Mayas POV

Before we went to James home, we stopped at a local grocery store to buy all the essential ingredients that I needed to make the food. When we got all the things we needed we headed back to the house.

As we walked into his house I was immediately met by the cutest dog in the whole world.

"You have a dog?" I grinned and loved that his dog was so friendly.

"Yeah, his name is Nico" he said while he took his shoes off. I was sitting in a squat position while petting Nico. Nico was so thrilled to see James and he was especially curious to see me. His tail was wagging like crazy!

I didn't notice anything about his house since I got inside as I was quite busy playing with Nico. I felt a pair of eyes piercing through my back and caught James staring at me and Nico.

"What?" I asked him still playing with the dog.

"Nothing, it's just... Nico usually doesn't act this way when he meets new people"

"Oh, what does he do normally?"

"Well, he would bark or step back to observe first. I think he likes you if he already behaves like this". I smiled back at James and felt relieved to know that the dog in this house liked me.

"Well, then at least this cutie pie isn't reserved as much as the owner, I guess". I smirked at him and saw that he understood what I meant. He just looked at me without replying to it.

As Nico followed James in the living room, I finally noticed how big the house was. It wasn't a luxury house with a pool like some celebrity stars house. It was rather more classic and cozier with a feeling of home. But it was clear to see that a man lived in this house.

Boy, this man needed to decorate this home a bit more! In some way I wondered what was missing about it. I couldn't quite figure it out. When I stood there and thought for a while the thought hit me. It needed some warmth. Some warm colors... Something more personal, like pictures of family and friends and stuff like that. All the walls were bare and felt like they were all alone and nude. But he surely had style when it came to the interior. The living room had some nice couches in black leather with a small table in wooden in the middle. I walked through the living room into the next room. The bathroom was much bigger than mine and there was so much space. I walked inside and looked in awe. How I wanted a bathroom like this one!

"Do you want to check the kitchen out Maya?" He stood at the door frame with Nico by his side. I nodded and followed him to the kitchen. When I saw the kitchen I almost fell on my knees. The kitchen was beautiful!

It had dark brown cabinets with two double doors. The table was made of marble and was shining so clear. It almost looked like the kitchen never got used. I walked along the kitchen table with my hand sliding against the shining surface. I had a huge smile on my face, and I could see that James was watching me as I walked.

"This kitchen is absolutely amazing James! I love how big and spacious it is. It almost looks like no one uses it!". I turned to meet his eyes. He smiled a little and said:

"Well, you're are right, I don't really cook that much so..."

"You don't?" My eyes widened in disbelief. "How can you not feel the urge to use this kitchen. It's the best place in a home!" I grinned at him.

"I never feel like I have the time to cook for myself because of my work, so I usually eat take out or something".

"James... Can you cook?"

There was complete silence. He didn't answer me and looked away. Then he cleared his throat and said: "No, I can't cook".

I started laughing. This man had the most beautiful kitchen and yet he didn't know how to cook. How I wished I could kick him out of this house and live here myself!

I pulled myself together again and decided it was time for me to really show some love to this kitchen. As I started to roam around looking for each necessary thing, I told James to go in and take a shower. He looked so tired and I didn't mind staying in the kitchen all by myself.

I didn't quite check what time it was by now, but James hadn't come out from the shower yet. I had made the rice and now I was making the chicken curry with a side dish too. The whole kitchen was beginning to smell so good. I loved using all the delicious spices. I saw that there was a little radio on the side table, I went and turned it on to listen to some music while cooking. As I found the right music channel, I started to freestyle to the music that was coming out of the speakers. I got so lost in the music and did a shake with my whole body. I twirled and then moved my hips to the beat. I was so caught in it that I didn't notice that I had an audience by now.

As I turned around to make a new move I stopped quickly as I caught James staring at me with a smirk on his face. He tried to suppress his laugh, but he failed at last. He burst out in laughter by seeing me fooling around. I gathered myself, all embarrassed, and stirred the curry now.

Why did you have to make a fool out of yourself, Maya! Now he saw this goofy and weird side of you... He will definitely think you are weird.

James was not in his suit anymore. He looked much more relaxed now in a plain t-shirt and some jogging trousers on. His hair was wet and some of the hair strands were hanging down close to his eyes. He looked fresh and calm now. He came closer to me and reached his head right over my shoulder to have a chance to smell the food.

"What is it?"

"It's chicken curry" I said. I was a bit nervous at our close proximity but tried to ignore it.

As the curry was made, I put it on the dining table with the rice beside it. I served some rice on his plate and put some curry on it too. He inhaled the smell that hit his nostrils and he looked curious.

"Thanks, it smells nice". I turned back to make eye contact with him. He gave me a little smile. Oh, this was interesting. I looked forward to seeing his face when he was going to eat the food.

As he was about to go after the knife and fork, he stopped right there. I looked at him. His eyes roamed all over the table.

"Maya, I think you forgot to bring the fork and knife for the food".

I smirked at him. "No, not quite actually. This food is better when eating with your one hand.

"Excuse me?" now he had a frozen stare directly at me.

"That's how we do it where I come from. Rice is eaten with a hand not with a spoon or fork".

Slowly James' face started to pale. His lips were tightly closed together, and he looked a bit puzzled over this. His reaction wasn't that big of a surprise for me though. Rose had the same reaction. But I could completely understand why. This was in the culture of mine to do so, while Americans used knives and forks. That's just how it was. I didn't really mind. When I thought about it for a bit, I smiled at him.

"Relax, you don't have to do it if that's too much for you. I will get a knife and fork for you". I got out of the chair and walked into the kitchen to get it for him. Silly me, of course that would be weird for him in the first place. If he preferred it this way, I was also okay with it.

When I came back, I gave him the silverware and sat down again.

"Thanks"

"No problem" I gave him a warm smile.

He cleared his throat and then scratched the back of his head. "don't you need some of these too?" he asked hesitantly.

"No, I'm good. I prefer to eat this food with my hand" I raised my right hand at him and waved for fun. "If that's okay with you?".

"Sure, sure. No problem" his reply was a silent mumble.

He took his first bite and sat there silently chewing it all. I waited for his reaction. I wanted to see if he was a person who could handle spicy food or not. He looked up at me with eyes wide open.

"Well, what do you think?" I asked him.

"This is amazing. Wow, I'm really surprised about the flavors!" He took one more bite and then sighed. I saw his tense muscles relax a little bit.

My brain was overruled by colorful fireworks out of pure joy!

He liked the food! Yay!

"It's not bad as you thought it would be?"

"Are you kidding Maya? This is so delicious. I never thought that food like this would satisfy my tongue in such a way."

I sat there silently and observed him. I was relieved.

After a while just eating in silence, I could feel him staring at me intensely. "What?" I asked him while taking another mouthful of rice and curry.

"How do you do that?" he seemed curious and confused at the same time.

"Oh, how I eat with the hand?"

"Yeah, you know what, let me try it" I saw him go over to the sink to wash his hand now. As he came back and sat down, he looked at me. He wanted to try and eat with his hand?

"Well, are you just going to stare at me, or do you intend to teach me how to eat this properly?"

"Uh.. yeah, I, I-I didn't think you wanted to".

"I know, but I want to try it anyway. Besides you dared me to be a part of your world, right? Might as well do it properly" he winked at me.

I beamed at him. Wow, James was really surprising me tonight!

When he finally got the hang of it, he was so proud of himself. Nico sat beside us watching us with his wagging tail. When he finished eating, he sighed and closed his eyes in satisfaction.

"This was amazing, and you are really a nice cook"

"Thank you" I blushed at his compliment.

A compliment from him made me so happy and I couldn't stop smiling.