Chapter 843: Alone Together
Hannah noticed something was off with him and thought he might've caught a cold. She quickly asked, "What's up? Why's your face so red? You got a fever or something?"
Charles looked at her and just started cracking up.
Hannah was totally confused by his laughter.
Charles pointed to the right side of his face, "Wipe it off; it's dirty."
Must've been from rubbing her eyes earlier, and since Hannah didn't wash her face properly, the soot mixed with water had dirtied her face.
Hannah wiped the spot he pointed to.
Big mistake.
With that wipe, the dirt on her hand got smeared on her face again.
Charles couldn't hold it in any longer; his shoulders shook as he laughed.
Hannah, still confused, took out her phone, opened the camera, and was shocked by her own face.
Hannah was like, "How did it get so dirty?"
Charles took out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her, "Clean it with water, or Stella will roast you for ages."
Hannah didn't think much of it, took his handkerchief, and started washing it under the faucet.
As she washed, she asked Charles, "How about now? Is it clean?"
Charles nodded, confirming her face was clean, so she wrung out the handkerchief and wiped the water off her face.
Hannah said, "Sorry for dirtying your handkerchief! I'll wash it and give it back to you later."
Charles shook his head, "Nah, it's no big deal. Just toss it."
Hannah pretended not to hear, found a bag to put the handkerchief in, and then put it in her pocket.
Hannah asked, "I wonder if the charcoal has lit up?"
They chatted as they walked towards the grill.
Miraculously, the charcoal had ignited on its own.
Hannah was surprised, "It's lit. It's lit. It actually lit."
Hannah was so excited she almost jumped up, feeling a great sense of accomplishment, even more than solving a tough problem.
Seeing her smile, Charles couldn't help but smile too, reaching out to ruffle her hair.
Charles said, "Since the fire's going, let's start grilling! What do you wanna eat? I'll grill it for you first. We don't have the fancy stuff, just regular skewers, fish, and shrimp."
Hannah blushed at his words.
Hannah said, "Grilled pork belly! I love pork belly..."
"Alright!" Charles responded without hesitation, found the pork belly among the barbecue items, and placed it on the grill.
Hannah looked at him in surprise, "You know how to do this?"
People of their status usually wouldn't know these things, right? Why did it seem like he knew everything?
As Charles skillfully arranged the pork belly evenly on the grill, he explained, "Although my dad is loaded, before I was five, I lived with my mom and sister. Back then, my mom had to work, so taking care of my sister was my job. I learned to cook porridge at a very young age. My cooking skills aren't top-notch, but I can still make simple dishes! And they taste pretty good."
Hannah was even more surprised, "You can cook."
Charles flipped the pork belly.
Charles said, "Yep! I'll let you try it sometime! My mom's cooking is amazing, and while I'm not at her level, my food's pretty good too!"
Hannah nodded vigorously, "Sure, I'd love to try Mr. Watson's cooking sometime."
Charles looked at her tenderly.
When Stella and Austin rolled back with the groceries, they saw Charles and Hannah grilling together, chatting away like they were on a cute little date, not like boss and employee.
Stella watched them with a grin. She knew it! Charles had a thing for Hannah.
She was determined to play matchmaker and get them together, ethics be damned! She just wanted to see them as a couple.
She had purposely dragged Austin away and took her sweet time coming back.
If Austin hadn't insisted on returning, she would've kept shopping with him.
Now, seeing Charles and Hannah alone together, she knew she made the right call.
Stella was thrilled, but Austin was fuming.
He stomped over with a scowl and said, "What are you doing?"
Hannah, clueless about any drama, waved at him, "Austin, come over here! Mr. Watson's grilled lamb skewers are amazing! Just as good as the ones outside!"
Austin wasn't hungry. After dropping the groceries, he deliberately stood between Charles and Hannah.
Austin said, "Really? Let me try and see if it's as good as you say."
Hannah handed him a skewer.
Austin didn't take it with his hand but leaned his head forward, signaling her to feed him.
Hannah didn't think much of it and fed the skewer to his mouth.
Charles glanced at them and moved aside, giving them some space.
Stella was fuming at Austin's behavior.
The alone time she had set up for Charles and Hannah was ruined by him.
She angrily put the grilled skewers on a plate and then pulled Charles to sit down.
Stella said, "Charles, you've been busy all this time; you must be tired and hungry. Let's sit and eat a bit first. As for the grill, let's leave it to Austin and Hannah. Grilling isn't hard; if you can do it, Austin can too."
Austin was puzzled.
Hannah laughed, "It's really not hard! Mr. Watson just taught me. Come on, Austin, I'll teach you. It's simple; you'll learn it in no time."
Austin nodded and gave Stella a smug look.
'It's just grilling! How hard can it be?' Austin thought.
Since Stella wanted to create alone time for Charles and Hannah, Austin would make sure she didn't succeed. He wanted Stella to know that Hannah was his. They were the perfect match.
Unfortunately, he was too optimistic. When he actually tried, he realized it wasn't as easy as he thought.
He only needed to brush a little oil, but he ended up with oil all over his hands.
The oil dripped onto the charcoal below, and the white smoke made him cough non-stop.
By the time he finished coughing, the meat on the grill was already burnt, and the flames were shooting up, scaring him away.
In the end, the meat wasn't grilled properly, and his clothes got dirty.
Stella gloated about him. After he accidentally dropped the food from the grill for the third time, she finally couldn't stand it and walked over to push him aside.
Stella said, "If you can't do it, just stop! You can't even handle something this simple! Useless!"
Austin was furious.
After pushing him aside, Stella pulled Charles over.
Stella said, "Let's watch Charles handle it! You only waste food."
Ignoring Austin's wishes, she forcibly made him sit down.
Austin, smelling the oil smoke and looking at his messy self, angrily stood up and left.
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