Plot Twist

7. it's complicated

My breath quickly caught in my throat as I noticed, through the small kitchen window, the shadow of a person standing outside my house. If it was earlier and brighter outside, I may have recognized who it was. But it was a dark and windy night in London, and all I got was the shape of a human and its shadow.

Not expecting company at this time, I was starting to get worried. I guess it could be Mr. Jameson, who lived across the street from me, to check on me and Lexi. But I found that to be a very unlikely possibility since he had told me he was out of town this week, and visiting his son in Manchester.

At the sound of the door bell ringing, I released a breath of relief. Guess the probability of the person outside being a robber is out the window. Unless robbers are polite enough to ring the doorbell now.

I opened the front door of the house to find Sébastien standing before me.

He stood by the threshold, with an amused expression on his face and a fancy style. He was wearing one of those elaborate suits, looking so drastically different from me, who had on the most casual outfit - mom jeans and a hoodie.

I, however, simply could not fake the surprised expression on my own face.

"I decided to take up on the little girl's offer to try out the famous chocolate cake."

I opened my mouth in disbelief but was unable to make a sound for a while.

"Well, you're a little late. The little girl's already in bed." His eyebrows furrowed while he gave me a funny look, and I explained. "It's a school night, so..."

"Oh wow... Yeah, sorry to interrupt."

Where are your manners, Melanie?

"But we still got some cake left." His smile returned to his lips. "You can come in and try some, if you want to."

Sébastien looked deep in thought, thinking thoroughly about his decision before looking back at me. "Sure. Thank you."

I slid to the side, and let him in my house. A couple of steps in, and I closed the door behind him careful as to not wake up Lexi.

When I turned around to face my impromptu guest, I found Sébastien holding a frame - the one that stood proudly in the hallway -that contained a picture of Lexi and me, at the park, a few years ago. She was around five years old, with shorter hair and less teeth, which caused her smile to look even more funny.

"It's cute." He simply said when he noticed me staring at him, looking at the photograph.

I smiled and nodded. He put the frame down in its original place and turned to me.

"Where should we go?"

"Kitchen." I led the way, instinctively pulling down the sleeves of the hoodie with my fingers.

The cake in question rested proudly on the centre of the table, a few slices now nowhere to be found.

He bolted out a couple of French words.

"Mon Dieu... It smells amazing. Were you cooking?"

"Yes. Dinner." I made my way to the counter and pulled open the top of the pot, showing him my special zucchini spaghetti with shrimp and lemon sauce.

He made a low humming sound while he smelled the smell of the food.

"Have you had dinner?" I asked.

"Not yet. It's only eight... And it's not a school night for me." He said, reasonably, with a tilt of his head, causing me to smile.

"Well, do you want to try it?" I suggested, pointing to the pot.