BXBX NOVEL Chapter 9 - Breakfast
Clive who had been standing quietly to the side in the dinning room while Samuel and Lena had their exchanged offered to show Samuel to the kitchen and make sure that they understood that it was under Lena's request that he was in the kitchen making the food himself rather than asking them to do it.
"I do apologize young Sir. The Princess can be a bit of a handful at times, but it isn't a direct result of the fact that she doesn't like you but rather because she doesn't like being forced to rely on anyone else."
"It's okay, I understand that this situation isn't exactly probably what she herself was hoping. Plus, it's only my second day here. I also haven't gotten the chance to ask her how she feels about this situation but based on her reaction I can only assume she isn't thrilled with it."
"You will want to speak with her or her father on that matter as I will not speak out of turn in order to avoid disrespect." Clive replied, opening the door to the kitchen so that Samuel could enter.
The kitchen like everything else in the house felt like it was twice as large as necessary despite the number of people that lived within the mansion. There were ingredients, cookware, and utensils that Samuel had never seen before and had no clue what their purpose was. Also like every other room in the house, the color scheme was setup in a way that appeasing to the eyes with a gray main design that was combined with red and wood tones.
Everyone of the staff immediately became on high alert the moment that two of them entered. He wasn't sure if this due to the fact this was their space and they didn't like strangers coming into or if they were concerned there was a problem, Clive was quick to smooth it over.
"You may all be at ease, there's nothing to worry about. This is young Sir, Samuel here and by request of the Princess as he is to be her suitor in the future, she has asked from him to specially prepare her breakfast this morning. I assume that this will not be a problem?" There was some murmuring and exchanging of uncertain looks before a man stepped forward. He appeared to be rather young still but by appearance and the way that everyone quieted down the moment that he stepped forward; one could assume that he was perhaps the head chief.
"If it's an order from the Princess, I have no problem with that at all as long as I can be assured nothing will be out of place or damaged."
"If there is a system to the way everything is setup here, I will do my best to follow it." Samuel chose to reply for himself rather than relying on Clive.
"Right then. The name's Ryan, I'm the head chief here and I will offer you some help with getting to understand how everything is organized in the kitchen considering you're new here." He held out his hand which Samuel gave a firm shake to. "I am not sure what the Princess intends for your stay here, but we can work on getting you used to everything over time if she intends for you to make her meals each morning, for now I will just show you where commonly used ingredients are.
"Thank you." Samuel replied, gratefully that he wasn't going to have go through everything himself to find what he was looking for. He supposed Ryan also did this for a selfish reason as this was his space and he probably didn't need someone coming along and messing anything up that he would later have to fix or worry about getting yelled at for.
"Everyone else can be dismissed for this morning. I will be responsible for everything this morning so there's no need for anyone else to be hanging around. Also, thank you Clive. You can inform the Princess that her food will be on the way shortly."
"Thank you, and young Sir, good luck." Clive replied as he too made his way out of the kitchen leaving Samuel and Ryan alone.
"I'm not sure how familiar you are with working in a more large-scale kitchen, but once you get used to the basic organization of it, it becomes pretty easy to find things you need that you haven't used before. Do you have any ideas in mind of what the Princess might want for breakfast?" Ryan asked as he led Samuel towards the back of the kitchen where the pantry, fridge, and freezer was located.
"Not really, she just told me to make whatever I think would be fitting for breakfast. Do you have any input?" Samuel had ideas of what he would want to make, but he didn't feel very confident about where to start.
"I have worked here for quite a few years already, but I have never known the Princess to be picky when it comes to food as long as there is plenty of flavor. Desserts are not allowed during breakfasts hours, but I would recommend keeping it in mind for the future that she is partial to certain sweets. Bribery would be a bad word to use in this situation, but it may come in useful in the future to leverage things if your favor." Ryan offered.
"Thank you, I will keep that in mind." Samuel genuinely appreciated the advice.
"Tell me what you have in mind and I will direct you to where you need to find it." Ryan told him as he stood with his arms crossed while waiting for other to make his decision.
Samuel decided on fried potatoes, sausage biscuits with cheese and egg fried sandwiches with bacon. He used cheddar for the sausage biscuits and pepper jack with the eggs. He wasn't entirely certain that the food was going to be Lena's taste, but Ryan had shown him to where the spices along with other ingredients were located before left him and he tried his best to make sure that everything was spiced to what he hoped would be Lena's satisfaction.
Samuel picked the plates that were used to serve breakfast on and tried his best to make sure the presentation was good as well. He may not have been the best cook, but he had tried to learn as much as his mother had been willing to teach him about cooking.
When he brought it out to Lena, he could tell by her face that she was thinking "Took you long enough to finish." But she didn't say anything as she waited for him to bring the food over. Once the plate waLs set in front of her, rather than tucking into it right away she looked at it for a short while as though trying to assess by look what it was and if it would taste good.
"It doesn't look bad, although these foods aren't ones I am very familiar with." She finally spoke, motioning to the sausage biscuits and egg sandwich.
"This is something my mother would commonly make for our breakfast. It isn't particularly fancy, but I always enjoyed it." Lena only made a 'hmm' sound as she picked up the plate, preparing to try what he had made her. Samuel had made his own food as well, but he wanted to wait until he was certain that she liked the food before sitting down to enjoy his own meal.
Lena tried the Sandwich first, and although she didn't say anything, he could see the way her eyes light up after she started to taste the flavor, he hoped that meant she liked it. Even though the food was a touch on the messy side, Lena somehow managed to keep a graceful air about herself as she ate silently. She took a second bite of the sandwich before moving on to the biscuit.
"I have never thought of sausage and cheese as a good combination." She murmured as he looked the biscuit over. Being a drop biscuit, it was also messier looking than what she was used to.
"It generally isn't, but in this situation, it works well because it's like having a cheese and sausage sandwich, but rather than being between two slices of bread, it is baked in with the bread." Samuel explained, but by the look on the Lena's face, he could only guess she was unaware of what a sausage and cheese sandwich was.
"The food is acceptable enough." Lena finally gave him an answer on the quality of food which meant he could sit down and enjoy his own breakfast. "I won't complain too much although this isn't what I am used to eating. I won't object if you keep making such stuff along with more familiar dishes you will see being eaten here. If you're going to be my husband, then you're going to need to know how to cook dishes of a high quality and level that present an air of sophistication." The answer sufficient for Samuel for now, he had hoped for something a little nicer, but he could work on that especially if he got a chance to make her dessert over the next week.