were truly effective. He filled two bags and briskly walked out the door.Ashley trailed behind him, empty-handed.Confused, the cashier tried to rationalize the situation in her mind. He didn't pay for the groceries, sure, but he did carry the heavy bags. Maybe he wasn't all that bad.
Back at their home, Ashley was busy stuffing the groceries into their double-door refrigerator. The fridge was nearly bursting at the seams, filled to the brim with enough supplies to last them for the next couple of weeks.Damian, comfortably settled in the living room, called out to her, "Let's begin, Ashley."By this time, Ashley's hunger had waned. Even the sight of the fresh ingredients did little to stir her appetite. The fish, swimming back and forth in the kitchen sink, was particularly off-putting, pushing her tolerance to its limits.Hesitant, she held a chef’s knife and inspected it, "Should I knock it out first?"Damian replied in a casual tone, "Do what you think is best."She was unsure of how to proceed. After viewing some online tutorials, Ashley awkwardly scooped the live fish out of the sink and onto the cutting board. The fish, however, had other plans. It thrashed back into the water, splashing her face. "It doesn't want to die; it's back in the sink," she said, her face splattered and her expression bemused.Damian found the situation amusing and let out a laugh, his lips twitching wryly, "Pretty skilled fish. Why not let it jump straight into the pan?"Frustrated, Ashley stood at the kitchen doorway, knife in one hand and wiping her face with the other, "Damian, if you're any good at killing fish, come and help. I'll handle the rest. Let's not waste our whole day on this."She had no intention of spending a perfectly good weekend trapped in the kitchen.Looking every bit the prince on a royal tour, Damian lounged in his expensive suit, "Too messy."Ashley removed her apron, "Wear this. I'm not afraid of a little mess."Unmoved, Damian declined, "I've got plans this afternoon. You'd better have lunch ready in an hour."With a huff, Ashley returned to the kitchen to grapple with the fish. Eventually, she resorted to using both the knife and a rolling pin, managing to dispatch the fish before clumsily scaling it as per the tutorial.While cleaning out the gills, she accidentally nicked her finger on a bone, causing it to bleed. Knowing Damian would neither care nor sympathize, she sucked the wound herself, a mix of anger and rebellion brewing within her.After a quick rinse and a bandage, she got back to work. She boiled water for fish soup, grilled asparagus, sautéed steak strips with bell peppers, made barbecued chicken wings, and tossed a Caesar salad. She employed every culinary trick she knew to put together four dishes and a soup.She presented the dishes on the fancy plates Damian had bought—rimmed with gilded edges and made of translucent bone china—they made her cooking efforts look even less appetizing.Ashley hesitated to serve them.But Damian was already hovering a mere foot from the kitchen, "Is it not ready yet?"Ashley's hair tumbled into disarray as she fumbled around, with strands slipping from her loosely tied ponytail, draping from her forehead to her chin and resting on her collarbone, partially veiling her small, sweat-glistened face that was flushed with a tender pink hue. Her eyes misted over, resembling a rain-drenched lake surface."I did my best, but don't blame me if it doesn't taste good."The harsh words Damian wanted to say got stuck in his throat.Surveying the dishes and soup arranged on the dining table, Damian fully grasped what it meant to be a culinary catastrophe.Picking up his spoon, he clumsily scooped up a clump of fish scales stuck together from the soup. "Ashley, did you even use your eyes?"Defeated, Ashley slumped across from him. "I said I've never killed a fish before. This is my first time. Just... make do with it.""And this?" Damian questioned, gesturing toward the broccoli. "Seriously, how hard is it to grill some asparagus?"The once-fresh vegetable was now a mushy mess, fragments mingling chaotically.Ashley bit her lip. "I just kept feeling it wasn't cooked enough."Damian massaged his forehead, pointing at a charred lump. "And what's this supposed to be?"In a quiet voice, Ashley replied, "Can't you tell? Chicken wings."Damian almost laughed, a resigned chuckle escaping him. "Did you cook them in a vat of barbecue sauce, Ashley? Quite the coloring job."
