salvation ⟡ noah sebastian

chapter seventeen: maria's birthday pt. 2

On my way home, I picked up a few things, including plenty of liquor. When I parked, I managed to carry everything in one trip AND lock my car. A good day it shall be indeed.

I headed inside and put everything away that needed to be put away, and stored the liquor in a cabinet he has dedicated to alcohol.

I heard my phone go off, seeing I had a missed call from Mr. Sebastian.

I quickly redial his number, and after two rings he picked up.

"Hi Mr. Sebastian, sorry I was putting away a few things I picked up. What do you need?" I asked, always ready to be a helping hand to him.

"I'll be home in time for dinner, by 5:30, so you don't have to bring it to me. I just thought I should let you know..."

I giggled into the phone, "okay sir, you could've just texted me that though."

He sighed, "yes, but I wanted to hear your voice again." The simple phrase made my knees weak, so I walked around to the couch, planting my butt happily on the comfy cushions.

"Well... do you want to chit chat for a bit, or do you need to get back to work?" I liked his voice anyway so it didn't bother me at all.

"I have to work, but stay on the phone with me for a while. Talk to me when you want, or if I say something."

I nodded along, and realized he couldn't see me. I took my chance, and clicked the video button. I heard him cough a little, and some movement through the speaker, until the FaceTime picked up. I smiled and laughed in excitement.

He looked so good even through the phone screen. I decided I could probably move around if he wasn't going to make my butterflies act up. I moved to the kitchen, doing a few dishes, and prepping a few things for dinner. Since it was my birthday, I wanted to make something my mom always made me for my birthday: seafood alfredo. Only this time I'll be adding a salad and garlic bread to the mix.

I simply de-shelled the shrimp, washed it, and the same for the crab meat that would be in it.
"What are you up to?" His voice woke me up from my tranced routine. "I'm just prepping some stuff for dinner since I have extra time with you not being home today." I replied with a sad smile on my face. I like him being home because he's easy to do extra things for. I'll run small errands for him if need be, give him extra snacks if he's hungry, etc.

"Do you want me to stop working at home and work in the office?" He asked sincerely, but sadly. I chuckled softly, immediately denying his offer. "No sir, I love having you here when I'm here. I'm just doing stuff to keep myself occupied. Usually when you're here you keep me busy somehow."

He nodded and focused his attention back to work. I watched the way his eyes squinted, and his eyebrows furrowed every few minutes. He'd slip his lip in between his teeth whenever he'd type vigorously on the keyboard. He was enchanting.

I got a text from a new groupchat, that lifted me from my obsessive staring of my boss.

The groupchat contained Lily, Matt, Jolly, and Nick, and another number I hadn't saved yet.

Lily: Let's meet up at playhouse Hollywood tonight? 8pm? For our favorite little chef's birthday?

Matt: I'm down

Jolly: might be late, but folio and I will be there

Nick: I'm down, can I hitch a ride tho my car broke down last night lol

I internally rolled my eyes at them.

Me: who's the random number in dis bitch

Unknown number: names folio, common friend of Noah's

I laughed softly, am I gonna end up meeting all of his damn friends.

"What's got you giggling over there?" I slapped my hand over my mouth, and set the phone back down. "Uhm.. well. I probably should've asked this earlier, but I got distracted. It's my birthday, and my friends were wondering if you'd be kind enough to let me leave after dinner so I could go see them... it's okay if not though. I understand, it's probably stupid anyway..." I looked at him through the phone, to try and gauge his reaction. He seemed unfazed completely.

"Of course, lol. Where are you guys going? Also happy birthday, Maria!" I smiled at his statement.

"Lily, Matt and a few others want me to meet them at playhouse Hollywood around 8pm... would you like to come with? It's late so I assume not, but you're totally invited if you want to come!"

"Ahhh. Well you see. I got an invite from Matt already. He didn't tell me who the party was for though. Had he told me it was for you, I would've agreed from the start. Yeah I'm totally down to come, I might just have to head back a little early." I nodded, excited to be with him outside of his work life. I heard Matt, and an unknown woman's voice in the background. Mr. Sebastian piped up, "hey Ms. Maria, I gotta go but I'll see you at home?" I nodded and he hung up. He seemed irritated at the interruption of our call. I shrugged and continued on with my day.

It was 4:30, so I started boiling some water, while I rolled out the dough to make the fettuccine noodles. It took about 10 minutes to get those all done, so I added them to the pot. I then started cooking all of the seafood I wanted in the meal, remembering to preheat the oven for the garlic bread as well. While those cooked, I grabbed the garlic bread and started slicing it the way I liked, and adding the garlic butter on top, setting it aside for the last 10 minutes of the meal.

Once all the seafood was cooked, I added in some water from the noodles, and some heavy cream. I grated fresh Parmesan over it as well. I added all the seasonings, and while that warmed up, I strained the noodles of their water. I slid the garlic bread into the oven, and then mixed the noodles into their sauce.

I went to the fridge and pulled out the bowl, where I had prepped and cut up all the lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers, shredding some carrots and Parmesan over that, and deciding against croutons since I don't really like them.

Not too soon after I stirred the alfredo, Mr. Sebastian came through the door. I checked the time and it was 5:42pm. A little late I suppose.

"Mariaaaaa?" He sing-songed as he walked into the kitchen. "Hey. What's up?" He smiled like a happy child with candy, and pulled a bouquet of flowers from behind his back. A wide smile immediately flooded over my face, and I looked at him, "are these for me?" I looked at him with big teary eyes. He nodded, and I giggled with happiness.

"Let me cut them up for you and put them in a vase. Do you want to plate up our dinners?" I nodded eagerly. Putting our alfredo in a bowl, and our salad in another, setting our garlic bread on small dessert plates. "Maria? Set us up at the dinner table tonight instead of the island. It's your birthday and you're apart of my family now so let's eat like one." He's melting my heart today.

I moved the entirety of our dinner to the dinner table, and gathered our wine glasses and poured our cold wine, and then sat down. I watched him cut the stems, remove the leaves, and add the flower food, water, and sugar to the vase. He set them in the middle of the kitchen island. A beautiful set of red flowers and black dyed flowers.

He quickly sat down next to me and pulled my hand from the table, giving it a quick kiss. My eyes widen as my cheeks turned red. I opened and closed my mouth a few times, and decided against mentioning it, "thank you for the flowers, sir. They're beautiful." He nodded, "anything for you, princess." What is wrong with him? Why is he being like this?

We ate quietly, and I felt my heart pound through my chest the entire time. "Dinner was delicious, let's get ready for tonight, okay?" He said, picking up his dishes and rinsing them off, before putting them into the dishwasher. I nodded and did the same, before making my way upstairs.