•Bella Mondé•

17. Making Merry

|Part One|

Next afternoon.

"No, no! You're not supposed to just throw them inside!" Slapping his head in misery, Raylan ran back to Blake, whom he just deciphered how to pleasingly put doughnuts in the oil.

"Ray! The puffs are done!" Just while he was clarifying things to Blake, Jiho cheered. He was skipping around of joy by now.

"Get back to work! Chop Chop!"

"Kash, pass me the flour!" Neel viewed up, his nerves throbbing. When the electric hand mixer is damaged and you mix the batter with a whisk, the result you get is aching hands and tingling nerves. And of course, a too watery batter.

"Kash isn't here. He's in the club, probably searching for some booze."

"Of course, that's understandable."

"Ack!" Neel trodded on the butter, falling with a loud thump as Blake gave him a hand.

"Clumsy cat." He snickered.

"Thank you and Shut up."

•••

"Did you find it?" Aiden was crouching down and his head was inside a carton, digging for something important.

"Found it!" Taking a deep breath, Aiden got up and lifted the bottle as if it was Simba.

"It's a treasure."

"Let me take a sip!" Kash snatched the huge bottle of hard liquor and opened it with the bottle opener kept beside it. He gulped it down as his throat burned at the sizzling and electrifying sensation of alcohol. His face crinkled into nausea as he put the bottle away from his lips.

"It tasted bad!" As Kash wiped his lips with his shirt sleeves, Aiden eyed him out.

"It's not beer, Kash. You're not supposed to drink it that way." Making his way behind the bar, Aiden picked up a modelled wine glass and professionally poured the liquor in, blending and merging it with some other beverages. He gave it the last finishing touch, plopping some lemons on top and served it to Kash.

"Have it." He winked. Kash savoured it as satisfaction untangled in his soul. He felt a sudden flare of joy, making weird hand gestures.

"Okay, you win. This is absolutely something to die for. You never fail to surprise me."

"What can I do? I'm full of surprises."

•••

"Kash drank some, didn't he?"

"Trust me, I told him to stop." Mark looked back at Kash, who was outside, talking to the gigantic sculpture of a woman. His hands were on her structured waist.

"Are you free tonight, lady?" He twaddled as Mark and Aiden burst into an immense giggle.

"He's a dumbhead. Let's get him back inside."

•••

"Doughnuts glazed, noodles boiled, samosas stuffed, cream puffs filled, chips fried, booze found."

"Is everything done?"

"We did a great job, guys! It's all done! Yay!" Raylan jumped in pure satisfaction, high-fiving everything that got in his way.