That evening when they got back to the penthouse, Andrew waited before immediately going up to his office.
He stood next to the kitchen counter as Lillian put the groceries away, observing with interest at the items she bought from the store.
He watched as she put away items he recognized, such as eggs, vegetables, meat, salt and oil. At some point she took out a variety of bowl shaped containers that had "noodle" or "ramen" written on the side. He peaked into one bag, that looked like it was full of about 10 more of those bowls. The pictures on the side of the containers showed delicious looking images of steaming noodles with hot peppers and shrimp. Another one had a delectable looking image of mini beef steak printed on the cardboard packaging.
Andrew was curious as he watched Lillian put the ramen into an empty cupboard. He wanted to know what the ramen Lillian could make would taste like. Whenever he went to Japan on business, ramen was one of his favorite things to eat, but he had heard it took years to perfect the broth and every chef had their own special recipe. What would her recipe taste like?
He was so deep in his foodie dreams that he did not realize the intensity of his gaze. On his signature poker face, it made his deep brown eyes look more intimidating than usual, causing Lillian to flinch when she turned around.
"Um. Are you alright? Would you rather I put things in a different cabinet?" Lillian tried to ask him as politely as possible, worried that she had done something wrong.
Her voice pulled Andrew out from his salivating thoughts of juicy pork chashu and steaming hot noodles. "I was not aware you knew how to cook ramen noodles. Will you be gracing us with your talents anytime soon?" He lifted one eyebrow a little higher than the other and showed Lillian an uncharacteristically playful grin.
"Uhh..."
This man is joking, right? It must be that he's being sarcastic because I bought so many instant noodles. That's not an issue though. They're great for when you're tired and still want something to eat. Plus, they're cheap too! Right, I should try to get along with him because we're roommates now. I'll try to respond by extending the joke.
She collected her thoughts into a plan and confidently replied, "Why yes. To be honest, I'm quite talented when it comes to making ramen. Lillian's famous ramen, they used to call it back home! I was actually planning on having some for dinner tonight."
"Really?!" Andrew got excited for a moment before calming himself. He forced out a cough then repeated in a flat tone, "I mean 'really?' Could I try some as well?"
"Sure, I can make you one. Did you want to eat in your office again?" She grabbed a couple of instant ramen bowls from the cupboard and began to boil some water.
"Yes, please. Then I shall make my way upstairs. I'll see you there." He said in a deep serious voice, honored that his fiancée would take the time to make ramen so late in the day.
After he went upstairs, Lillian noticed that the bag of clothes was still on a tall chair next to the kitchen counter. She had spontaneously bought the sweat shirt and pant set for Andrew, thinking it'd be easier for him to have a lazy outfit next time they went out. But, reflecting upon the purchase now, she realized it was unlikely he would ever wear it or that they'd go out like that again. She poured some hot water into the instant noodle bowls to sit for three minutes, then ran the clothing bag up to her bedroom for a rainy day.
---
Andrew was fast at work again when Lillian knocked on the door before entering his office. This time though, he set aside his laptop when she came into the room, holding two bowls of piping hot soup. He could smell the salty savory scent from across the room.
Lillian placed the two bowls of instant noodles at the edge of his desk and pulled up a chair.
Andrew did not know what he was looking at when he saw the small bits of vegetables floating around in the soup on top of the noodles in front of him. Lillian's famous ramen looked a lot different than the ones he'd had in Japan. There was no thick slices of pork, and the presentation was not quite as nice. But, he was still excited nonetheless, no one has specially made him ramen before and to think she had done it so quickly amazed him to no end.
He anxiously picked up the chopsticks beside him and ate his first bite. *Slurp slurp slurp*
Lillian was midway into her second bite when she got distracted by the sounds of slurping noodles next to her. She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Andrew Geldan scarfing down the noodles in front of him as if he had been a starving man trapped on a desert island. It was as if he tasted his first food in months.
By her third bite, Andrew was already done with his meal, drinking down the last of the contents in the bowl. Considering how uninterested he had been with eating the night before, she was surprised that he managed to eat the whole bowl so fast.
He set the bowl down and looked at her with sparkles in his eyes, a little red in the face from drinking the hot soup so fast. "I didn't know you could make such an amazing thing. Would it be possible to have another portion?"
His genuine enthusiasm really threw her off. She could tell now that he had not been sarcastic earlier, but actually thought she was going to cook ramen from scratch. The usually stone faced CEO was showing her an expression she hadn't seen before and she didn't know how to react. Though it was amusing, she felt a little bad that he was giving her more credit than deserved for simply pouring hot water into an instant noodle bowl.
"Mr. Geldan, is it possible that you haven't had instant ramen before?"
His excited expression quickly faded at her words. He blinked twice before embarrassedly shaking his head to answer her question.
Another new facial expression! Lillian thought to herself, as she realized in this moment what living with her CEO was going to be like. It seemed like she was going to be seeing many new sides to the man she had always thought to be so cold and statue like.
"Follow me, I'll show you how to make it yourself. It's very easy."
They made their way back to the kitchen and Lillian walked Andrew through the steps of how to make his own instant ramen. His expression was back to one of a serious poker face as he patiently went through the process of boiling the water and adding it to the bowl. When the three minutes of waiting was up, he eagerly peeled back the lid, revealing the steaming hot noodles inside. His eyes went wide with glee and he clenched his fist in victory.
Lillian watched the man in front of her with fascination. In that brief moment, their usually imposing CEO actually seemed a little cute.