Past, Present and Passion

Cookies

Charles and Kelsey walked lazily down the cobbled streets. Simply enjoying each other’s company. Suddenly Kelsey had an idea. “Could we stop by the market before we head to the cottage?”

“Sure thing,” Charles smiled and guided her to the left toward the market.

After finding the items she was looking for, they returned to their walk home. Charles carried her bags in one hand and the other was wrapped around her waist. She couldn’t help but glance at him every few minutes, admiring his handsome profile and relishing in the fact that she was with him. She felt like she had won some sort of prize. He was literal perfection.

Once at home, Kelsey made her way into the kitchen and announced, “I’m going to bake you my famous chocolate chip cookies!” She grinned widely at Charles, who grinned back.

“Only if you let me help,” he pulled her close and kissed her neck. Kelsey playfully pushed him away, “alright but you have to take this seriously. Come now, here’s an apron.” She had found several aprons in the pantry, picked the girliest one and slipped it over his head.

“Oh yes! Now this is what I’m talking about.” He tied the string around his waist and twirled around. “How do I look?”

Kelsey giggled and put her own apron on. “You look ready to bake!” She began to pull out all her ingredients, explaining each one to Charles. He paid close attention, while giving her flirty looks and random kisses the whole time. She couldn’t help but wonder if this would be what life could be like all the time. Could they have a life together? It was too early to think like that. She was just having a fling she insisted in her head.

“Now we scoop on to the pan and bake!”

Charles sat in a stool across the counter from her as she scooped. “So tell me, do you have any idea who this “T” might be? Do you think it’s the same person she is referring to in her letter?”

Kelsey looked thoughtful. “I have a feeling it is. I’m trying to piece it together. For one, why didn’t she want to say his name in the letter? Secondly, why did she need to make up a name for this person?”

“Welllll, to me that makes it sound as if he was a regular person, maybe even a servant or someone who worked for the royal family? She could have fallen in love with someone that was beneath her. In those times, she wouldn’t have had the option to marry that person. But if she had this opportunity, she could say he was someone he wasn’t and they could be together.”

Kelsey dropped her scoop. “Yes! And that would explain why she didn’t use his name. In case the letter was ever found, or read by someone else, there wouldn’t be any proof of who he actually was!” Kelsey smiled at him. She loved that he was engaging her in her work. “Here’s a question though, why is it that the letter she sent to her dad, is with her things. How was it passed down through her own kids?”

“Hmmmm”, Charles placed his hand on his chin and looked up at the ceiling, deep in thought. Kelsey couldn’t take her eyes off of him. Could he actually look more gorgeous? “Ok, so what do you think about this? I have two ideas. A, her dad refuses to go along with the scheme, returns her letter with one of his own m, saying no, and she has to find someone else. Or B, he sends her lover, maybe T, and sends the letter back with him, removing all evidence from the king that could create issues for him if found later?”

“Yeah that’s true, if it got out that she lied about who he was, the king could get caught up in it and have bad press too. Yeah, that’s a great theory.” She met his eyes and gave him a flirty smile. “I like talking about my work with you. Thanks for humoring me.”

“What? Humoring?” Charles looked bewildered. “I enjoy talking about it. I like history. I find it all very interesting. I think your job is fascinating.” He reached over and pulled her to him. “I think you’re fascinating. And I’m not faking being interested in you or your job.” His gaze into her eyes was intense. She could feel it all the way in her soul. She leaned in to kiss him just as the buzzer for her cookies went off. She jumped up and ran to the oven.

“They’re done!” Charles followed her over, admiring how nice they looked.

“They smell amazing!” He looked around and found a spatula and platter to put the cookies on.

“Ok let them cool a minute, I’ll get us some milk. Wait, do Brits drink milk with their cookies?”

“Well, we really don’t have a lot of American type of cookies here. But in my travels I have had many a cookies and milk. My dad did a lot of business in the states, we went to New York and Los Angeles a lot. The hotels always gave me cookies and milk when I was a kid.”

Kelsey poured the milk and sat it down in front of him. “I guess we shall see if my cookies are as good as the cookies at your fancy hotels!” She scooped the cookies on to the platter and sat it down between them. They each took one and she said “ok, try it.”

Charles ate the cookie in two bites. “Hmmm! These are amazing!” He grabbed another and devoured it, washing it down with a swig of milk.

“Wait wait, you have to dip it in the milk!” Kelsey was giggling at the chocolate on his lips and the milk mustache above them.

Charles grabbed another cookie and said “not a problem,” he dipped the cookie in the milk and ate the whole thing in one bite. “These are the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had. Hands down.”

Kelsey beamed. She knew he was probably exaggerating but she didn’t care. Jared had never acted like this when she made him cookies. He had said “these are really good, a bit sweet though, maybe a little less sugar next time?” Which was fine, but it felt really good to hear someone give her such praise. Her heart felt full. And her body felt needy.

She stepped close to him and seductively wiped the chocolate off his lips with her finger, then gently leaned down and kissed his luscious lips. They tasted sweet and Kelsey couldn’t get enough. Before they knew it, they were in her bed, their naked bodies entangled in the sheets. She would never, ever look at chocolate chip cookies the same again.