The two days that Mark spent with Natasha were sweet and bitter at the same time. They enjoyed their love since there was a sense of almost desperation in every moment but during the last hours, he could clearly feel a sense of loneliness and withdrawal from the guard captain.
Natasha was very clear about it. She told Mark that it would be lonely without him but she would get used to it since it was her duty to stay and the next time they meet, if ever they would, she would be married to some noble strengthening her family’s political power. She was treasuring every moment but the time had come to protect herself so she told him that it was time for her to go and retreat inside herself for a time.
After the guard captain left there were two days remaining before the circus left the city of Argent. Mark met with a few people that Hamil recommended for the sitter and cook job and surprisingly one of them was one of the girls of Madam Luzviminda.
“Hello, wizard. My name is Milena.”
“Good Afternoon Milena. Can you tell me more about yourself?” Mark asked the lady.
“I’m one of Madam Luzviminda’s girls but I’m becoming too old to do that work and I still want to be in the circus. I don’t know how to be an actress on a stage nor do any of the other acts. What I can do is cook and I can cook very well since my mother was a cook in an inn in a remote town somewhere. All the townspeople and visitors praised her cooking and she taught me everything she knew. I can also look out for the twins and I know the life in the circus already so I don’t have to learn to adjust.”
Mark was surprised to learn about Milena’s previous occupation and there was a little bit of aversion that almost made him say automatically that he couldn’t accept her but he stopped himself. Everyone had a past and that shouldn’t dictate anyone’s future. Besides, she stated the advantages that she had and they were good.
“Since you’ve been part of the circus for a long time, I’m inclined to give you the job but of course, there would be a test first. Here are some coins, please go to the market and buy all the ingredients you will need to cook us a dinner that would make all of us accept you.”
“I will do my best,” Milena said then went outside of the RV to buy the ingredients for the food that she would use for her application.
After Milena was gone, the twins and Nedertu went inside the RV.
“Who is that lady Mark?” Aaron asked.
“She will cook us dinner and all of us will be the judge if she will be our new cook.”
“I don’t know about that. Your food is delicious and it will probably be very hard for her to top that,” Isaac said.
Mark knew that well since the food that he had in his inventory was from the top restaurants from his previous world cooked by chefs with prodigious experiences.
“She doesn’t need to top my food but cooks well enough the local food that it will be adequate to feed us and let us get acquainted with the local cuisines. If, and that’s an if, we don’t like her food we still need to be polite okay?”
The twins nodded and went to their bunkbeds to get their toys from the storage unit under it.
“Are you okay Mark?” Nedertu asked.
“Of course, why do you ask?”
“Well, you’ve been with Natasha for two days and we will be leaving the day after tomorrow…”
“We spent the last two days knowing what would come and we had an understanding a long time ago so both of us already adjusted to the idea of separating once we left the city.”
The twins were busy playing with their toys so Mark took out his tablet and continued reading his favorite web novel.
After about an hour, Milena came back carrying a lot of ingredients. Mark asked Nedertu to teach her how to operate the sink and the stove since his coach already knew how to operate the devices. The cat man even used the stove himself once in a while to cook food for himself and knew very well how to control the stove’ temperature so he was well-equipped to assist Milena.
Mark and the twins could hear Milena’s exclamation about how magical the stove was and how wonderful the refrigerator was. They even heard her utterances about the microwave and the water with different temperatures flowing out from the tap in the sink.
A couple of hours passed and Milena informed them the food was ready.
They all went to the table and saw the different dishes that were laid down on it. Milena explained the different dishes that she cooked.
“This dish is called Beef Shinteno. It’s beef covered in a sauce made from different spices. It was one of my mother’s famous dishes. This one is called Goulanj and it’s a vegetable dish taught to me by the innkeeper’s wife who was my mother’s cousin. This is Chicken Auliano. It’s made from chicken stewed in water and spices and usually we use chicken for the dish but any other birds will do. The last one is called Pork Rudantu. It’s a pork dish made with cheese and spices. The bread is over there. It’s from a bakery but I know how to make my bread and Nedertu showed me your device that would let me bake them. The drinks were from your ice box.”
Mark complimented Milena on how good the food looked but the important part of the test was coming which was the taste.
Everyone ate with gusto and even the twins commented that all of the dishes were delicious. Every comment made by the twins made Milena’s smile bigger and after the meal, there was confidence in the woman’s face showing that she knew she passed the test.
“You’re food is very delicious Milena. You’re hired! That means that you will need to stay with us and cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner and you will need to look after the twins. You have two days off and you can choose when that off will be. The pay will be for two people since you will be a cook and a sitter. Is that acceptable with you?” Mark asked Milena.
“Yes, I gladly accept! Besides this magical home of yours had devices that will make my cooking easy and a delight even. Nedertu even told me that the temperature inside this traveling home is controlled meaning I will not suffer the hotness of summer and bitter cold of winter.” Milena said.
“You will be sleeping here in the living room at night since Nedertu will be sleeping at the cart. You don’t have to worry about bedding or some such thing we will provide you with all of that plus a budget to buy new clothes. The clothing that you’re using from your previous job is not really…suitable here. I will give you more coins and you will need to purchase a lot of ingredients that you will need to store in the storage area in our cart since we will be using that for travel. You can use the rest of the coins for your personal purchases. Of course, we will still sleep here at night and only use the cart during the day when we are traveling. You don’t need to worry about the devices since just list the devices that you want and we will put them in the cart. Please ask Nedertu for assistance.”
Mark gave Milena a pouch full of coins and asked Nedertu to assist her in purchasing all the things that she would need to do her job and to create a list of items that she would want in the cart. He thanked the cat man for his assistance and Nedertu said that he was happy to help.
The two days that Mark spent with Natasha were sweet and bitter at the same time. They enjoyed their love since there was a sense of almost desperation in every moment but during the last hours, he could clearly feel a sense of loneliness and withdrawal from the guard captain.
Natasha was very clear about it. She told Mark that it would be lonely without him but she would get used to it since it was her duty to stay and the next time they meet, if ever they would, she would be married to some noble strengthening her family’s political power. She was treasuring every moment but the time had come to protect herself so she told him that it was time for her to go and retreat inside herself for a time.
After the guard captain left there were two days remaining before the circus left the city of Argent. Mark met with a few people that Hamil recommended for the sitter and cook job and surprisingly one of them was one of the girls of Madam Luzviminda.
“Hello, wizard. My name is Milena.”
“Good Afternoon Milena. Can you tell me more about yourself?” Mark asked the lady.
“I’m one of Madam Luzviminda’s girls but I’m becoming too old to do that work and I still want to be in the circus. I don’t know how to be an actress on a stage nor do any of the other acts. What I can do is cook and I can cook very well since my mother was a cook in an inn in a remote town somewhere. All the townspeople and visitors praised her cooking and she taught me everything she knew. I can also look out for the twins and I know the life in the circus already so I don’t have to learn to adjust.”
Mark was surprised to learn about Milena’s previous occupation and there was a little bit of aversion that almost made him say automatically that he couldn’t accept her but he stopped himself. Everyone had a past and that shouldn’t dictate anyone’s future. Besides, she stated the advantages that she had and they were good.
“Since you’ve been part of the circus for a long time, I’m inclined to give you the job but of course, there would be a test first. Here are some coins, please go to the market and buy all the ingredients you will need to cook us a dinner that would make all of us accept you.”
“I will do my best,” Milena said then went outside of the RV to buy the ingredients for the food that she would use for her application.
After Milena was gone, the twins and Nedertu went inside the RV.
“Who is that lady Mark?” Aaron asked.
“She will cook us dinner and all of us will be the judge if she will be our new cook.”
“I don’t know about that. Your food is delicious and it will probably be very hard for her to top that,” Isaac said.
Mark knew that well since the food that he had in his inventory was from the top restaurants from his previous world cooked by chefs with prodigious experiences.
“She doesn’t need to top my food but cooks well enough the local food that it will be adequate to feed us and let us get acquainted with the local cuisines. If, and that’s an if, we don’t like her food we still need to be polite okay?”
The twins nodded and went to their bunkbeds to get their toys from the storage unit under it.
“Are you okay Mark?” Nedertu asked.
“Of course, why do you ask?”
“Well, you’ve been with Natasha for two days and we will be leaving the day after tomorrow…”
“We spent the last two days knowing what would come and we had an understanding a long time ago so both of us already adjusted to the idea of separating once we left the city.”
The twins were busy playing with their toys so Mark took out his tablet and continued reading his favorite web novel.
After about an hour, Milena came back carrying a lot of ingredients. Mark asked Nedertu to teach her how to operate the sink and the stove since his coach already knew how to operate the devices. The cat man even used the stove himself once in a while to cook food for himself and knew very well how to control the stove’ temperature so he was well-equipped to assist Milena.
Mark and the twins could hear Milena’s exclamation about how magical the stove was and how wonderful the refrigerator was. They even heard her utterances about the microwave and the water with different temperatures flowing out from the tap in the sink.
A couple of hours passed and Milena informed them the food was ready.
They all went to the table and saw the different dishes that were laid down on it. Milena explained the different dishes that she cooked.
“This dish is called Beef Shinteno. It’s beef covered in a sauce made from different spices. It was one of my mother’s famous dishes. This one is called Goulanj and it’s a vegetable dish taught to me by the innkeeper’s wife who was my mother’s cousin. This is Chicken Auliano. It’s made from chicken stewed in water and spices and usually we use chicken for the dish but any other birds will do. The last one is called Pork Rudantu. It’s a pork dish made with cheese and spices. The bread is over there. It’s from a bakery but I know how to make my bread and Nedertu showed me your device that would let me bake them. The drinks were from your ice box.”
Mark complimented Milena on how good the food looked but the important part of the test was coming which was the taste.
Everyone ate with gusto and even the twins commented that all of the dishes were delicious. Every comment made by the twins made Milena’s smile bigger and after the meal, there was confidence in the woman’s face showing that she knew she passed the test.
“You’re food is very delicious Milena. You’re hired! That means that you will need to stay with us and cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner and you will need to look after the twins. You have two days off and you can choose when that off will be. The pay will be for two people since you will be a cook and a sitter. Is that acceptable with you?” Mark asked Milena.
“Yes, I gladly accept! Besides this magical home of yours had devices that will make my cooking easy and a delight even. Nedertu even told me that the temperature inside this traveling home is controlled meaning I will not suffer the hotness of summer and bitter cold of winter.” Milena said.
“You will be sleeping here in the living room at night since Nedertu will be sleeping at the cart. You don’t have to worry about bedding or some such thing we will provide you with all of that plus a budget to buy new clothes. The clothing that you’re using from your previous job is not really…suitable here. I will give you more coins and you will need to purchase a lot of ingredients that you will need to store in the storage area in our cart since we will be using that for travel. You can use the rest of the coins for your personal purchases. Of course, we will still sleep here at night and only use the cart during the day when we are traveling. You don’t need to worry about the devices since just list the devices that you want and we will put them in the cart. Please ask Nedertu for assistance.”
Mark gave Milena a pouch full of coins and asked Nedertu to assist her in purchasing all the things that she would need to do her job and to create a list of items that she would want in the cart. He thanked the cat man for his assistance and Nedertu said that he was happy to help.
