章節 330: A comfort meal together
Giselle kept herself busy in the kitchen when she turned to ask an opinion for dinner to her two companions.
Lia jumped instantly to sell her pick.
"I want Chili Dogs, mother!"
Her spontaneous answer seemed way too imposed, and Giselle shifted her gaze towards Lillian.
"Did you tell her to say this?" she asked.
Lillian shook her head almost too soon to expose herself.
Giselle sighed. She asked Lia if it was alright with her to go with the menu Lillian chose.
"Did you mean the menu that Lia chose?" Lillian wanted to join the teasing, which received a threatening glare.
"Got it!" she withdrew herself from participating and let Giselle and Lia decide.
Since Lillian was a special guest staying for the dinner, Lia agreed to go with her choice of food. Having no other option left to consider, Giselle accepted the request. She decided to make chili dogs for their dinner and whip up kale salad for side greens.
Lia offered to help her mother in the kitchen and did so wore her little blue stripy apron Giselle got for her. Lillian also wished to join the squad even without knowing to cook.
How hard can it be to make chili dogs? - She thought to overlook and insisted on joining the team.
Giselle gave each their responsibilities:
Lillian was in charge of grilling the hot dogs and buns. She and Lia would join together to assemble the food with some chili on top and finish it with shredded cheese and chopped red onion.
Before their duties came Giselle's role, as she asked her happy helpers to stay put while she prepares the chili topping by starting with the ground turkey, followed by adding a few spices and sauces. When the filling is almost simmering to get thickened, Giselle planned to make the salad.
As outlined, she cooked the meat in a skillet. Both Lillian and Lia watched the turkey getting smashed into tiny pieces. Adding the condiments made them visibly drool, so Giselle kicked them away to wait over. When it's almost time with the filling, she asked the two to take over. She had already kept a pan for toasting the buns and grilling the sausages. Lillian took her place while Lia waited nearby.
"Give me a minute for the onions!" Giselle yelled to get the ingredients for the salad while grabbing the cheese and red onions on her way. She began to dice the onions first for the toppings. Lillian grilled the sausages first, and then she began to toast the buns, Lia, on the other hand, waited by her side with a cup of shredded cheese and empty plates.
Lillian followed the drill after toasting each bun.
Sausage goes first, then topped with chili that Giselle made and send it to her sous chef, Lia, who adds a few sprinkles of red onion and graciously coats with the cheese to her delight. One after the other, they finished it quicker. Meanwhile, Giselle prepared for the salad and its dressing. Together, they wrapped up the preparation for dinner soon to set the table and savor it.
Lia had two full chili dogs and couldn't take another bite. Due to fatigue, Giselle had two as well. Meanwhile, Lillian gobbled four chili dogs, rejoicing every chew, and thanked Lia for the generous sprinkle of cheese. It was a sight to behold as the mother and daughter witnessed it to their awe.
Giselle could guess her appetite, but Lia had her eyes wide open till Lillian devoured the last bite of her fourth chili dog. She even let out an astounded gasp at the end to commemorate Lillian's feast.
The devoured chili dogs rested in their tummies as the three hit the couch to watch Lia's cartoon together. It was Lillian's first time in several years, watching a kid's show, and she wondered how things aged from her childhood to now. It sparked an interest in her to pay attention.
Meanwhile, Giselle had no interest, so she just lay there next to Lia, waiting for the child to doze off any minute. As expected, after two episodes, Lia began to nod on and off, soon to fall asleep by her mother's side.
"She's finally asleep! I'll go put her in bed," Giselle says to pick up Lia.
"Ignore me! This episode is damn interesting!" Lillian disregarded to comment.
"Kiss her goodnight for me, honey!" she added carelessly for amusement, only to find Giselle paused to a startle. She turned around, still carrying Lia steadily to find Lillian already recognize her offhanded comment. Flustered, Lillian explains how the animated parents from that cartoon did something similar and blames it on them cowardly. She kept giggling to hide her humiliation and saw Giselle walk away.
"I will kiss Lia goodnight for you," Giselle agreed to resume her pace.
Both dispersed to their beet-red faces and racing sweat. Lillian resumed watching the show, only to forget what was happening in the episode.
'Wow, I don't have any clue!" - she thought to find her senses fully blacked out. That was the cue for her to leave now that the dinner is over. It became hard to depart, but Lillian waited restlessly, watching the show to her growing concern.
Giselle carried little Lia to her bed and tried to put her carefully to sleep.
However, the child stirred to the shift and woke up to a blurry sight of Giselle's sweating panicked face.
She faintly called her mother, and Giselle hushed her back to sleep. Lia apologized for giving her a hard time.
Giselle covered Lia with a blanket and sat by her side.
"You promised me, remember?" she said.
Lia nodded lazily.
"Then, don't worry. I can understand my girl."
Giselle gently brushed the strands of hair, and it pleased the child towards relaxing. She then thought suddenly to inquire if Lillian Grey had truly scolded her. Lia vaguely recalled the moment with a sad frown to admit.
'Oh! She did scold Lia-' Giselle confirmed soon to hear soft snores.
Lia finally fell asleep. Kissing her a goodnight, Giselle left the room without a sound.
Coming out, she noticed Lillian restlessly moving back and forth. The television already switched off. As soon as they spotted each other, Lillian strode to inform her leave.
"I should get going," she said hastily.
Seeing the time past nine, Giselle couldn't refuse and walked her to the door while she wore her jacket. Their silence expressed their dislike of departing. Yet, slowly and reluctantly, both moved as Giselle followed Lillian to the foyer.
**
Giselle expresses her gratitude again for taking good care of Lia and making the child realize her mistake. Lillian gets the urge to touch Giselle, and give her a warm hug before leaving, but refuses to do so as they haven't confirmed their relationship to allow such gestures. Their conversation from Anna's dinner never ended, and from what it appears that Giselle didn't address to follow up. Despite the love and their mutual feelings, Lillian suspected if something's holding back Giselle. Lia wasn't the cause, but something else that she never knew.
"I hope you liked the dinner. I couldn't cook anything special-"
Giselle continued rambling on her own while Lillian desperately held back her desires.
"Maybe sometime, when you're free- we can do this again," she said finally to snap Lillian out of her dreaming.
"What?"
Giselle hesitates to repeat, but she had no other choice.
"I said, maybe we can dine again some other time, the three of us- together."
All of Lillian's restrain unleased the very second, and she no longer had control of herself. Reaching out her hand, she touched Giselle, a strand of her brown hair and tucked it behind her ears. It was noticeable that the touch instigated a sense of sparkle, throwing a shade of red at the spot where her fingers brushed.
Flinching at once from the bare skinship, Giselle jerked to cover her beet red ears. She stuttered to Lillian's amusement, letting her enjoy this shy.
'Now is not the time!' Lillian heard her mind voice send a beacon of warning before she regrets.
"Sure! I'd love that," she said to release her hand and bid an empty goodbye, disappointed.
Seeing Lillian moving away from her sight, Giselle resigned. She refused to let go of her and wished if something could hold off the company of Lillian Grey another few minutes, even for a few seconds. After breaking her head to find a subject, she shrieked to call.
"What?" Lillian swiftly returned to care.
The success of her plan momentarily blanked her mind, and she forgot the reason she stopped Lillian. Stammering her way, finally, Giselle remembered it.
"A- About the signing event!"
"Yes! What about it?"
Giselle stuttered again, catching her losing breaths.
"Ah-" Lillian reacted as if she discovered Giselle's voice.
"This is your first book signing event, right?" she guessed.
Giselle knew that it was not what was in her mind. But she accepted it regardless to stall time. Lillian went on to give a few advice to Giselle about the book signing event. It isn't accurately Giselle's first time- she's been to a few in the past, but after joining KeyLine, this would be her first.
Lillian quickly wrapped up her tips to an end when Giselle raised her intended question.
"Will you be alright?"
"Why do you ask?"
"You revealed your identity to the world."
"So?"
"It can be devastating since you have many readers."
"That goes the same for Jayce too. I hope you can handle it," Lillian exclaims to challenge Giselle.
"I can do it. I only hope you don't get lost under the chaos," Giselle returned when it came to someone judging her job.
"Jenna is an excellent editor. She can handle anything. I believe in her."
Observing that their supposed romance turning into a battle, Giselle withdrew by warning Lillian to be careful at the book signing event.
Lillian exerts bold confidence that smudged Giselle's doubts. Having nothing else left to discuss, they lastly bid goodbye to depart. Lillian turned to leave as she recalled to say something for Giselle's notice.
"By the way, I did agree to Lia's invitation, so I hope you don't mind me-" she yelled.
"I do mind you!" Giselle said to smile.
Lillian heard it smile as well.
"Also, talk to the guy and tell him that his beloved daughter is dying to see him."
"What?" Giselle shouted.
"You heard me! Goodnight Giselle. Sweet dreams- promise to dream- about- me-"
Lillian's voice dissolved as she reached the stairs to descent. Giselle almost couldn't catch the final part after sweet dreams and waited if Lillian might repeat, which never happened, and she shut the door to lock it.
Reaching the spot where she parked her car, Lillian found an unknown stranger standing across the road, giving her odd looks. He also seems to carry a small camera. Doubting if someone from the media followed her to Giselle's place, Lillian yelled to question the guy. She inquired if he had any purpose standing there slacking. The guy returned with a casual shook, acting typical, yet his demeanor spoke otherwise. Lillian repeated to ask his details, only to see the guy walk away hurriedly.
Lillian grew worried. Looking up at the building, she thought if Giselle could be safe. Even if someone followed her, Giselle is a KeyLine employee, so it makes no difference in her purpose to visit. On the contrary, Giselle, being Jayce's editor, may arouse suspicions on Lillian's stay. Regardless, Lillian chose to examine the street to find if that guy hid somewhere. She found no trace of him and soon to the blast of cold wind, got inside her car to drive away.
The unknown stranger, who got caught, dialed his phone to confirm Lillian's presence at Giselle's place. The man on the other end heard it clear to end their call, and ordered the stranger to leave the spot at once without anyone noticing.
On her drive back home, Jake called to get the updates and allowed his wife, Anna, to profoundly apologize for approving such a plan upon hearing the truth. The couple inquired about the situation and learned the rest of the story. Lillian also bragged about Giselle's invitation to stay for dinner, which received a loud cheer from her friends. Anna slipped in to let Lillian know that she would call separately to hear about the details. Meanwhile, Jake returned to ask if Lia was doing alright and only got satisfied when heard that the little girl confessed to her mother. He also vowed to speak to Giselle himself about his help to Lia. The couple only ended their conversation after hearing that everything went well, and Lillian almost reached her place by the time they said their goodbyes. She entered her home to find its cold seclusion suddenly repulsive, wishing that a family's presence was healthy as well as made her happy.
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