CHAPTER 15

The competition had already begun. Liam's family sat at one corner of the room while Jacob's parents sat on the other side. My mum and Jasmine's mum sat together shaking their heads in shame. They knew we weren't good at cooking.
Jasmine and I paced around our side of the kitchen with our hands on our chins. She made such a huge bet without thinking of the consequences. I brought out a very big pot, placed it on the cooker, and turned it on.
"Why don't you know how to cook?" Jasmine broke the long silence.
"If you had given me a chance to talk, we wouldn't be in this dilemma."
"I wish you told me earlier."
"Is it my fault now?"
"When did I say that? If we can't cook anything then the guys won't cook anything either."
"What do you mean?" I asked sheepishly.
"We'll have to sabotage their food."
"That is mean."
"How will you like it if Liam calls the shots in your life for a whole week?
"Sabotage it is."
"Good. Ouch!" She screamed.
"What's wrong?"
"It's just an act. Once my husband comes, go and add enough salt into their dish. Don't let Liam see you or we are dead."
"Okay."
"Help!" Jacob jumped to the other side and held Jasmine in his arms. He caressed her back gently.
While Jasmine was busy with her thing, I crossed over to Liam's side and watched him carefully. When I noticed he was busy with the onions, I picked up the salt.
"What are you doing?" Liam's voice echoed from behind. I stood still with the salt close to my chest.
"I, um.....well, I just.."
"I asked her to get the salt. We don't have one. I'm sorry." Jasmine lied. "We should have asked for your permission first."
"Hey, I thought you were in pain. How did you get so much energy to talk?" Jacob asked?
"I'll tell you how." Liam cleaned his hands with the tissue and threw it in the waste bin. "They can't cook anything, that's why they tried to sabotage our food."
"That's a false accusation. We can cook. Hannah was just helping me to get salt, that's all."
"She has the salt already, she can leave now."
"Sure. Hannah, come over here." Jasmine called out sadly.
"Look, if you girls can't cook, just admit it. We won't hold it against you."
"We'll cook."
"You have 30mins!" Lauren yelled from the sitting room.
"What do we do?" I whispered when the guys had left.
"We'll do what we know how to do and leave the rest for the judges."
"I only know how to prepare tea," I muttered beneath my breath.
"We are to prepare pasta."
I placed a big pot on the fire and poured water into it. While the water was still boiling, I added enough salt into the pot. When the water had boiled, Jasmine poured the pasta into the pot and stirred it.
She brought out her phone, opened YouTube, and researched on how to prepare pasta.
"Add enough salt," She instructed.
"Are you sure about this?"
"That's what this YouTube creator said."
"Most of these things on youtube ain't real. Even the life hack videos, most of them are false. One time I tried a life hack video and it didn't go well."
"Social Media's full of fake people. But still, add the salt. I just saw Jacob add salt to their own again."
"Okay," I added more salt. She stirred it every 2 mins until it was ready.
"Why does this pasta look like a pudding?" Jasmine asked while looking inside the pot.
"You said, leave it on fire for 20 mins."
"I said 12-15mins. You didn't hear me properly."
"Oh, so you know now, you are impossible. I knew we shouldn't have made this bet. We are going to lose."
"No, we ain't. Our sauce would be mind-blowing."
"You are already blowing my mind."
"Just, chill. I placed the frying pan on the fire, put 1 tsp of olive oil. When Jasmine was done with the onions and tomatoes, I poured the onions inside. "2mins only."
"You sure about that this time?" I asked angrily.
"Yeah. Sorry." I brought them out and poured another olive oil. When it was ready, I poured the tomatoes, saute, and chili powder.

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IN THE SITTING ROOM
"I wonder what's happening there? I hope they haven't fried themselves?" Jasmine's mum joked.
"Not funny, mum. You are also at fault." She replied. We dropped our food in front of our parents and parents-in-law and moved back a little. Liam and Jacob had already left the kitchen a long time ago, they were sitting and discussing when we arrived.
Mr. Smith cleaned his fork and took a strand of spaghetti from the boys' food. Mrs. Smith then the rest of the adults did the same thing. They glared at each other and nodded in agreement.
"Tasty." Jasmine's dad commended.
"No need to tell us, we already know that." Liam and Jacob bragged.
"I agree with Mr. Philip. This food is everything." Mr. Fred, Jacob's dad, cleaned the side of his mouth.
"That's true. I love my son's food." Mrs. Smith will always support her son even if he was in the wrong or his food was horrible.
"If everyone's saying the same thing then, it's a pass for the boys." Mr. Smith pushed the plate back a little and brought ours to the front. "What's in here?"
"I'll say, onion, tomatoes, saute, chili powder, garlic, and what else?" Jasmine shrieked.
"Are you asking us? We weren't there with you."
"That's true, Mrs. Smith but...."
"Can we just get to the winner? I'm fed up already." Liam yawned. He wasn't someone who enjoyed being in a crowded room and amongst immature people. It was his ego that pushed him to take part in the competition. He didn't like being a loser.
Mr. Smith brought the food close to his nose, then took two strands of pasta and put it in his mouth.
"Could we just skip this meal? We already know the winner." Jasmine's mum got up from her chair without touching the food. "I want to say, I'm sorry. I should have taught her how to cook when she was with me."
"Don't be sorry," Jacob's mum comforted her with a broad smile. "Your daughter is the best. I love her just the way she is. Since she came into our lives, our lives have been filled with joy. She's a rare gem."
"Aww. Thanks, mother-in-law. I love you so much for your kind words."
"Mrs. Smith,"
"Enough. There's no way those emotional words will work on me." Mrs. Smith got up from her chair and pushed the food away. "Is this food or poison? This looks like pudding. You don't leave spaghetti on fire for too long. You should have taught your daughter better."
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry for yourself. You have failed as a mother. If you knew you were not prepared to be a mum, why did you give birth?"
"Enough aunt!" I shouted. It was the first time I ever raised my voice in that house. Liam dropped his phone on the sofa and glared at me surprisingly. "How dare you address my mum in that manner? You talk about being a good mum. How have you played your role in your son's life? Look how your son has turned out and you have the guts to point a finger at my mum."
"That's enough, Hannah." My mum jumped up from her seat. She walked over to where I stood and pulled me. "How dare you talk to your mother-in-law in that manner? Is this what I taught you?"
"But, mum..."
"Keep quiet! This conversation is between us, do not get involved. You can't speak to her in that manner. Now say you are sorry."
"Mum, she....."
"Hannah, don't argue with me on this."
"Hey Liam, let's go outside."
"Sure." Liam accompanied Jacob outside.
"I'm sorry, aunt. I got angry without thinking." I didn't feel one bit sorry for what I said to her. I could literally take any kind of insult, but I won't sit back if someone said something bad about my mum or step-dad. "Please forgive me," I begged.
"It's fine. I admit that I might have gone too far. Mrs. Brown, I'm sorry."
"What are you saying? You are her mother-in-law. You have every right to be angry at her. I failed as a mum, I hope you can teach her what I didn't."
"We don't live here, this is our son's house. She will have to learn it someday."
"I'll be outside., if anyone needs me." I stepped out of the sitting room and into the garden.
I paroled round the garden, smelling every flower. Their fragrance brought a smile to my face. Gerald ran up to me and licked my face.
"Hey, cutie. I've missed you so much. How're you doing?"
"Whoof." If only I understood dogs. I gave him a big hug and kissed his little nose.
"I wonder where Diana is. I haven't seen her the entire day." It was 6:30 pm and she was nowhere to be seen.
"Dude," I dropped Gerald down, moved to the side of the garden to know who was there. When I arrived, I saw Liam and Jacob sitting on a bench discussing. I tucked my hair behind my ear to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"When did you fall in love with Jasmine?"
"Dude,"
"Not cool. You couldn't even tell your bro. We promised never to fall in love again after our first loves left us. What happened to that promise?"
"Some promises are meant to be broken." I smiled on hearing that. At least, one of his friends was mature enough.
"Since when? I don't hang with liars, and you know that."
"You got me there. You are right. I don't love Jasmine."
"Don't you think pretending to love would hurt her feelings more?"
"What could I have done? She's so sweet and caring. I don't deserve to have her in my life. At my worst, she stood by me but I'll never get to be with her when she needs me."
"What do you mean?" Liam asked worriedly.
"Bro, I have only a few days to live. When I found out I had brain cancer, it was already too late. I couldn't break the news to her. She loves me a lot and I can't bring myself to hurt her." He hid his face in his palms and began to weep profusely. Liam handed him a handkerchief.
"It's okay, bro. I understand. My sister has an illness, when I think of the fact that one day I might wake up and never see her again, I get depressed. Losing someone you love, ain't easy."
"How's Anna doing?"
"Even if she wasn't alright, she wouldn't tell anybody. She's going through a lot of pain but she doesn't discuss it with anybody."
"How about Hannah? You didn't tell me you were getting married let alone invite me."
"I'm sorry dude. I was forced to attend my wedding. Dad wanted to prove to everyone that I didn't rape that girl."
"But did you?"
"I was intoxicated that night. I can't remember anything that happened that night. But we all know that in a case of rape, the girl is always the victim and the guy is the offender."
"What will happen if you eventually find out the truth? Will you leave Hannah?"
"I don't love Hannah but I've also never thought about this either. Since she came into my life, my life's changed in different ways."
"She's a nice girl. You might never get to see any girl like her again if I'm making sense."
"No, you ain't. Stop by my office tomorrow, let's go out. This house is full of dramatic people."
"Why wait tomorrow? I have an awesome place for us to go tonight. Let's leave now."
"Sure." They got up together and entered Liam's car. Liam drove off with speed out of the compound.
I sat on the bench thinking about everything Jacob had said. How would Jasmine react? She loved him a lot.
Where was Diana? Why wasn't she at home? Has she gone to meet the real Diana or was she Diana?
I brought out the piece of paper I had written her address on, read through it, then picked up my phone and went straight for the gate. I was going to find out what she was hiding no matter what.