Page 23 of Change My Mind
Addie stepped towards me like she was coming in for a hug, but then thought better of it. I wished she would commit to it. I could do with a hug. But I didn’t know how to vocalise that properly. And if I let her hug me, then I knew that physical touch was going to send me into overdrive in a way I didn’t want to have to explain. So, I let her step back and drop her arms.
“I swear to you, Eli, I was joking,” she said quietly. I believed her, but the doubt still hovered over my shoulders like an unwanted cloak.
“Okay! Addie, follow me, and I will break down what I need from you.” Kayla came back into the kitchen, and Addie and I jumped.
“You’re going to be amazing,” Addie said, locking her eyes with mine. As I watched her follow Kayla into the pantry, I tried to convince myself that she was right.
This was going to be amazing.
It was.
It was.
Seventeen
ADDIE
The only thing Eli had ever really made for me at this point was toast with an obscene amount of peanut butter on it most mornings, and so I had yet to see him in his element.
The kitchen.
What he was doing in there was pretty simple. Chopping, stirring, slicing, tasting. Basic cooking stuff.
But watching Eli’s hands perform those actions was like watching an artist at work.
If I thought that he was centred and calm during our yoga class earlier, it hadnothingon how he was in the kitchen. Once I had assured him again that I was joking about the possibility of us ruining his Vivi’s career before it had even started.
He was clearly good at his job, and apparently, I was the kind of person who found someone being competent at what they did sexy.
Which was, frankly, unwanted.
And maybe it would pass when I was done ovulating, or the spirit that had possessed my body with the express intention of jumping Eli’s bones got bored waiting and bothered someone else.
Thankfully, I had been set free from the kitchen with mountains of gratitude from Kayla and was now sitting at our table in the main dining area.
I have no idea how the table I was sitting at—which was set for seven today—had become ‘ours’. All I knew was that we always sat at it, and it was always ‘reserved’ as a table for four on any given day.
It wasn’t what I would call the best table in the place, but it was perfectly placed for people watching. Considering that Clara and Jesse were the ones who made use of this table, it made sense.
Vivi’s had the eternal vibe of an outdoor plaza in France during August. There was a laid-back nature to it. Giant windows on two sides that allowed an ample amount of light in, no matter how grey the London sky was, which all the plants dotted around the room appreciated. The real ones, anyway. There were a number of fake ones thrown in as well to cut down on plant maintenance. Wooden tables that always had a candle lit in the middle (the one on our table was sea salt, all the others were as neutral a scent as Xander could find) filled the floor, and the chairs were made of soft, brown leather. There wasn’t a single table where you couldn’t see some part of the kitchen, but thankfully, Eli wasn’t visible from where I sat. Kayla, however, had her tongue poking between her teeth as she piped something that was out of sight.
The tables were slowly filling up with staff members who waved courteously in my direction and then carried on with whatever conversations they were having amongst themselves. I was just waiting for someone else to show up at my table andthinking about how Goneril might just be the epitome of ‘eldest daughter’ energy.
“I’m still very confused why it took you so long to answer me the other day, when the truth is so fucking obvious, it’s almost blinding. I forgot he looked like that, and you had the nerve to give it some thought,” Clara said as she sat down opposite me at the table, jolting me out of my head.
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“Jesse, what did you say when you walked past the kitchen and caught sight of the new chef while he set fire to a sauce?”
Jesse’s cheeks were flushed as he sat next to my sister.
“Why have you got to involve me in this?” he asked. He didn’t sound annoyed, just amused that he had been roped into an argument between sisters. Although I still had no idea what we were arguing about.
“Because it was the first thing you noticed, and it proves that my little macaroon over there is full of shit.”
I looked at Jesse. He looked between us, then took a deep breath.
“I said that it seemed mean that he was confined to a kitchen. He is aggressively attractive. I will say, Clo, you downplayed his attractiveness when you mentioned him last week.” Jesse took note of the smile on my sister’s face. “Happy?” he asked her.
