Chapter 13
POSEIDON
There was something unbelievably hot about Laila sitting at my breakfast bar wearing one of my shirts and with her hair in slight disarray from last night. It was a sight that I could definitely get used to, and one I wanted to.
"Are you hungry?" I asked.
"Starving," she responded. "I can't believe we haven't really eaten since the olives last night."
"I ate," I joked.
She swallowed hard. "Not what I meant."
"I'm teasing," I responded. "But we were a little distracted. Luckily for you, I have the perfect breakfast." I opened the fridge and took out a bowl of batter I'd prepared yesterday.
She frowned, clearly recognising the fermented lentil and rice batter. "Is that for uttapam?"
"Yes." I pulled out a pan and set it on the stove to heat while I prepped the onions and green chillis for the top. "After we met, I was sitting down to design the menu for my charity event, and I thought of them. The food is supposed to be finger food, and everything is supposed to elevate tuna."
"Tuna?" she echoed.
"It's a fish associated with me," I said. "I thought it would be a good food theme."
"Is it not a bit macabre to eat a load of the fish that are supposed to represent you?"
"Not really. Or no one's ever had a problem with it before," I responded.
"Probably because tuna isn't their sacred animal."
"I'm not sure I'd call them sacred. Fishermen used to give them in offering to my temple, so I got used to eating a lot of it," I explained. "But it isn't like I'm serving seahorse. Now that would be a bit weird."
She laughed. "I don't even know if you can eat seahorse."
"You can." I ladled some of the batter into the pan and let it sizzle. "It's not very common outside of Asia, but people do eat seahorse."
"Have you?" she asked curiously.
"No. I had the opportunity, but it's the only thing I've never been able to bring myself to eat."
"I think that's fair. I don't imagine there would be many chicken shifters who would eat chicken either," she said. "Though it's a lot harder to avoid chicken than it is to avoid seahorse."
"It is," I agreed. I checked my second pan and carefully added a small tuna steak. I didn't want it to overcook, but it still needed a good sear on the outside.
"So, are you not at the restaurant today?" she asked as she watched me cook.
"I am later," I said.
"Oh." She seemed a bit disappointed by that, and I had to admit that I was too. If I had the option to spend another night just the two of us, then I would take it. But as much as I liked Laila, I couldn't risk my business for her. That wasn't how it should work.
"But I'm here for most of the day. I have my menu to perfect."
"Right, for your charity event," she said. "I'm surprised you're not holding it at your restaurant."
"It's not the right crowd there," I responded, watching until the exact right moment on the uttapam and flipping it over so that I could cook the other side.
Despite my usual confidence when it came to food, I was suddenly a little nervous about serving another Indian dish to Laila, especially when it was her favourite.
If I got this wrong, then I could certainly set myself back in terms of what was brewing between us.
Despite my concerns, I flipped the uttapam over and slid it onto a plate. I removed the tuna too, and set it on a chopping board to rest while I made a second uttapam.
"How are you managing to get it all organised if you're at the restaurant five days a week?" she asked curiously while I worked on the chutney to go with the uttapam and tuna.
"An event organiser," I said. "You've probably heard of her."
"I don't know many event organisers."
"Maybe not, but I'm sure you know of Aphrodite." I flipped the uttapam.
"The Aphrodite?"
"Yeah, she's a charity event planner now."
"That is...unexpected."
I chuckled. "For me as well." I slipped the second uttapam out of the pan and onto a plate. It smelled delicious and was only going to become more so when I added the tuna and the chutney.
Despite knowing I could cook tuna steak, there was always still a moment of relief when the knife slid through it well, revealing the perfectly rare inside.
I carefully split it between the two uttapams, being careful with my presentation.
Even if this was just breakfast for the two of us, I wanted it to be beautiful.
Satisfied, I set the plates on the breakfast bar along with a pot of Greek coffee.
"I feel like I've been terribly lazy sitting here while you've been making food," she said as she poured herself some of the coffee.
"Don't. You're a guest. And I like cooking for you. I want to hear your feedback on this one. If I need to change anything before the event, now is the time to tell me."
She laughed. "I'm sure it's going to be delicious. And even if it isn't, you definitely get points for making me uttapam the morning after our date."
"I'll remember that." I picked up my knife and fork, cutting a piece so that I could try it.
Laila laughed. "You don't have to eat it like that." She picked hers up with her fingers and pinched it together before taking a bite. "Mmm, that's good."
I smiled and imitated her, getting a bite of everything when I did.
"The tuna isn't a usual topping," she said. "But it is good."
"It is. I took some inspiration from your fish fry too."
"I can tell." She put it down and wiped a bit of chutney away from her mouth. "It's almost as good as when I make it."
I chuckled. "Are you going to show me up by cooking again?"
"I can give you a few pointers for getting Indian food right, or at least, the types my family knows. But my parents are from two different regions, and they've travelled a lot, so that's plenty of different food they know and have passed down to me."
"I'd appreciate that."
"And I'd appreciate knowing what else you're going to make for your event," she said.
"I can do you one better. I was planning on making them all today. You can be my official taste tester. If you don't need to go home. Or to work?"
"I work remotely most of the time," she said. "So long as I check my phone between eating and sex, it should be fine."
I laughed. "I like the way you're describing our day."
"Good, because that was what I was hoping the plan was." She picked up her coffee and took a sip. "And we've already ticked both off the to-do list."
"So we have." I smiled, enjoying how good it felt to be sharing breakfast with her, and hoping I'd get more opportunities to do just that.