A Billionaire's Bodyguard

Chapter 15: Trying to make cookies from memory

————-Percy's POV:————

"So Bruce, how's work going?"

Now I know, usually you don't talk to your busy boss while he's working, but Bruce really didn't seem to mind, in fact I swear I've seen a couple smiles come out of our conversations though he never wants to admit it.

Bruce looked up from his computer. Even in the well lit room, the dim light radiating from the computer seemed to give him an eerie look, one that highly contrasted his usual, much nicer, look. From this lighting, the dark circles underneath his eyes were highlighted.

Looks like someone didn't sleep well.

I also didn't miss the bandage wrapped securely around his hand. Oh and the band-aid on his cheek.

When I tried asking about it earlier I was met with a heap of mumbles and incoherent sentences ranging from dog attack to boxing training. I wasn't sure which one I was more inclined to believe.

"Work is..." he seemed to trail off, his eyes looking back down at the screen in an almost hopeless look. A sudden feeling of sympathy washed over me and continued to do so, almost like I was being continuously smacked by a sympathy covered brick. "Work" he finally finished, running a hand through his hair, briefly pinching the bridge of his nose as well.

I felt my lips purse as a small defeated sigh came from my nose. Today seemed to be a lot tougher on him, and man was it obvious.

"Do you want to take a walk?" I asked quietly, trying to think of other options to cheer him up.

"No, I need to get this done" he mumbled, his hands flying over the keyboard, filling the miserable silence with a now miserable clacking sound.

"Right..." I said quietly, taking a deep breath.

"Remember, you always need to add brown sugar!"

The sudden idea of my mother popped into my mind, the way her eyes glistened and shone in
the light almost looked magical, maybe even surreal.

"Can I take a leave for a minute?" I asked, Bruce's gaze quickly flying to mine as a muted confusion rose to his features.

"For?"

"I forgot that I needed to help Alfred with something. I'll be back before you know it, I promise." I said with a small nod, putting a smile onto my face.

Bruce's gaze seemed to linger on me, examining my face as if looking for a lie. With a sigh he nodded, waving me off.

"Yes, that's alright. Feel free to take your time" I nodded quickly, my smile growing a bit as I turned to leave, but I paused as my hand fell on the door handle. I quickly looked back, barely managing to catch his attention once more.

"Don't over work yourself alright? We need the big ol' Brucie at his best" Bruce seemed to pause, his lips softening, which, Personally, I call a smile.

"Alright" he said quickly, turning back to his work with haste.

With the warning out there, I left, beelining straight for the kitchen.

When I finally got there I found it empty, the sudden memory of the kids mentioning that they were going out today hitting me like a truck. It was only Bruce and I today.

A new confidence in my little trick bubbled up as I headed for the pantry. While I didn't know the recipe I could definitely go off of what I remember and base it on regular recipes.

I quickly began to fish things out of the pantry and fridge, setting them out on the island in the middle of the kitchen. As I was finishing up though my eyes landed on a few bottles of food coloring, but more specifically, the blue bottle, one that looked relatively un-opened.

With little thinking, I snatched the bottle, throwing it onto the table with the other ingredients.

With y ingredients and materials I needed soon collected I turned on the oven before getting to work, trying my best to rush through the recipe without messing up, and while I admit, I might've been heavy handed on the brown sugar, I decided that I was still learning and would suffer through it.

With the dough soon finished I rolled them out into small balls before placing them on the flat pan, setting it in the oven before putting the timer on. With that in I began to clean like I'd never cleaned before, getting every nook and cranny as I wiped and placed things back where I'd found them.

By the time the timer went off I had barely been able to sit down, the nearly heavenly smell was hanging heavy in the air.

I pulled the cookies out, transferring them to a cooling rack so that they would be edible soon.

After a good 5 minutes I carefully picked one up, juggling it around a bit before the blue confection was just warm enough to be comfortable.

I took a deep breath, a sudden fear that I'd just wasted not only food but my bosses time filling me with a dread I don't think I've felt in a while.

With a hesitant bite, I began to taste the cookie and oh, was it worth it. I'd honestly say that this rivaled Alfreds and that was saying something.

I smiled to myself as I shoved the cookie into my mouth, happily finishing it as I wrangled a plate from the cabinets. 

I quickly placed some of the cooking cookies onto the plate, leaving some left over for the kids and Alfred for when they come back.

After placing a decent amount onto the plate I hurried back to the office, making sure to stop at the door and knock.

Once I got the all clear I walked inside, Bruce's eyes soon going from me, to his work, then back to me before finally landing on the cookies.

"What are- what did you- how did-" Bruce said, his mind seeming to go slower because of the amount of work he'd been doing. How does this man function??

"I made them" I said quickly, stopping his little questioning segment. "And I want you to have them to R E L A X because gods you need to." I said, walking forwards and setting the plate down on his desk.

Bruce looked cautiously between the cookies and me. "Are they supposed to be blue?" He asked, taking one and sniffing it carefully, seeming to have a pleasant surprised if based off his expressions.

"Yes" I said with a small nod. Bruce pursed his lips, looking a bit disdainful for a moment.

"Dick and Stephanie said the same thing about their purple lasagna, biggest mistake I've made" I couldn't help but smile as Bruce shook his head, taking a small and careful bite of the cookie.

I watched as his tired expression seemed to change, melting into a relieved look as he examined the cookie once more.

"Holy..."

"I will take that as a compliment" I said with a smile, taking a minute to remember the look of wonder on Bruce's face.

No more words were exchanged as Bruce seemed to lose interest in his work, taking a moment to snack on the cookies.

As he was nearing the end I made sure to add "there are more downstairs but if you need me to make you more on another day where you're not feeling to great, just let me know. Being a bodyguard means more then defending your physical health."

I swear I could see something behind the small upturn of his lips but I couldn't quite put my finger on it, even if I tried.

After a moment of silence Bruce nodded. "Thank you Percy."

"Anytime Brucie"

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