Page 54 of The Baby Dragon Cafe
She liked him, she really did. There was no denying it. Lavinia had been right all those weeks ago—Saphira had a crush.
But she had to be sensible. She couldn’t be reckless, pursuing something that might not work out. If he didn’t feel the same, things would be awkward between them, and she couldn’t jeopardize their arrangement.
For one thing, she still needed the money Aiden was paying her to train Sparky, and for another, more important thing, she did not want to lose Sparky.
She didn’t want to lose Aiden, either, but that was an entirely different matter. She needed to be wise, but what girl had ever been smart about a gorgeous man?
Especially one who cooked!
Aiden brought two plates over to her on the couch, sitting down beside her legs. Sparky sat between them as they ate, and the food was yummy. It was a pasta dish with considerably less cheese than she would usually add, but it was good.
“Aiden, thank you,” she said.
“It was no problem,” he replied. “I could have made something more elaborate, but this was quick, and you don’t exactly have an extensive kitchen.”
She laughed. “I don’t cook that much. I have breakfast and lunch at the cafe, and by the time dinner rolls around, the last thing I want to do is make myself something to eat, so I usually eat random stuff. Sometimes I’ll boil a handful of pasta and throw some cold cheese over it and call it a night.”
His eyes widened, his face appalled. “That is not healthy. At least eat a salad. You know you can get those salad packs. You don’t even have to do anything! Just open it and eat it. It’ll cover your veggie intake.”
She made a face. “I eat potatoes, that counts!”
“It absolutely does not.”
“I take this as meaning you like cooking,” she said.
“I do,” he replied. “It’s satisfying, assembling the ingredients and putting a dish together. With gardening, there’s so much more planning and patience waiting for the result, but with cooking, you get this immediate outcome. And it’s delicious.”
“I do love good food. I think I never got into cooking because Nani-Ma was always the one who made food, and she made the very best dishes.” Saphira smiled fondly at the memories, suddenly remembering something. “Actually, every spring she would make this mutton curry dish with flower buds. I don’t remember what it’s called, but it was my favorite thing ever. I haven’t had it since she passed.”
He made a thoughtful sound, and they continued eating, talking about random things. She felt a lot better, more energized.
When she finished eating, he picked up their plates and took them to the kitchen. Now that he was more relaxed, he looked around, taking in the details of her home.
Saphira felt self-conscious of her apartment; it was a bitchaotic and had an older style because she had kept all of Nani-Ma’s decorations and put them up, even after selling their old home and moving into the apartment above the cafe. Nani-Ma had all these old-style Mughal art and accents, but Aiden was looking at everything with interest, quietly taking it in.
He walked around, stopping in front of a piece of framed artwork. He smiled.
“Did you make this?” he asked, looking back at her.
“Guilty.” She nudged Sparky off her lap then stood and joined him. Sparky trotted alongside her, stopping between her and Aiden as they both looked at the drawing. It was from when she was a kid. The drawing depicted her on a dragon; she had always loved dragons.
Nani-Ma had framed it, and Saphira put it up, not because it was a credit to her nonexistent artistic abilities, but because it made her feel as though Nani-Ma was still there, encouraging Saphira on, telling her that no dream was too big. In a world where dragons flew through the air, nothing was too far out of reach.
Tears pricked Saphira’s eyes, and she blinked them away.
“Did you make this as well?” Aiden asked, moving along a little. She moved with him, as if they were in an art gallery.
Next to the drawing of the dragon was another framed piece of art, though Saphira had made this one a decade after the initial piece.
“Yes,” Saphira said. This was a drawing of a storefront, with “The Baby Dragon Cafe” written in big block letters outside
the building. It was a long way from what her actual cafe looked like now, but the idea of it, the name of it, that was still there. “I made it when I was a teenager,” she explained. “It wasa few months after I started working at my first cafe, and it was the first time I got the idea of having a place of my own.”
Aiden turned his head to her, face awed. “Saphira, you made your dream come true,” he said. “I’m so proud of you, and I hope you’re proud of yourself, too.”
Saphira’s face felt warm. “I guess I’ve been so caught up with everything that I haven’t gotten the chance to feel proud yet.”
He turned his body to hers fully. “Well, take this moment then—this one right now—and feel proud for all that you’ve accomplished. Even if the cafe doesn’t go any further, even if it crashes and fails, you made it this far. You did that.”
