Zenon's Game Chapter 201

"But it has nice strawberry pictures on it," I insisted, "You don't want to get your shirt dirty, do you?"

"I'll take it off then."

"Alright." I wasn't going to complain about that. He can take his shirt off any time.

I know I'm in a kitchen, but I still think Zenon is yummy.

He poured the dry mixture into a bowl. I picked up the bag of chocolate chips and dumped them in.

"Wai-" Zenon looked into the bowl, "OK, I guess we're skipping a few steps."

"Egg?" I asked, picking one up.

He nodded and watched me crack the egg against the side of the bowl. It landed onto the dry mixture with a plop.

Zenon noticed the little white pieces that had accidentally fallen into the bowl, "Eggshells will give it the crunch. Next up-"

"Oh, I'll try to take it out," I exclaimed, not wanting our delicious cookies to be ruined on my account.

"Not with your hands," he tried to stop me, but it was too late.

My grubby fingers emerged from the bowl all gooey and white. I reached out to touch him and he grabbed my wrists to stop me from getting the mixture on him. I laughed and he slowly pulled my wrists further apart, pulling me closer in the process. His eyes gazed down at my lips and slowly his mouth moved towards mine.

I felt my heart skip a beat as we kissed. I missed his kiss. Our argument from earlier today made me miss him even more. I felt so far apart when we fought and so close when we... were like this.

I could tell he felt the same way because his kiss deepened, hardened even, as I felt the passion flow through him. He even let my hands go and I rested them gently on his cheek.

Oops.

"I never thought I'd see this," Charlotte exclaimed, standing at the kitchen door, "Zenon Albert actually baking!"

I thought he looked adorable, even with the little baking mixture stuck to his cheek.

~15 minutes later~

All three of us stared at the mixture slowly rising within the oven. The heat of the oven made the cookies widen and darken as they cooked. The chocolate melted under the oven glow.

"Mom moved your college party to after the new year," Charlotte mentioned, while standing next to her brother.

"When did she decide that?" Zenon asked.

"Today."

"Why?"

"Because I couldn't make it," she said.

I still found it surprising that Mrs Albert was throwing a college acceptance party for her son when most of his friends hadn't gotten into college yet. Will Jake get a party too when he gets accepted?

"But I'm sure you two don't care," Charlotte continued, "You have your exciting Dubai trip to prepare for."

"I still need to book flights," I said, hiding my fear at googling the ticket prices.

I've been putting it off for days now because I can't face the blow to my bank account. I can already imagine it now – a giant 0 staring back at me. A donut, and not the yummy kind.

"Bryce hasn't talked to you about that?" Zenon asked me.

Does Bryce expect us all to book the same flights? Because I'm taking the option with the craziest layovers – anything to bring price down. If I could check myself in as baggage, I would.

"No," I squeaked.

"He's booked us all on the same flights. Let me text him," Zenon said, opening his phone and texting.

"He booked?" I asked, watching Zenon send the text, "Already?"

"Zenon," Charlotte interrupted, having watched this entire exchange, "I think you should probably tell her that Bryce is paying for the flights."

"What?!" I exclaimed.

Zenon looked up, "Did I not say that already?"

"She was missing that little detail," Charlotte said smugly.

"Really?!" I exclaimed again, "For Cynthia too?!"

"Yeah, he doesn't want to force people to spend out of pocket," Zenon said, looking surprised that he hadn't told me already. "But we have a rule in Dubai: Bryce doesn't pay when we go out and we split the bill amongst the rest of us."

"That's really generous of him," I said.

Charlotte answered, "Not really. He gets so bored over there by himself, so he pays for friends. Don't give me that look, Zenon!"

I placed the freshly baked cookies into my old tupperware. I left some out for Zenon, Charlotte and me to enjoy. The cookie crumbs around me was proof that I have already enjoyed.

"Candace!" Charlotte called out from the living room.

"Yeah?" I asked as Zenon was putting on his jacket at the front door.

We were getting ready to brace the cold weather and trek up to number 34 again: Our return encounter with Winnifred's former owner. The gentle lady with the cane.

Charlotte called out, "I'm guessing that since you didn't book the flights, you haven't picked outfits for new years, right?"

I peered into the living room and saw her sprawled out over the couch, earphones dangling from her phone to her ears.

"No, I haven't," I hesitated to respond.

"She hasn't," Charlotte said into the phone, "I know. It's crazy." She then pulled out one of her earphones and said to me, "I'm on the phone with Nicole. Do you want us to help you?"

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!

"Um... I don't want to disturb," I said.

"We love projects!" Charlotte assured me, before speaking into the phone again, "Nicole, she said yes. Come over with some s*e*xy outfits. Yes, s*e*xy."

Zenon once warned me about Charlotte and her 'projects'. But this time, he didn't seem too concerned.

"You don't have to take any clothes you don't want," he told me, pressing his hands against my shoulders, "Whatever you're comfortable with."

"What about the cookies?" I asked, holding up the tupperware, "We were supposed to bring them-"

"I'll take them," he said, kissing me on the forehead, "Have fun."