Love the Second Time Around

Chapter 102

Chapter 102 Worried

Nicholas then took the grocery bags over from Jake and made his way into the kitchen.

Jake followed behind him and asked, “Wait… Nic, are you sure you can cook?”

“Duh! How else am I supposed to make lunch?” Nicholas replied casually.

“But I’ve never seen you cook!”

I was able to hear everything they said as I followed behind them. So I was right! Nicholas has never cooked anything for Jake! In that case, I must be insanely lucky to have him make me pasta last night! Damn, I should’ve taken a picture of it as a memento!

Nicholas then placed the ingredients on the kitchen counter and said, “You go wait outside, Jake. Scarlett should be coming over soon.”

Jake frowned when he saw Nicholas reach for the knife. “I think I should do the cooking instead. Don’t want your silky smooth hands getting all dirty now! Besides, it’d be bad if you accidentally cut yourself or something!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at how nervous Jake was. I bet he must be Nicholas’ biggest fan!

Nicholas placed the knife down and let out a sigh. “I’m not a porcelain doll, Jake.”

Jake pouted. “But I’m worried about you!”

I decided it was time for me to step up and said, “Um, how about I do the cutting while Nicholas does the cooking? That way, it would still be his cooking, but without the risk of injuries! There, a win-win solution!”

“You?” Jake eyed me doubtfully from head to toe.

I nodded profusely in response and winked at Nicholas as I said, “Yup! Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to keep Nicholas away from the knives!” NôvelDrama.Org: text © owner.

It’s a lot better to have me help out than Jake nag endlessly, right?

Nicholas spoke up as well. “Sure, we’ll go with that. Jake, you call Scarlett and ask her when she’ll be here. Oh, and help me pack up the clothes in the bedroom while you’re at it.”

Jake was clearly unhappy about his decision but agreed to it reluctantly anyway.

I waited until he had disappeared from sight before teasing Nicholas, “He sure worries a lot about you!”

“He worries too much!” he replied with a chuckle.

“I bet you two must be really close, huh? You know, like how Shannon and I are.”

“Yeah, I knew Jake since I got into the entertainment industry. He’s the one who stayed by my side this whole time.”

I could relate to what he said as it was the same between Shannon and me.

Having tasted the pasta he made last night, I had great confidence in his cooking skills and carried on chatting with him while preparing lunch.

Despite it being our first time preparing a meal together, we complemented each other surprisingly well and were rather fast at getting the job done.

It didn’t take long before lunch was served and looked absolutely amazing.

The doorbell rang right as we were done setting the table, and I saw Scarlett standing outside when I opened the door.

“You’re right on time! Nicholas has just finished making lunch, so you get to eat it while it’s hot!”

“Nicholas made lunch?” Judging by the look on her face, I figured she was really surprised by it as well.

Wait, this doesn’t make sense… There’s no way she wouldn’t know about Nicholas being able to cook!

“Yeah, that’s right. Surely you’ve tried his cooking before, right?” I asked curiously.

Scarlett didn’t deny it. “I haven’t seen him cook in a really long time.”

“Come on, Letty! Lunch is ready! Nic made it himself!” Jake shoved me aside and led Scarlett inside by the arm.

Wow… Talk about differential treatment… I bet Jake has added my name to his blacklist or something. Well, not that it matters, though! Scarlett changed into that pair of women’s slippers very naturally like it was a habitual thing, so I can at least confirm my suspicion about her having some sort of intimate relationship with Nicholas.

After lunch, I volunteered to do the dishes as I couldn’t have Nicholas do everything by himself, and I certainly couldn’t let Scarlett do it as it would taint her air of elegance.

As for Jake, I knew for a fact that he would surely offer his help if Nicholas were the one doing the dishes. Since it was me doing it instead, he simply strutted off like it was none of his business.

I heard my phone ringing behind me while washing the dishes and saw Nicholas bringing it to me when I turned around.

“Who’s calling? Is it Shannon?” I asked.

Nicholas hit the answer button and said, “No. Here, I’ll hold it for you so you can carry on washing.”

As I didn’t get a chance to see the caller ID earlier, I only found out that it was Benjamin after hearing his voice on the phone.

I hadn’t been in contact with him ever since I took care of things with Julius.

“Why’d you call me up all of a sudden, Benjamin? Just so you know, I can’t tell you anything if you’re going to ask me about the recent rumors.” I decided to make my point clear right from the start.

Benjamin’s tone was rather unpleasant. “I’m not interested in any of that. Honestly, I didn’t think you’d do such a thing, Liliana. Looks like I was wrong about you.”

I turned the tap off and asked with a frown, “What do you mean by that? What did I do?”

What the hell is he on about? What did I do to piss him off?

Benjamin said with a cold chuckle, “Heh, I’d rather not waste my time and energy on pointless explanations. If you have any conscience left in you, come visit Dominic at City Hospital yourself.”

“Wait, what happened to Dominic? Tell… Hello?”

He hung up on me… This is unbelievable! What the h*ll did he mean by that? Did Dominic get hospitalized due to some kind of disease? Or is this just some new trick he came up with to gain my sympathy? Yeah, it’s probably the latter. I mean, he got into a fight with me yesterday, and he even punched Nicholas in the face! There’s no way he’d suddenly end up in the hospital on that very same day! Besides, even if he really did get hospitalized, he has Camille to look after him, so why would I want to go there and see them act all lovey-dovey?

“What happened, Liliana? Did something happen?”

Nicholas’ voice snapped me out of my train of thought, and I shook my head in response. “No, it’s just another one of my nosy friends trying to ask me about this incident. I’m almost done here, so you can go spend some time with Scarlett.”

Despite my countless efforts at telling myself to not think about Dominic, I just couldn’t seem to get it out of my mind.

Knowing Benjamin, he wasn’t the type who would joke about such things. Did something really happen to Dominic?