A Liberated Decision - COMPLETED!

Chapter 25

A few days had went by too slowly. There was nothing to keep Ashley busy or her thoughts out of the gutter. She had been fine to walk around before, but it hadn't been an easy task to do. She couldn't hold back the desire to get busy. Her bruises were fading and beginning to look better. She'd have to go back to Trent soon. He wouldn't allow her to be gone much longer. His plans would have to go through soon.

She had spent the morning cleaning the kitchen and part of the afternoon sleeping. She couldn't sleep anymore. She had to find something to do. Carefully, she picked herself up off the couch. She had her 38 painfully tucked behind the small of her back.

No words could have described her relief when Stan had brought the little gun back to her a day and a half after the ordeal. She couldn't thank him enough. It was a pleasant relief to know that one of Trent's rats hadn't taken it.

She stepped into the kitchen and eyed up how clean it looked. It was time to make it messy. She needed to get her hands busy. It was time to cook something. Who knew when the last time Tom had eaten real food was. She might as well show her gratitude through being able to make him something. It'd been a long time since she'd done any cooking in a kitchen, but she was sure the memory of it would come back as she started.

She searched through the fridge and freezers for anything that could be of use. In spite of him not really having time to cook, she was able to find some frozen chicken wings and veggies stashed in a far corner of the freezer. Thankfully, the expiration dates proved that they were all still edible. She pulled out some flour and other random ingredients.

Tom had a tablet shoved against the wall and charging. Carefully, she turned it on and looked for a recipe online that told her exactly how to make something with what she had. Fried chicken seemed like the obvious choice, but she didn't know exactly how to make it without a recipe. It didn't take much effort to find a recipe that looked good.

She pulled the drummies out of the bag and began washing them under cool water. She needed to unthaw them, but making sure they were clean was first and foremost more important. She popped them in the microwave to defrost and unthaw. Carefully, she washed up the now infected area and began pulling out measuring tools to figure out the measurements of everything. She changed a few things along the way, but for now she needed to know what she had available and the basics of what needed to be measured.

A jar of pens and pencils sat near her working area with rubber bands bracing themselves around the jar. She grabbed one quick and pulled her hair up in a messy bun and out of her bruised face. She mixed up a batter for the drummies and set it to the side. Her eyes scanned around the kitchen until she caught sight of pots and pans lined up in an open cupboard. A smile lit up her face as she grabbed a cookie sheet. It wasn't quite the conventional choice, but it'd do.

"Whatcha doing, sweet thing?" Liv's voice echoed behind her.

Ashley jumped, not expecting to hear someone behind her. She turned around with a smile still on her face. "I was bored."

"And needed to get your mind off of things." Liv reminded her with an obvious understanding.

Ashley swallowed. She sadly nodded her head. "I can't stop thinking about him, Liv. I'm going to go crazy."

Liv returned a sad, but knowing smile. "What do you need help with?" She rolled up the sleeves on her black, low cut shirt. She was busty and curvy. No doubt about that and this shirt emphasized everything.

"What goes with drumsticks?" Veggies were one thing, but she was having trouble thinking of a second thing to complete the meal. It didn't need to be perfect, but she still wanted to try for perfection.