SIERRA'S LEONE

WHAT'S COOKING

Jonas laid back; the moment had come. He could relax during the simulation run. Despite his high-tech material, 3D realizations were always long.

His pause was interrupted by the sound of turning keys. The man got up and hurried to the door. A black man stood with two grocery bags.

"Oh, sorry, I thought you'd be out."

It took Jonas a few seconds to seize who spoke to him. The men had not met.

"You must be Jacㅡ."

"Yes, I'm Jacob, Sierra's older brother."

Finally, Jonas met someone who knew her. If there was someone to fill him in on Sierra, it was none other than her brother.

"Sierra told me a lot about you."

Their encounter was only a few minutes old, but Jonas felt reassured. Jacob's vocation made him someone trustworthy at first hand.

Jacob posed the groceries on the floor, took off his shoes, and went to the kitchen, "sorry for barging in like this. I thought you'd be out."

"It's no bother, I mean if you have the keys." Jonas wondered how they managed never to cross each other.

"Oh, it's only for the groceries," Jacob opened the freezer and began to place Tupperwares.

"You buy the groceries?"

"Not exactly; I cook for Leone."

Jonas frowned. He figured Sierra did not have time to cook. The man was happy as one of the Sierra mystery's found itself solved, "It's nice of you helping her out."

"Yeah, my sister can't cook to save her life. Apart from boiled eggs and three minutes of pasta, Sierra is no chef."

Things suddenly became clear. The thirty egg pack Jonas imagined were for a high protein breakfast were actually Sierra's survival rations.

"So you cook all the time?"

"Well, when Leone came to live here, Sierra read processed foods weren't good for children. She tried making stuff with recipes she saw online, but it was a catastrophe. So she asked me for help."

"I see; you cook for both?"

"No, Sierra eats out. She has an all-processed regime. My sister probably knows every takeaway from here to Timbuktu," Jacob said while shaking his head and laughing.

Jonas smiled as the memory of the first time he cooked for Cecile came to mind. She complimented the dish and added Sierra should meet someone like you.

At the time when Jonas asked who Sierra was, Cecile replied, she's the woman of my dreams. Jonas imagined Sierra to be one of Cecile's crushes, the woman always affirmed as being Bi.

Now he laughed at the absurdity of his thoughts. Jacob knew what he said was funny, but not to the extent Jonas took it.

"Sorry, it's just something else came to mind."

"Something else?"

"Someone else, Cecile."

"Got you, Cecile was something,"

"Did you know her?"

"Yeah, we all did. Cecile was part of the family. I think she spent more times in our house than hers."

"Do you have an idea of what was the fall out about with her parents?"

The reason why Cecile did not talk to her parents was also one of the mysteries Jonas wished to elude. Something told him the fallout was the reason why Leone was not in their custody.