Obedient Bitch

Chapter 20: Can you trust me?

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"...And then you add a bit of olive oil, black pepper, garlic, shoyu and ginger."

"All together?" Tankhun asked.

"All together. You have to mix it well and let it rest for a while so the flavor will be more intense when you prepare it." Pete held his cell phone close to his ear with his shoulder as he picked out the right onions to go. He was doing some shopping to stock the fridge, since Vegas didn't even seem to notice the time to eat, let alone the lack of food.

"How absurd..."

Pete picked out the purple onions and set out for the peppers. They were all shiny and firm, so he would have to choose by sizes. "What?"

"A chicken has more rest time than I do." Tankhun sighed and Pete rolled his eyes.

"Look on the bright side, at least you won't get eaten."

"I don't see anything positive in that, Minnie. I'd like to be eaten," he muttered and Pete coughed up a laugh, looking sideways to make sure no one had heard.

"Don't be dramatic."

"You say that because you have someone eating you every day!"

Maybe he should take some spices too? Most of it was almost gone. Pete tied up the plastic bag, and put it in the basket.

"It's not like that, Tankhun."

"Oh, please..."

"No, I meant it." He bit the inside of his cheek. "Vegas is quite busy. I swear to God he's looking like a zombie. He doesn't sleep, barely eats. Yesterday I had to force him to eat with the threat that I would cry if he didn't taste the food I spent hours preparing. He didn't even notice that it wasn't mine. I spent the whole afternoon in the college library studying with Nara, and decided to order food."

"That sounds bad. Is it a murder case, like the one that was on TV last time?"

"I don't know. He only usually tells me about the simpler cases, and sometimes asks my opinion as a way to train my practice, but overall I don't know much about his cases." Pete picked up a package of cumin and another of paprika. And then saffron and black pepper. "But I've never seen him so invested in something as he is now. It seems to be special to him."

Pete remembered what Vegas' father had said. He kept wondering what kinds of memories that case brought back to the lawyer, and why that was so important. But he couldn't come to any conclusions.

"Do you know the day of the trial?"

"Next week. Tuesday."

"Then it's already close. He'll win for whoever he's defending, and everything will go back to normal."

"Well, I just hope it's not a difficult trial. Things like that tend to get postponed and can last for weeks."

"Pete, are you sure you want to do that for the rest of your life?" Tankhun's voice sounded terrified, and Pete laughed once again. His best friend could always make everything better.

"For the rest of my life it seems like a long time. But for now I'm fine with my choice." He looked at what he already had in the basket, and it seemed to be enough. "What about you? Any news?"

"Mhm..." The sound of something falling to the ground sounded through the cell phone, but that wasn't unusual to happen to Tankhun. "Are you sure you don't put salt on this?"