Personal Chef

Chapter 21

When I woke up, it was dark in my room and I was slightly disoriented. I sat up, and felt the cumbersome boot on my left leg. I also felt a lot of pain, which caused me to let out a groan.

Something moved on the bed next to me and I shrieked.

"What???" Shawn yelled as he bolted upright.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I tried to catch my breath.

"I wanted to be here when you woke up in case you needed anything," he explained as he sat up against the headboard. "Do you?"

I just stared at him. I wasn't sure if I should be thanking him for being so thoughtful or smacking him for being a bit creepy.

"I could use some water and another pain pill," I said.

"I'm on it. Anything else? We ordered pizza for dinner. Want a slice?"

It was the middle of the night, but I was starving. "Pizza sounds really good. I was hoping you all went out as planned, though. You were supposed to celebrate."

Shawn scoffed and waved a hand dismissively. "We can do that some other time."

When he left to get me what I needed, I reached for my phone which was sitting on the bedside table. I had a bunch of texts from my parents. I'd told them about my accident and they were worried that they hadn't heard from me for hours. I quickly texted them that I'd fallen asleep and was doing fine.

Shawn returned with a tray that had two slices of pizza, a big glass of water, and a chocolate chip cookie. Someone must have picked cookies up at the store, because I hadn't made any.

"Where are your pain meds?" he asked as he set the tray on the table next to me.

"Bathroom. And thank you for helping me."

A few seconds later he handed me a Percocet and I took it with a huge gulp of water. I then ate my pizza as he sat on the bed next to me.

"My mom offered to fly out here to help me until I see the doctor again," I told him when I was done. "I'll need to book a hotel for a night or two and change my original flight. I'm sorry I can't fulfill my contract by cooking tomorrow."

"Andrew already canceled both of our flights and got us a suite at the Waldorf Astoria."

His use of the words 'our' and 'us' lead to an obvious question.

"Are you staying with me?"

Shawn smiled. "Of course. I feel responsible for you and I want to help."

"It's not your fault I tripped on the hike. My clumsiness was to blame," I said plainly.

"No, but I pushed you to go hiking. And you are technically my full-time employee so it was a work-related injury."

I shook my head. "I wasn't on the clock."

"I didn't know there was a clock. I kind of feel like you've been on the clock all the time since we've been in Malibu. That's why you're paid so much more than you are at home."

Shawn stood up and took my empty tray downstairs. He returned a few minutes later with a cup of hot cocoa.

"To go with your cookie," he said, nodding towards my dessert, which I'd set next to my phone.

I wasn't quite sure what to make of him being so kind me. He was surprisingly good at being sweet. Perhaps Kat demanded spoiling when they were together.

"Thank you," I said. "For everything."

He sat back down next to me. "So you'll let me take care of you until we get back to Toronto?" he asked.