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you the best steak surprise you’ve ever tasted…”
Karen laughed at the funny man who stood in front of her. Blake placed his hands on her shoulders, turned her around and pointed in the direction of the living room. “Get your arse in there and leave me to impress you with my cooking skills.”
Karen still howled with laughter, but did as she was told.
For the next hour or so all she could hear was clattering coming from the direction of where Blake was supposed to have been making dinner. “Is everything okay in there? You haven’t smashed any of my good crockery have you?”
“Babe, everything’s brilliant. It’s all under control, and no, I haven’t broken anything.” The quick snapping reply came.
“Just checking…”
A strange aroma floated into the living room.
“Jesus Christ, Blake, what’s that smell? Is there something burning?”
Why did she have to say it like she’s taking the piss? he thought.
The oven released smoke and looked like a fire-breathing dragon after spraying deadly flames on its prey. This wasn’t a good sign for Blake.
“Don’t panic. It’s nothing serious, just a slight problem. There’s nothing to worry about. You sit down and watch some television. Dinner won’t be long now.”
Karen wasn’t convinced that Blake had the situation under control, but gave him the benefit of the doubt this time. The television was switched on, but the screen was fuzzy. “I can’t watch it. The storm must’ve blown the aerial off the roof. If I can’t be entertained by that then I could help you with dinner?”
“No, no, no, you sit back down. Do some knitting or something. Everything’s cool. I’m fine on my own.”
Karen didn’t listen this time. She became too eager to see what he had or hadn’t achieved in the last hour so headed for the kitchen where she was met with an appalling mess. “Blake.” There was a major pause as her eyes scanned the area. “When have you ever known me to do any knitting?”
“Well now’s a good time to start learning. You’ve no excuses. I might be in here for some time, so knit me a jumper or something. Christmas is only nine months away. I’ll definitely be out of here by then, so you can give it to me as a present.”
Karen didn’t want to start laughing again but couldn’t force herself to be angry with him. She should’ve shouted at Blake for the mess he’d made but he was such a sweetheart with his apron on. He was trying so hard to impress her, even though he was the worst bloody chef she’d ever seen in her life. “I’m being serious now, I’ll go back into the other room but I won’t be knitting you any jumpers, cardigans or woolly hats. However, I am going to let you have another half an hour to come up with something resembling edible food.”
She slowly walked away grinning, deep down predicting that he wouldn’t manage to meet the set target.
Blake was left once again alone in the smoke-filled kitchen. With a scratch of the head he opened the window to release the black, charcoal-tasting smog. He’d more important worries on his mind now than think about the rain splashing through the opening.
He looked at the oven, knowing the steaks were ruined before opening the door. Oh well , he thought. Looks like I’m going to have to think of something else.
At 9.00pm on the dot, dinner was finally completed. The smoke had cleared and Blake was at last on top of the situation. “Dinner’s ready. Come and get it,” he shouted.
Those weren’t the words that his beloved expected to hear and her theory had backfired.
He shouted for Karen to close her eyes as she came into the kitchen. He wanted to astonish her, so she agreed, but as she moved past the doorway, Blake reached out and led her toward the kitchen table. “You can open your eyes now.”
Karen’s reaction to the sight in front of her wasn’t good and her hopes of a delicious, succulent, steak feast were deeply dashed when she saw what stared back at her. What’d