Holiday

Chapter Eleven: What a chicken

Harry

I can't believe it's already been a month since we met Emily. We have grown to really adore each other more, and the fact that the lads and I share this same love for E just makes it even more heartwarming. It was Sunday and we weren't doing anything right now. Just chilling out in the living room and watching a few Youtube videos. 

I was sitting on one of the benches, leaning on the wall with Lou's head on my lap. Zayn was on the other bench slightly laying down with his left elbow holding him up. The rest was on the mattress. I've grown to like the set-up of the living room. At first, I was a bit hesitant because it seems quite unusual but then again, I am sometimes unusual myself. And it was comfortable so that's a plus. Oh! And E was right, it does make us feel like little kids again. 

"I'm hungry," Niall randomly said. "You're always hungry," Zayn said, looking up from his phone with a small grin. "I'm feeling a little lazy today so I'm not going to cook anything," I told them, shrugging. "We could order for delivery," Louis suggested. "Do you any good places we could call, Em?" Liam asked Emily. She thought about it for a while. Her eyes suddenly lit up as she sat up, nodding. 

"There's this restaurant who does deliveries, they have an amazing peri-peri chicken and delicious spicy sauces," She informed us. "Oh, peri-peri chicken, I do miss that," Niall said, almost drooling. "What's the restaurant?" Zayn asked. "Peri-peri," she simply said. 

We looked at her weirdly. "Yeah we know, but like what's the name-" Louis was cut off by Emily. "No, I meant the name of the restaurant is Peri-peri. Peri-peri charcoal chicken." She told us. "Oh," we said at the same time. While laughing, Em grabbed her phone and showed us the menu. We decided on a simple large whole chicken, two platters of java rice, mozzarella sticks, and a few beverages like milkshakes and beer.  When it came to picking the sauces we were divided so we ended up buying two different kinds of spicy sauce, Sheik Chic's Harissa Exotica, and Poulet Vous Cajun Remoulade. 

For about twenty minutes we waited for the arrival of the food. Emily then groaned as another phone call came through, she then proceeded to go to the balcony to answer the call. She has been on the phone multiple times throughout the day now. And it's annoying for us because we just want to spend time with her but it's also annoying for her since she's been faking her happy voice or professional voice for hours now. It's frustrating how busy E could get. And we thought we had hectic schedules.

We watched as Emily came back still on the phone going to get a pen and paper. "Wait say that again, I need to write it down, or else I'm just gonna totally forget it," we heard her say. It was silent for a few seconds. "When is this again?"  She asked. "So you're telling me that I have to do all of these in one day?" E sighed. "Alright, I guess I'll see you then... Yeah... pfff, sure. Tell the guys when we do the photoshoot, can they at least not pull a prank this time?" She asked the person on the other side of the phone.

We lads looked at each other. "Photoshoot?" Liam mouthed at us. "The  guys?" Lou whispered to us. "It's probably the 'peculiars' boys," Zayn told us quietly. The doorbell suddenly rang waiting for Emily to answer the door. Good thing we don't have to hide since we were technically already in hiding. "Thank you, sir! Stay safe!" We heard her tell the person as she closed the door. 

"Guys, the food's here!" E called out. We quickly went to the dining room due to our hunger. "Hmm, this smells so good," I said, sitting down on a chair. "Dig in," Louis said. Cutting into the chicken, we divided it equally and man it was delicious. Emily was right, their food is so satisfying and so flavorsome. Each one of us decided to add some sauce and see how spicy they can get. I glanced at E and saw that she chose to put the sauce on the rice instead, unlike Liam, Niall, and Louis who generously dipped the chicken in the sauce. I placed my gaze on Zayn and saw that he and I both opted to wait and see the reaction of the others first before doing anything. 

"Uhm, guys, I wouldn't do that" Emily started but she was too late. The boys have already eaten the chicken. "If I were you.." she continued, pressing her lips together. I watched intently at the others chew their food. They then abruptly sat up uncomfortably. 

"Oh wow," Liam said with furrowed eyebrows. "That is spicy," he said, rubbing his lips. They exhaled, struggling with the spice. "I tried to warn you guys, but your hungry selves just couldn't wait," E told them. "Could have done it faster," Lou said, standing up while fanning his mouth. 

"There's milk in the fridge," she said to him. "Yeah, I know," he replied in an annoyed tone. I laughed quietly and turned to Emily. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," I said. "I heard that, Styles," Louis warned me as he sat back down with a carton of milk. "That sauce was so spicy! How do people handle them?" Niall said, taking a sip from his glass of milk. "I don't know, people seem to like them so," E said. "What sauce was that?" Zayn asked them. They pointed to the darker-toned sauce. 

"That's the uh, Harissa," I said, looking at the bottle. "Well, now we know to stay away from that," Liam said, pushing away the sauce. I then grabbed it and placed it in my rice too. "Oh, come on, it wasn't that spicy," Emily said. "Are you serious? It says in their scale that it was their spiciest!" Niall exclaimed. 

"I've tried that dip so many times and it seems quite timid. I mean, it is spicy, but you know, it wouldn't make me like stop using it for the rest of the meal after one bite," she explained. 

"Yeah? Why don't you dip the chicken instead of putting it on your rice then," Lou challenged her. She shrugged and grabbed a piece of chicken then dipping it in the Harissa sauce. E took a bite while we stared at her. 

She was just chewing with no reaction. 

"Seriously? Nothing?" I looked at her surprised. She finished the chicken and smiled at us. "You are stone-cold!" Lou exclaimed at her, making her laugh. Emily shook her head "Nah, you guys are just chicken," she said before widening her eyes mockingly at us. "Wow!" We burst out in laughter. I like this side of her, just having fun and being cheeky. This is exactly what we love. Just hanging out and enjoying each other's company. Hopefully, this would keep up and she doesn't go back to being that silent girl that we met.