Fire and attraction

　　Irena’s POV

　　“Sorry, nothing to worry about, just me being clumsy. I fell some ceramic plates, they’re broken now, as they should be after falling,” Alexey called out and I laughed.

　　I was worried there for a bit.

　　“Alright,” I called out in reply.

　　I thought of how he had said he loved my laughter. I get confused when he tells me these things. It almost makes me see him in a new light and I don’t know if it's something that’s worth thinking about.

　　I was still lost in my thoughts when Alexey walked back in.

　　“Alright, I've disinfected my hands, we can eat now,” sat on the chair opposite mine.

　　I looked at him, “did you hurt yourself?” I asked, ensuring to not sound too worried.

　　He shook his head, “nothing to worry about, I'm not hurt,” his voice was very reassuring.

　　“Alright,”

　　Alexey was looking at me with a funny expression on his face, “what?” I questioned.

　　He smirked, “you were worried about me, do you care about me,” he started smiling and annoying me in the process. I hated that he looked so sure about his finding, I wanted to erase the annoying smile from his face.

　　“No I don’t, don’t deceive yourself. I only asked out of courtesy,” I was too quick to deny it, he was not going to believe me.

　　“It doesn't seem to be what you're saying, but I'm not going to drag,” he picked up his fork and knife. “right now, I want to stuff my mouth with delicious food,”

　　I picked up my fork and spoon too. “I agree with you on that,”

　　I put a portion of the golden pancakes in my mouth and moaned as the delicious taste coated my tongue, “this tastes fucking delicious!” I exclaimed, sounding muffled because my mouth was stuffed.

　　Alexey nodded in agreement, “you are right about that, Charles is an amazing cook,”

　　I wonder what the rest of the food tastes like. “So do you like animals?” Alexey asked, putting some sausages in his mouth.

　　I nodded, “I like some animals, not all because most of them are annoying,”

　　“dogs or cats?”

　　“Urm, dogs, I prefer dogs. I once owned a cat,” I said thinking about my cat Tabby.

　　“Where's it now, what was its name?” I could tell that he was curious.

　　“His name was Tabby, and I gave him to someone else.” The cat had been so annoying, I couldn’t stand it. I wonder why I got it in the first place.

　　“Why did you give him to someone else?” he asked, laughing.

　　“He was a very annoying and lazy cat. I didn’t mind him being lazy, but god he was so annoying. I couldn’t stand it, so I gave it to a friend that loved cats and didn’t find them annoying at all,” I gave it to Magnus. Since then, Magnus had ensured to never miss an opportunity to talk about his fat tabby cat called Tabby.

　　“When did this happen?” he questioned further.

　　Feeling a little dry in the throat, I took a sip of orange juice before I proceeded to answer his question. “ I think three years ago or so,”

　　Alexey hummed. “So why don’t you have a dog? You don’t find them annoying as much as cats, do you?”

　　I thought about it for some seconds, "I don't know, I guess I could say I'm not keen on keeping pets,"

　　He nodded.

　　" So can you cook?" I like guys that can cook. I find it an appealing non-sexual talent.

　　He nodded, "yeah I can. I mean I had no choice but to learn how to cook for myself since I started living on my own after I left the orphanage when I turned eighteen,"

　　Yeah, that's true, I keep forgetting about that.

　　" Can you cook as good as Charles?" Or Fray. Fray was still the best chef ever, but Charles is an amazing cook nonetheless.

　　He laughed and scratched the back of his head, "I wouldn't say that I can cook as good as Charles although I can cook some kind of delicacies very well. All in all, I'll say that I'm a decent cook,"

　　I nodded, " I would like to try your cooking,"

　　"I wouldn't mind that. What about you, can you cook?"

　　It was my turn to laugh nervously, " I can't cook to save my life," the most I could do is toast bread. I always find a way to jinx anything I'm trying to cook.

　　He laughed hard, "really? I assumed that you can cook since you happen to be a very capable lady,"

　　I shrugged, " well I can't. I always end up ruining it one way or another,"

　　" Just like my best friend Petrulli, he loves food and would spend hours watching chefs cook, but can't cook to save his life. He could make boiled water taste bad,"

　　I laughed so hard that tears ran down my eyes.

　　We ate and had casual conversations throughout.

　　After the meal, we left for the sitting room and joined Charles as he watched the news.

　　The reporter was saying something that caught my attention.

　　"The case of the Naughty Parents was judged yesterday by Judge Regina Monroe and the naughty parents were sentenced to life imprisonment with intense labor. The judge made this clear that har verdict was made to bring satisfaction to the family and friends of the victims as the death of the couple would be too much mercy. This judgment has gotten any support from the public and the families of the victim,"

　　She did as I asked her to, a smart woman.

　　"I'm so glad that the case ended up like this," Alexey said and I nodded in agreement.

　　" They deserve worse, but we'll work with what we can get,"

　　"Indeed," he shut off the TV

　　Noticing that Charles had been quiet the whole time, I looked around for him and found out that he was no longer in the living room.

　　"Where's Charles?"

　　"He left to wash the dishes,"

　　I was so caught up watching the news that I didn't notice him leaving.

　　I looked at Alexey and saw that he was taking off his hoodie.

　　"Why are you taking it off," I asked, my eyes running down his hot body lustfully.