Absconding ✔️

18. Jasmine's Kitchen

Jasmine Knight

"I'll do the dishes, you go and sleep." I said as I picked up mine and Arden's dinner plates off the table.

"No. It's my turn to do the dishes." Arden said as he kept his hands on the plates that were already in my hands.

"Arden." I said in a no-nonsense voice.

"Jasmine." He said in a stoic voice.

"No! Shut the fuck up and go sleep. You've not slept properly in the last four days." I said in a strict voice.

Last four days were the fucking worst. My head, stomach, back, abdomen and by extent my whole body was paining. It was one of the worst period pains I've ever had to endure.

I puked several times and since we're not suppose to let anyone know of our location and all, I couldn't call my doctor or go see a local one. Arden was beyond worried for me all this time. Luckily, I was down with fever just the one time. Adverse effect of that fever, I lost my taste badly. I couldn't smell or taste anything for the whole day.

I lost my appetite for two days and couldn't eat anything. All I could have was toast, soup and juice. It was yesterday at supper that I had a proper meal.

Arden kept a constant check on me these 4 days. He firmly denies it but I know he was beyond worried. He'd keep a constant check on my body temperature, make me healthy soups and juices. He took care of all the housework and cared for me at the same time. He made sure I slept, rested and ate well.

He's an angel.

With the looks of a devil.

Tomorrow is his birthday.

How do I know? I accidentally saw a message from his secretary on his laptop asking him what he wants for his birthday.

Since I can't buy him something good, I thought of baking a carrot cake for him.

When the other day we were having a conversation about birthdays, he told me how his mother always used to make him a carrot cake before she died.

I googled the recipe earlier and it was easier than I expected. I've already gathered all the ingredients I'll be needing and am absolutely ready to bake one.

"Are you sure, Jas? You had fever three days ago." Arden said, his voice laced with concern.

"I'm fine." I said and pushed on his chest. He kept the plates in the sink and left the kitchen to me. I know he's gonna work on his laptop and is gonna pluck in his headphones. He almost always listens to kenegie music while working.

"Good night." He said before he started climbing the stairs.

"Night." I said and as soon as I heard his bedroom door closing, I started on my cake.

I grated my two carrots and prepared the rest of the ingredients like flour, milk, egg, butter, sugar, vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda, walnuts and ground cinnamon. I also took out a big mixing bowl, spatula, and measuring cups and spoons.

"Welcome to Jasmine's Kitchen." I said to no one in particular. I pretended as if I was a YouTube and I'm teaching my viewers.

I mixed everything in a bowl and then added the grated carrots in it. After mixing the batter, I poured it in a cake tin and placed it in the oven.

After about 30 minutes, I took out the cake tin and poked a tooth pick in the center. It came out clean and hence the cake was baked.

"Now, for the pretty decorations." I again, said to literally no one.

I placed the cake aside and took out the frozen whipping cream from the freezer.

With the help of an electric whisk, I whisked it into frosting and searched the pantry for food colour. The only colours I got was yellow and blue so I went ahead and used them.

I divided the frosting into two and added a few drops of the respective food colours. The yellow, I kept to a mild and blue was a bit dark.

I scooped them into pastry bags and started decorating the cake. It took me another 20 minutes to cover the cake into icing and decorate it with some edible dust.

The cake didn't look half bad and I quickly clicked some pretty pictures of it. I then, kept the cake in the fridge for sometime. Meanwhile, I cleaned the mess I had made on the counter. I kept all the things back at their indigenous places. I washed the dirty utensils and cleaned the kitchen counter.

I checked the clock and by the time I was done, luckily, it was 11:58 p.m. I took the cake out of the fridge, shoved a couple of candles along with a lighter and a knife in my pocket. I then took the cake and walked towards Arden's room.

I stood in front of his room, waited a minute or so and called his name.

He opened the door, "Are you okay?"

"Happy Birthday!" I cheerfully exclaimed.

QOTD: What's your favourite flavour of cake?