"Why haven't you?"
"Well, I just think that cooking is best left to the professionals. I don't tell the cook how to do his job, and he doesn't interfere with mine."
"Ah. I just love to cook, to be able to create a special meal just by yourself. Though it helps that I have to do my own cooking, that made it easier to start."
"You do all your own cooking?"
"Yes I do. There are no cooks living nearby that were for hire, so it was easier just to do it myself. I do have a maid that comes and cleans here every day, and a laundry lady that cleans all my clothes once per week."
They are standing in the kitchen, which is semi-open to the living room. It has a knee high wall between the kitchen and living room, with a doorway next to the wall. The kitchen itself is not much more than a long countertop, with a sink in the middle, and a large stove. The stove is a modern contraption, with two ovens and two cooking plates. It is fuelled by coal, which is standing in a coal-bin next to the stove.
Nillian turns to Lyxia, who is cutting up some bellpepers, to include her into the conversation.
"And you Lyxia, what do you think about cooking?"
"I have cooked some dinners, so I cannot say that I don't know anything about it. But it's not really my thing, also because it's something I am not very good at."
"Right. And I assume that cooking in the monastery is very different from cooking for yourself, with the size of the meals and such?"
"Yes, that has to do with it too. And I have a lot of things I rather do, so I often just leave it to those who like it."
Rowena in the mean time has been working hard on making her pasta, kneading it and rolling it through her pasta machine. When she is finished she gets some table linens and gives them to Nillian.
"Here, you go and set the table, will you? Everything has to look nice, so do your best!"
Nillian walks over to the table, and begins to spread out the table-cloth. When he notices the quality of the cloth he looks up surprised.
"Wow, these are really fancy. Trying to impress someone, sis?"
Rowena looks up from her cooking and blushes.
"Actually ... there is someone else coming over ..."
"Oh? Who is it?"
"Someone ... I know."
Rowena stays silent, so Nillian hazards a guess.
"Hmm... Someone coming over for the first time, and thus someone you want to impress? From work or something?"
"Oh no, he has been round here a few times already..."
Lyxia sighs and joins the conversation.
"What she is trying to say Nill is that it's someone she is interested in, and she wants us to meet him."
Rowena look relieved and smiles at Lyxia.
"Yes, yes, exactly! I would like your opinion of him... Before I introduce him to mother and father."
"Ah, in that case I will be on my best behaviour! So, what is his name?"
"Peter. Peter Loronzo. He works for the fire brigade here in Capes."
"So how did you two meet, get together?"
"From the hospital. I worked a nightshift on the Burns Ward when he came in. He had an accident while trying to save a family, and got burned. I treated him and we talked. Then I met him once at church, and he took me out afterwards."
They are interrupted by the doorbell, and Rowena walks to the door.
"That will be him. I'll get the door."
A few minutes later she returns, followed by Peter. He is a tall man, bald, but with a red chin beard. He wears black rimmed glasses and is dressed in a decent ribbed black suit. He greets Nillian and Lyxia and introduces himself. He helps Nillian further prepare the table, showing intimate knowledge about where everything is in Rowena's house.
The first course is soon served, a thick and creamy mushroom soup. It is followed by Rowena's pasta dish, made with bell peppers, tomatoes, yellow carrots and a lot of herbs Nillian cannot place. Desert is a mixture of spongy biscuits, custard and almond cordial. Everything is very well prepared, and Rowena receives a lot of compliments about the food.
During there is not much talk, as everyone is busy with tasting the meal. Peter does regale Nillian and Lyxia with funny stories from the fire brigade, and Rowena tells some stories about the hospital, and the fact that Peter is there quite a lot, mostly as a patient.
"Fire fighting is just a dangerous job. You can see what it did to my hair. But it is a job worth doing, saving lives always is."
"But don't you have like protective clothing and such?"
"Oh yes we do. But sometimes that is just not enough. And not all clothing is helpful all the time. Like our helmets, they sometimes limit your vision, so then you have to get rid of them. It is either lose some hair or get killed."
"Ah, alright. Do you have those large water-carriages, like in Kataras?"
"We have two, yes. They are steam powered, but sadly they can only hold a limited amount if water. If that runs out you either have to use a nearby water source, or try to contain the fire the best you can."
After dinner Rowena cleans the table, and they settle in for a few games of bridge. Nillian teams up with Lyxia, against Rowena and Peter. In the first few hands the teams are matched evenly, but after a while Rowena and Peter start to improve their game and soon they are winning almost all of the time. Nillian suspects Peter from taking it easy on the first few hands, testing his opponents, and smiles.
When Nillian and Lyxia have lost five hands in a row they call quits, and Peter and Rowena glow in their role as victors. They clean up the table and settle down into somewhat more serious conversation. Nillian explains a bit about his research and Lyxia tells something about the life in a monastery. After that Peter tells a bit about the city from a fire fighter's point of view.
During the conversation, when Peter mentions something about the city streets, Nillian sheepishly asks Rowena (and therefore Peter) about the list of addresses he got from the city hall. He shows them the map he bought, and soon they are hunched over it, trying to locate the addresses he is looking for. They put a red dot at each address, and after a while Peter begins marking the residential areas with black.
When they are finished Peter looks at the clock and jumps up.
"It's already that late? I have to go, I have to work early tomorrow. Thank you for the meal and company, and perhaps see you around some time?"
With these words he takes his leave of the others, and walks out the door.
After Peter is gone Nillian and Lyxia stay a bit, talking about odds and ends before they too retire, and go back to the inn.
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