Future Plans

Theophile was still holding onto Lavelle’s hand tightly as they entered a tavern that was quite crowded with visitors, their eyes all on Theophile and Lavelle, after a while they slowly made room for Theophile and Lavelle. A young girl who looked to be only sixteen years old immediately got up with her notebook, her face looking very, very tired from not having time to rest.

“Want to order something?” The girl asked.

“Um… can I have two servings of the best spaghetti and with two slices of the special kebab?” Theophile began to order his order.

“I will immediately prepare everything for you, Grand Master. Please take a seat first.” The girl welcomes and shows a table that is empty and still looks clean.

Theophile immediately led Lavelle to sit there, this was Theophile’s first time eating outside the royal environment—he only came here to mingle and occasionally taste the merchandise of his subjects as well as to give gifts if Lavelle so wished.

All eyes looked at them awkwardly, not even a few visitors stopped chewing their food because they didn’t feel good and felt disrespectful when in front of the leader. Lavelle was very enthusiastic when she heard that there were delicious noodle dishes in that place, even her eyes smiled occasionally playing some menu books there.

“You look so happy eating in an open-air tavern like this,” Theophile brought up the subject to clear the silence between the two of them.

“Yeah, I feel that the food sold at an open stand like this tastes different from the chef's cooking. I don’t know but, my mother once said that if any food is cooked with passion, even a world-famous chef will lose.” Lavelle smiled.

“So, is that the secret to your mother’s delicious cooking? I was impressed by how she served Lancashire with a bit of a thick, very authentically spiced gravy,” Theophile said then occasionally nodded his head.

“I also used to think that my mother was a former chef but, after she said that I realized that no matter how bad food is cooked with love, it will be delicious. I once cooked a strange dish that I called a rice omelette with tomato sauce and chili sauce, at first I wasn’t sure it would be worth eating, I made it because I was sulking with my mother.”

“Then what happened?” Theophile replied curiously.

“Pretty good, I made it a little more and it just made me feel tired.”

Theophile raised one of his eyebrows as if to ask a question.

“I ate it little by little and in the end I got sick of feeling the texture of the rice I mixed with the eggs,” says Lavelle.

“Um… I see, how does it feel.”

“But, your cooking is delicious even better than Mark’s cooking, by the way why does Mark look more stupid when frying an egg?”

“Mark is really not good at cooking, let alone cooking eggs. If he cooks a fried egg with the yolk perfectly and round it will become a scrambled egg which has a distinct taste but, nevertheless, is still edible.”

“The bottom line is that the food is worth eating,” Lavelle said.

“That’s right, how can it be eaten if the food is unfit or contaminated with egg shells.”

Lavelle rolled her eyes slightly feeling bad for insulting Mark in front of Theophile, Lavelle also heard that Mark had not recovered and had to have several sessions to do.

Two plates of Spaghetti were served in front of them together with two servings of kebabs still steaming hot. “Enjoy, Sir and Madame.”

***

“You look so cute like a child, I know this food is delicious but watch the corners of your lips that are covered with the rest of the sauce.”

“Hm ... I like the taste of this food, it tastes very good even like the chef’s cooking in your kingdom,” Lavelle replied.

Theophile laughed however, couldn’t lie that he had to keep his hands from always pinching Lavelle’s nose which was rising and falling, and it was turning red instantly. “You’re really funny.”

“What do you mean?” asked Lavelle, cheeks puffed out.

“Um… I was just saying thatthat're so cute with a smudged face like that.”

“Is that true?” asked Lavelle in disbelief then looked at Theophile’s slightly enlarged eyes.

“Look at those little kids, they’re really cute, right?” asked Theophile as he sipped the rest of his drink.

“Eh? Little child? Do you like kids?”

“Yes that’s right. I really like small children ... I want to have three children in the future,” Theophile replied enthusiastically.

“Oh...”

Theophile turned around when he noticed that there was something odd about Lavelle’s tone of reply, he noticed Lavelle turned cold instantly. “Is there something wrong? You don’t like little kids?”

“I like small children however, I don’t understand why I feel so uncomfortable when approached by small children. This is weird, right?”

“I see… but, can't we get through it together.”

“Sometimes I feel like I want to go home and work as usual,” Lavelle said, playing with her plastic straw.

“Eungh… why do you want to go home all of a sudden?” Theophile asked a little surprised.

“I don’t know, I just feel like going home and trying to make peace with my own life, actually I’ve thought about this before. However, Theo… I’m still not ready.”

Theophile took a deep breath then immediately took Lavelle’s hand swiftly. “Please listen to me….”

“Oh my… I don’t get it.”

Lavelle quickly let go of Theophile’s hand, then looked at her own hand which was being bandaged with a broken bone brace. “I’m afraid.”

“Don’t be afraid, I’ll always be behind you,” Theophile replied.

“You must be old, is that true? If you want to get married quickly go, and marry a woman who has no fear like me,” Lavelle sighed.

“What the hell?”

“I can’t accept that,” Lavelle grumbled.

Theophile just sighed, then took Lavelle’s hand again and kissed it for a moment then said again, “I just want to be with you.”

“I don’t know.”

“Come on, let’s go home. It’s too late, you should go back for a checkup by Doctor Charlotte.”

Without waiting long Theophile immediately went to guide Lavelle to return to the bicycle they parked in front of the tavern, they would return to the kingdom accompanied by a slightly dim light of the sun with beautiful clouds that looked like cotton.

Some of the merchants let them go home from the shopping center even though they seemed reluctant to let Theophile and Lavelle go without buying their wares. It was different with the shadows that Theophile had to think about going home and asking Doctor Charlotte to go back to check on Lavelle’s wrist, which still hadn’t healed and had to be injected with some great formula to get her soft bones back together.

“I really like cycling like this, please hold on tight.”

“Do you want to pedal faster? I don’t like being ridden in a hurry.”

“I’m not going to pedal as fast, I just want to make you feel a little comfortable cuddling with me.” Theophile laughed and quickly sped up her bicycle across the very quiet pavement.

And Lavelle was forced to tighten her arms around Theophile’s waist, making Theophile laugh even louder until he heard a little giggle. Today they seem more colorful with love, a beautiful song should play between them leaving a sincere love book.

However, that happiness didn’t seem to last long with the many worries of Lavelle’s life. Lavelle with her life really can’t get out of her comfort zone well.

Please let a comment and suggestions