My Controversial Secret

Chapter 13: Cookies

By the time, David came to the kitchen Jenna had already started cooking. He saw the scattered ingredients on the countertop and took a seat on the stool. Resting his chin on his palm, David looked at the neat mess she made. 

There was a bowl of cookie dough on the island. Next to it were some chopped mushrooms, boiled pasta in a strainer, a plate of shredded cheese, and cooked chicken in a silver tray.

He searched for the person who was responsible for this and looked around.

"Jenna?" 

"Yeah, one second," she answered from the pantry next to the kitchen. 

David tugged his neck back to the archway and saw her approach him with some condiments. 

"Hey," she passed by him and put the garnishes on the table. "You made it in time. I just have to put all of these together and then you can feed the rats in your belly,"

David leaned back on the counter, "Yeah the fucking cockblockers need to be fed,"

Jenna chuckled, "I hope they're not allergic to mushrooms,"

"Nope. Only liars,"

"Good, I didn't know what to make so I just randomly selected the ingredients and started cooking. If you had been allergic to mushrooms I was thinking of giving you the cookies but now that you're not, we'll share," she smiled and sauteed the mushrooms in a pan with some onion and garlic before adding some spices. 

David got up from the stool and walked around, "Any way I can help?"

"Depends," she looked at him, "You won't burn us, would you?"

"You're asking a single dad if he knows how to cook?" 

"Right. I forgot you're a dream guy,"

David chuckled, "What do you want me to do?"

She tips her chin at the cookie bowl while cooking the mushroom, "Roll the dough, would you?"

They both started doing their respective task in the kitchen. A feeling of domestication and liveliness lit a flame inside David. One he didn't know he wanted. Had secretly craved it but didn't dare to accept it.

Watching Jenna cook in his kitchen seemed normal. An image he never realized he wanted for himself. A woman that'll make meals with him. Not just one but uncountable while enjoying their little orbit of playfulness. 

Once or twice, he caught Jenna eating the cookie dough. He couldn't explain why he liked it. Maybe for a fact, this is the first he felt some semblance of normalcy in his life. The emptiness he always felt inside him was starting to get warm with a presence. It was scary, exciting, and fuck- everything that was hard for him to imagine and allow into his life after decades of disappointment and loneliness. However, just one evening with Jenna made him rethink his wants in life.

As Jenna lifted a spoon of pasta to his lips for a taste test, he found himself wanting more from her. Not just her body that he so badly needed but something more. Something permanent.  Normally, his Dad brain would've woken up by now making decisions that are entirely constituted on a list of pros and cons. A well-thought process of logic; the rational part that dictates the formula of his life. 

However, lately, it doesn't matter how much sense it makes, the reason he wants David to look seems blurry nowadays. There is no doubt he loves his daughter more than anything in the world and would do anything for her but giving up on Jenna and this sudden burst of want to have her feels like death. 

David tasted the pasta from the spoon and hummed as the banging flavors of chicken, mushroom, and cheese hit his tongue. 

"Fuck," he groaned and dropped the cookie cutter on the table, "This feels illegal to eat."