I pointed to the carved out shelves filled with small wooden containers with tight lids that Drovo had made.
Julie went to pick one up but stopped herself. “May I?”
I picked up the jar she was about to inspect. It had a pepper symbol carved into the front of it indicating it was filled with the sweet robose pepper.
“You may touch anything you wish,” I encouraged as I handed her the jar. Our fingers brushed and the warm heat that had filled my soul when Julie slept on my chest came flooding back to me.
Julie’s cheeks flushed a deep red as she looked down and tucked some hair behind her ear. “Thank you.”
She lifted the lid off the jar and brought the container to her nose. “Mmm, it’s like a sweet chili. What do you use this for?”
“If we ever get any bafilo meat, I use this to season it. Bafilo can be especially gamey and bitter, which is why we rarely hunt them for food. That, and they’re nearly impossible to find.”
Bafilo were huge docile creatures that blendedin so perfectly with their surroundings they were nearly invisible. The last time we hunted for one was last winter when we ran out of food before the snows melted.
“Is this one of the teas?” Julie pointed to a jar with a leaf and a berry etched onto it.
“It is. This is a sweet berry tea that helps people fall asleep. You’ll often see Brexl and Rhaz drinking this before bed.”
“What’s taking so long? I want to try some tea.” Kayla walked in with a grin on her face and crossed her arms over her chest as she looked us up and down suspiciously.
“Orsu was showing me the different spices he keeps back here,” Julie replied.
“Uh-huh. Well, have him show you out here where we can brew some tea.”
“I guess we better get out there,” Julie smiled. “Can I help you carry anything?”
“Here, this is a berry that when crushed makes an energizing drink.”
Julie was happy to carry one of the jars while I carried the other. I quickly got to work boiling some water over the fire and set out two large bowls. I crushed the berries in one bowl for their juice and poured hot water over the tea leaves in the other.
Each female interested in trying the drinks came up with their cups and I filled them with a ladle.
“Mmm, the juice is really good. It’s a cross between orange juice and mango.”
“Oh wow, this tea tastes like jasmine,” Fatimacommented.
Julie took a sip of the hot tea and smiled. “You’re right. It does taste like jasmine.”
She glanced over her cup at me and we locked eyes for the briefest of moments before she quickly looked away.
I was happy she was pleased with the tea. Now it was time to enact the next step of my plan: show Julie all my cooking tools so she could cook as much or as little as she wanted.
Chapter 7
Julie
“Thank you for setting all this up,” I commented as Orsu started collecting the used cups.
He looked so happy and calm. It was clear that he enjoyed cooking for his dekes. Tending to the cookfire seemed so natural for him. It was mesmerizing to watch him laugh and joke with people as he stirred one dish and served another. I longed to be as at ease as he was.
I enjoyed cooking because when my hands were moving my brain stopped spiraling. It also gave me joy to serve people good food. Food had a way of connecting people like nothing else could and I liked being a part of that. It didn’t hurt that I was a talented chef, either.
I watched Orsu clean up as I sat with Kayla, Taylor, and Fatima. He caught me glancing at him a few times, as did the other women, who teased me about it, but that didn’t stop me from looking. He was gentle and funny and sexy and above all he was kind. Even though we were in the same room I somehow missed him. I wanted to be closer to him.
As if he could read my thoughts, Orsuapproached my table and said, “Hey Julie, I was thinking that I could go over some of my recipes with you. Maybe we have some dishes similar to your Earth foods.”
“That’d actually be really great, I’d love that.”
