Harassenger: Backseat Admirer ✔️

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

After a night of dancing and sore feet, we were all starving, and black coffee that the bartender offered us didn't coat the stomach.

As exhausted as I was, I offered to cook a nice meal anyway.

The kitchen cabinets were stocked with spices, cutlery, and endless options for a nice cooked dinner. I chose to make a crawfish sauce piquante and fresh fried shrimp. On the side, I made fries and a delicious dessert that featured my favorite: condensed milk.

"Would you like to help?" I asked Holt. Holt and I often cooked together when my mom was busy at work. We cooked everything from burgers to everything but the kitchen sink. Well, Holt strayed away from desserts because he thought they were too girly for him to do, but every now and then he'd cave.

"No, I'd rather not." He said, taking a seat at the barstool by the island.

"Since when? You love crawfish." I raised a brow.

"He's cutting back on such fattening foods to keep his physique." Della took a seat by her husband, linking their hands together and resting her head against his shoulder.

"And I'd rather not eat in front of Della. She's vegan." She's nuts. I think I got sick just thinking about giving up meat.

"Well that sucks for the both of you. I hope you enjoy the sizzling sound of greased shrimp." I smirked.

"Natalie, do you know what you put into your body when you eat this stuff?" Della pointed to the bowl of egg yolk as I stirred the concoction.

"Do you know what you put into your body when you're drinking a glass of wine on the front porch? Or how about that cigarette I saw you smoking last night?" I blamed her, cracking another egg into the bowl to drive her little vegan heart into overdrive.

Holt's eyes darted to Della.

"What?" He said, outraged.

"It was one time. I couldn't sleep last night so I needed to smoke! Natalie, I thought you, of all people, who works at a gym would live a healthier lifestyle."

"I work at a gym. Not once did I say I actually work out. Even so, I'd rather work out that way I can eat what I want."

"I think I should go. I can smell the food already."

"I haven't started cooking yet." I rolled my eyes as the princess left the table, Holt on a tight leash behind her.

I guess I'm cooking for three.

"I'll help." Mick fell on the side of me, his elbows resting on the counter.

"Do you know how to make fried shrimp?"

"I can fry them, that's easy, but how do I batter them? I can do the fries in the air fryer when I'm done with that, if you like. I know you're busy with the crawfish so I'll help any way I can."

"Okay, well you first put the shrimp into the egg yolk, that way they can stick to the batter. After the yolk, put the shrimp into the batter and make sure the shrimp are coated well. From there, you put it into the fryer and voila. Want me to demonstrate?"

"Nah, I got it, thanks."

"Do you cook often?" I asked.

"I have to; I live alone." He said.

"What do you like to cook?" I retrieved a magnalite pot from the cabinet and placed it on the stove, trying not to act like it was heavy when in reality, I almost couldn't get it where I wanted it.

"I like to make fettuccine, seafood, homemade pizza, and cake. But you wouldn't like my cake. I put gummy worms at the top because I like to add all kinds of weird stuff."

"Ew. I don't like to mix my sour with sweet." I made a grotesque face.

"It's the fun in making it. I'm not saying it tastes good." He laughed.

After making a mess in the kitchen and throwing batter at one another, I decided to live a little, adding some sour punch straws on top of the dessert and allowing Mick to decorate the top with colorful icing. It looks like poop, to be honest, but it was fun making it, like he said it would be.

"Are you ready to eat our masterful meal made for an army?" I brought the pot of food to the dinner table while he brought the dessert and plate of fried food.

"Made for an army, but only two people are eating. Don't worry, I need to bulk up so nothing will go uneaten." Trixie had ditched us, falling asleep on the couch, and Della was somewhere likely puking her guts out. Holt was probably salivating at the smell, but it sucks for him he's letting a ghastly woman control him.

Mick pulled out my chair like a gentleman, allowing me to take a seat.

I waited until he sat down across from me to eat. The food melted into my mouth, even the rice. I heard a moan from Mick, notifying me that I had done good tonight.

"It's delicious. Here, try one of these." Mick grabbed a shrimp from the plate inbetween us. I went go grab it from his hand, but instead, he popped it into my mouth, his fingers hitting the creases of my lips.

I bit down onto the food, the crunchy outer layer and smooth inside of the shrimp tasted like a seasoned perfection of heaven, even if it was so hot that it burnt the tip of my tongue.

I nodded my head and wiped my mouth with a napkin.

"It's amazing. We make a good team." I admitted. When Holt and I cooked, the conversation was slim and it felt more like an obligation than a fun time. Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with Holt, but spending time alone when the television wasn't on, was not our forte.

"We do, don't we? The best good you can make is late at night when you're hungry, and I think we were both starving." His eyes pierced into mine and I had to chew vigorously on my shrimp not to choke.

"Thanks for helping. So how do you think the dessert turned out?" I licked my lips, gesturing towards the untouched dessert. I thought about ditching the cake and heading straight for the can of condensed milk. There's two essential things a girl needs to survive and that's a can of Vienna sausages and a can of condensed milk. I can survive a hurricane, an apocalypse, or an EMP with that stuff.

"I haven't tasted it yet, but if I had to guess, the dessert turned out very, very, bittersweet." Bittersweet, indeed.