Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100086 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100086 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
I’m not a tidy guy by nature, but I can put in the effort. I want him to know I can be useful, so I go wash the cup, pick up the tie, and put the chess pieces back at the two ends of the board. If I had my phone, I would have looked up how they should be arranged, but since I don’t, I just go with my gut.
Once that’s done, I sit down on the plush couch in a deep maroon color, and damn if it’s not the most comfortable piece of furniture I’ve ever occupied. I need no instruction to switch on Netflix, and I snort at the sight of the smiling dog icon above my name. The other profiles are ones automatically generated for kids, and the main profile called CrowNest, featuring a gentleman in a tall hat as its icon.
When did he have the time to setup an account for me? That’s pretty sweet, even though he’d never admit it. Still, I very much want to know what he’s watching, so I click on his profile, and… of course, it’s password-protected. Looks like he thought about everything.
Oh well, I can always later look through the collection of DVDs I found in the cupboard under the TV. Those I saw had mostly black and white covers, and not a single superhero in sight. He’s likely a bit of a snob, but that’s hardly surprising going by the quality of everything in this house.
Hell, if I had his money, I’d probably also enjoy the finer things in life.
As I sink into the sofa, mindlessly scrolling through the TV shows on offer, I do wonder what my life will look like from now on. Didn’t Corvus mention an allowance yesterday? Getting to live with him out of the cage will afford me more luxury than I’ve ever known. Will I go back to my job as a bouncer, or would Corvus prefer I become a stay-at-home husband? I don’t hate the latter, I could use a vacation after all the bullshit I’ve been through in the past week, but I’d probably get bored and want to do something eventually.
Several hours pass by as I ponder all of this, my attention on the cage fighting documentary in three parts, but by the time I’m done with the show, my stomach is starting to growl.
I head back to the kitchen and snack on two bananas with some peanut butter. My first instinct was to browse the pre-prepared meals in Corvus’s freezer, but then my lips stretch into a smile when I get a brilliant idea.
Surely, after years of living here all alone, Corvus would appreciate a good homemade meal. If I showed him how nice it would be to come home to a loving husband and nice, fresh food, he would most likely not lock me up in the basement later tonight.
And, I suppose, be even more certain about marrying me. I smile to myself at the thought of me being an eligible bachelor.
I’m not that good of a cook, but I do make my own chicken, and a mean protein oatmeal, and I am perfectly capable of following recipes when I try to wow someone, so I end up by the shelf containing several books. One of them, a thick diary with many bookmarks sticking out at the top, appears to be in more frequent use, so I reach for it (since there is no sticky note telling me not to), and open it right away.
Inside, there are instructions on how to make different foods, lists of ingredients, and other details, but while it’s tempting to look through everything, it’s now the afternoon, and I want to make sure I’m done with my surprise dish by the time Corvus is back. The marked recipes all look delicious at first glance, but each one turns stranger the farther down the page I read. But who am I to judge? If Corvus likes pancakes with pieces of raw chicken in the batter, and a sauce of roasted nuts, I am going to make them for him, especially that it so happens that I have all the necessary ingredients.
I turn the oven to maximum heat, lay out the walnuts on a baking sheet and pop them in. I’m pretty proud of myself, and the whole idea, as I mix the batter. I’m curious how the whole thing will taste since the recipe calls for both cinnamon and oregano. Not something I’d come up with as a combination, but Corvus is a fancy guy.
I do wonder if I bit off more than I can chew when the recipe calls for ‘burning the oregano in the pan’. Not a cooking technique I ever heard of, let alone attempted, but I’m committed now, so here we go. In one deep pan I have oil heating for the pancake batter, in a smaller one, I put four tablespoons of dried oregano.