Love At Last

I thought about it and I would rather not face her, so I decided to watch her on TV, but I was not left alone by my thoughts. I decided to go watch her live and see how well she performs.

Furthermore, I got there and found a place to sit. Likewise, I watched her as she smiled brightly at her audience with confidence. Not only that, but I loved her confidence at that moment because I knew very well that the competition was difficult. It was highly competitive as good cooks from different parts of the world were present to contest.

I began to watch as they started the timer and lily had started cooking. My head went from left to right, looking at lily and the other cooks. They were really fast and lily was too.

She was really doing well, she had presented a simple dish and I hoped that the judges would be pleased with her cooking skills and what she presented. She must have had a reason she wanted to cook that simple dish, and I hoped that her thoughts and efforts would not go in vain.

As the timer stopped, luckily, lily and the other contestants had completed their work and the judges were visiting each table one by one. They tasted each contestant’s food after drinking water.

A few minutes later, they were done tasting each contestant’s food. Then we were told to go on break. I went to see her when she came out.

“Lily!” I called out to her.

“You came,” she said.

“Yeah, I did. I could not afford to miss it,” I said and smiled.

“So, how did I look when I was cooking?” She asked.

” You looked perfect and like a professional. I am really proud of you, lily” I said.

“Thank you so much for coming, I sincerely appreciate your presence, I really hope I win, so I can make it worth your time and also make you proud, “Lily said.

“I am sure you will win, lily,” I encouraged her.

“Thank you,” she smiled.

“Would you like to take a drink? Maybe soda or something to calm your nerves,” I offered.

“Sure, I do not mind,” she said, with a smile.

We ended up going to the café and she took something else, instead, which was an iced coffee. I loved the way she smiled at me when I complimented her and when she saw some of her colleagues or fans.

“I think we should go in now because in no time, they could demand our presence,” Lily said.

“Alright,” I said.

We got back in and in a few minutes time, the cooks were back at their spot. They began asking them why they had chosen the meal they prepared. Other cooks didn’t really have a nice reason, but lily had. She had cooked the meal with an intention, and that was why she stood out.

“And the winner is, Lily Greyson,” the announcer said.

I and Lily’s fans stood up and rejoiced, we were all so happy that she had won. I could see lily looking so happy and was trying so hard to contain it. Likewise, I was so happy for her and I wanted to show her how happy I was for her, so I ran towards her, picked her up and kissed her passionate. She reciprocated the kiss, and I was happy, then I put her down and hugged her.

Jarod began to approach them and Cayden began to feel uncomfortable and protective of Lily, but Lily assured him to calm down.

“Congratulations, Lily,” Jarod smiled.

“Thank you,” lily replied.

“I’ll like to see you in private,” Jarod said.

“Why would you want to see her?” Cayden said aggressively.

Lily calmed Cayden down and told him she would be back soon.

“It’s alright, Cayden. I will be back soon,” Lily said.

Cayden reluctantly let her go and impatiently waited for her to be back. He was going to punch Jarod in the face if he tried anything stupid with her.

“I am here to explain to you why I did that, please allow me to explain,” Jarod said.

“Alright, go on, I am listening,” Lily said.

“Thank you. The reason I did that was because I love you and every single time you pushed me away, the pain I felt was much worse than burning alive.

LILY’S POV

I was left speechless, I really didn’t know what to say as I was not expecting him to say that. I wondered about what reply I could give, but words failed me and I could not utter a word.

“I still love you, Lily, and I will still continue to do so until you love me back. But for now, I would love to try out as friends and use that to make amends,” Jarod said.

“Oh Jarod, I am really speechless right now,” I said.

“May I be reinstated back to work at your restaurant? Please, Lily, do not tell me no. I would love to be back at your restaurant,” Jarod pleaded earnestly.

I thought about what he said because I had to be certain I was ready to take him back in. Although, I had missed his presence back when he used to work with me.

“Alright, no problem about that. You can come back to work with me,” I said.

“Thank you so much, Lily. So, I can safely say we are back to friends, right?” Jarod asked.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

“Yes,” I said and gave a smile.

I could feel he was delighted that I had forgiven him, his eyes beamed with joy and only him could tell how deep his joy was at the time.

Then I excused myself as I remembered that I had Cayden waiting.

“I have to go, Jarod,” I said.

“Alright, thanks for your time and forgiveness,” he said with a smile.

I smiled at him and went back to Cayden, who was really looking impatient, I giggled before I got to where he was, and he surprised me with our agreement. Triple of the amount he said he was going to give me. Oh, my! I was rich within minutes.