Realistic or Modern Cheesy romance

[spacient]

Nadine winced, seeing the crushed look on her friend's face. It was all over, the winner was obvious from that one bite alone. Already she wanted to go to her friend and and give her a hug, but she didn't want to call attention to herself. She wished Adrian would have been a little less.... intense, but she knew that her friend really brought it on herself. She wasn't ready for this

 

[LoveDoctorBlaze]

"As for you, Daniel of the sixth seat. I can already tell that your fish is cooked to perfection, however could it be that i'm perhaps smelling...?" Adrian leaned in close, and stared deeply into his soul "Over seasoning?" Asked Adrian. He peeled off a portion of the fish and ate it. "Mediocre at best. Unfortunately, you are slightly less mediocre than your opponent, so the win is yours" Said Adrian with another one of his famous scoffs. Daniel was furious, but he simply nodded. Going against the first seat is practically suicide.

 

[spacient]

The win was delivered, the loser was crushed, and now it was time for cleanup. People were already leaving, but Nadine was not one of them. When the spotlights were off, that was when she went over to her friend to comfort, giving her a needed hug, but she was brushed off and quickly left the stage. Nadine really didn't know what to do, but she thiught she should at least thank her host

She quietly found Adrian after the fact, "Thank you again for letting me come in here, even though it was obvious my friend would lose. Uhm... I'm not sure how to make it up to you, unless you'd like to come back to my dorm for some sweets? I can't imagine you would but it's the least I can do to say thank you."

 

[LoveDoctorBlaze]

"Are you sure you would like that? After i essentially publicly shamed a member of the elite ten for how shit his cooking was? Aren't you afraid to get shouted at?" Asked Adrian with a puzzled expression

 

[spacient]

Nadine paused for a moment, "If I can get one compliment out of you then I'll call it a personal victory. And if not, then it's a learning experience. That's what today was supposed to be, besides supporting my friend."

 

[LoveDoctorBlaze]

Adrian chuckled at her sentence "I see. Well, guess i shall humor you. Show me the way" Said Adrian, as he took out his phone to cancel some other things he was planning to do

 

[spacient]

Nadine laughed nervously, "I... didn't think that would work. But follow me!" She turned around, going back the way they came. At the doors, she turned to leave the arena, trying to keep stride with him, "I just realized I never introduced myself. I'm Nadine."

 

[LoveDoctorBlaze]

"Hello Nadine. I'm Adrian. The current first seat of the elite ten in case you didn't know" Said Adrian "So, what sweets will you be making for me?"

 

[spacient]

Nadine just laughed at his introduction, "You need no introduction," she sent him another smile, "I have some homemade raspberry jam I'd like to use... so maybe a torte, if you can stand my company that long. If not then I'll go back to the basics."

 

[LoveDoctorBlaze]

"I shall eat whatever you serve. That is the least i can do when cooked for. As for whether i'll finish said food... Depends on your skill. Time is no issue provided you make it today, so really. This is your oppurtunity to shine"

 

[spacient]

As much as that would make anyone terrified, that surprisingly put Nadine at ease, "I was told as a child that so long as you try a bite, and you don't like it, you don't have to eat it. I won't make you finish something if you don't enjoy it, and I won't be offended either."

Soon enough they were at the dormitories and riding the elevator to her floor. When they arrived at room 405, she took out her key and welcomed him inside. It was clean, and smelled like fresh bread, as if she had made some just before going to the tournament, "Come in, make yourself at home. Would you like something to drink?"

 

[LoveDoctorBlaze]

The smell of baking always brought a little smile to Adrian's face. "Do you perhaps have orange juice? The sourness should balance the sweet taste of the pastry out"

 

[spacient]

Well, he was already smiling, so she was off to a good start, "Follow me~" she closed the door then went into the kitchen - on a counter there was the fresh loaf of bread under a glass dish, one slice was already cut out of it. After grabbing a glass from the cupboard, she went to the fridge and brought out the juice and poured, then handed it to Adrian, "Would you like anything else before I get started?"

 

[LoveDoctorBlaze]

Adrian took the glass of juice and shook his head "No. This will suffice for now" He said, and walked over to the table to take a seat

 

[spacient]

"Well if you'd like anything else please let me know," she sent him a warm smile before replacing the orange juice and taking down a cookbook and notebook from a cupboard. She searched through both for a moment, then left them both open for her own personal reference. When this was set up, she went to a small phone speaker and attached her phone, letting some music play as she took down ingredients from the cupboards and the fridge, some of which were cocoa powder, flour, almond milk, sugar, and vanilla. In varying amounts, she started mixing these in a bowl, obviously moving to the music

"So Adrian," she said in between pouring ingredients into the bowl, "What made you decide to study the culinary arts~?" he was still her guest, she didn't want him just sitting there twiddling his thumbs while she was working

 

[LoveDoctorBlaze]

Adrian scoffed when he noticed her taking out a cookbook. "My will to create good food. I was born into a rich family, and went to a school for talented chefs. I was heavily outclassed, so i dedicated time and effort to learn this, and eventually surpassed them. So i guess my reason was to become better than the others"

 

[spacient]

Nadine only rolled her eyes at his little noises. Hey, even the best could use a reminder about how to make something, especially since it was for someone else. Plus, she brought down the notebook for a reason, those were her own notes for corrections - but of course he didn't know that. She began mixing them now, Fair enough, nothing wrong with that. Why make food if you can't enjoy it?"

She covered the bowl in a clear plastic then shoved it in the fridge, then took out even more ingredients to blend in another bowl. Every once in a while she would wander about, as if remembering something, "Where did I put the coconut cream?" she asked herself before going through everything ehs had already grabbed, finding what she wanted, and pouring it in

Eventually she returned her attention to him, "I started because, at first, I was tired of my father's awful meatloaf," she laughed, "Then I realized that food can actually be delicious, and allllll this is incredibly fun. I'm not the best, but even though I'm not, I enjoy what I do."

 

[LoveDoctorBlaze]

"Fun?" Asked Adrian. Did she just refer to cooking as "fun"!?!

Flashback

"The only way to cook perfect dishes, is through hard work and discipline. Anything else will ruin the dish" Said an elderly figure "Remember Adrian. Cooking is a buisness, not a playground activity"

"What do you mean with fun?" He asked

 

[spacient]

Nadine was staring at him now, watching some weird scene play out behind his eyes. She stopped what she was doing to answer, "I do this - the music, the scrambling, the dancing while I work - for fun. I bake bread and cakes because I like bread and cakes. The kitchen is where I like to be, because I can make something new, never to be made before or again, just because I feel something could use more spice. I work towards a goal, but if I'm not smiling at the end of the day then I did something wrong in the process."

 

[LoveDoctorBlaze]

Adrian stared blankly ahead. It was unthinkable for him that cooking could be fun. "The cooking world is a giant storm that one must constantly traverse. One misstep or slowing down could mean the end for you"

 

[spacient]

Nadine wasn't sure what bullshit he was running through, but whatever it was, he didn't look happy about it. She got back to mixing the second batter, looking at him over her shoulder, "Well if something like that happens then I should lose eeeeeeeeverything I've ever learned about cooking, right?" The tone was obviously sarcastic

 

[LoveDoctorBlaze]

"Naturally not. However, out there in the professional world of cuisine. Mistakes will not be tolerated as much, if at all" Said Adrian. He knew how demanding rich people were with food. Making a mistake would be practically death for Adrian

 

[spacient]

"Good thing I'm not in the professionals right now, I'm making a chocolate and raspberry jelly thank you torte" she looked excited for a second then stopped, talking to herself, "If I wanted to add more cream then I should've made a cheesecake. Oh, and they're not mistakes, they're intentional changes. There is a difference."

 

[LoveDoctorBlaze]

"Suit yourself. I see it's no use arguing over this mundane matter with you" Said Adrian and took a sip of the juice. "You wouldn't understand anyway, considering the fact that you are worse than a *first* year" He almost said that part with disgust. Almost.

 

[spacient]

"I won't take offense to that, because like I said earlier, I don't count skill by our years. Steph crashed and buuuurrrrned. Haaaaaaard today, but I know that the eyes had a lot to do with it," Nadine set out to mixing the batter, then pouring it into a circular pan. After she had done so, she put it in the over then cut herself a slice of bread and went back to the fridge to put on the infamous raspberry jelly. When she was ready, she joined him for a moment at the table, taking a bite