"Jenny, what exactly did you say you want to cook?" Damian, my friend asked me.
He and Emily were my friends and they had come to see me do one of my dish tryouts. And, I had planned on cooking a meal that I'd fantasized about for a very long time.
"Chill out, D. You're being too anxious and that's bad for business." I responded as I took out the items I had gotten for the cooking.
"But I think we should at least have an idea of what you intend to cook." He pressed on.
"Let her be. All her tryouts have been great so far, maybe she wants to surprise us." Emily responded to him in my defense.
"Thanks, Emily, your unfailing faith in me will be rewarded soon." I said to her with a smile.
Damian scoffed and rolled his eyes. It wasn't a new thing for me. He has always had the habit of rolling his eyes whenever I and Emily agreed on something that didn't sit well with him. And his worries about what I want to cook too isn't a thing to be surprised about. Damian was always scared for his safety especially when it came down to what he ate. He'll never partake in any of the dish tryouts unless he is sure that I've had it first and maybe two days after I've had it, I was still healthy. That was the only way of convincing him to try a new dish, but on this very day, it was going to be a first for all of us and he was nervous about it.
"If you open a restaurant, I'm sure you'll be arrested in two days for all these crazy tryouts." Damian had said to me on one of our many tryouts.
"Jenny, is that noodles?" Emily suddenly asked me. I heard the shock in her voice.
"Yes." I gave her a short response.
"But what's the role of the noodles in all of these?" She asked me again.
"Emily, just trust me. Okay!!!" I responded and returned to my preparations.
"Well, I can't and I don't trust you on this one." Damian blurted out.
"You're not my problem, Damian and I do not need your opinion. The truth is, you'll still stuff your stomach with whatever I create with these. You always do and today won't be an exception." I said to him and he hummed a response.
The room was quiet for a while. Damian and Emily were both busy with their phones and I concentrated on arranging my cooking items. When I was done with it, I clapped my hands to get their attention.
"So guys, here we are on this wonderful day to embark on the journey of dish tryouts, and today I'll be recreating a popular Korean dish." I announced.
Damian waved his head from right to left and exclaimed "Oh my God!!!" I laughed when he did that.
"Which dish in particular are you talking about?" He asked me.
"RAMEN!!!" I screamed in excitement.
"Sorry Jenny, is that a mushroom on the table?" Emily asked, her eyes bulging out.
"Jesus, Emily, stop doing that with your eyes. It's a mushroom and I think it's an important ingredient for this dish." I explained to her.
"You think!!!" Damian exclaimed, looking at me. He turned back to Emily. "Do you still want to try this out?" He asked her.
Emily's face was filled with doubt and concern.
"Look, Jenny, I don't want t ino sound horrible but I think we should leave this particular dish for another time in the future." Emily suggested.
"Whoa, you can't even hide your distrust. Can you? And for your information, your suggestion sounded horrible to my ears." I said to Emily with a feigned tone of annoyance.
"I trust you, Jenny. All the dishes we've tried out so far have turned out great but this one... anyway, just go ahead with it. We'll see the result when you're done." Emily responded.
When both of them stopped whining and complaining, I continued my speech, which was something I usually did before proceeding with my cooking.
"So, if you are a fan of Japanese movies, you'll see that this is a popular dish amongst them. But we're trying out the Korean style with my recipe because I couldn't get all the items they use for theirs." I paused and continued. "So, I'll be using our ingredients for the recreation of this Korean dish." I ended my tale.
"What's the egg and carrots for, Jenny?" Damian asked me.
"Well Damian, if you had taken any of your studies seriously, you would've known that you need all the nutrients you can get, from a meal. Pay attention and learn." I responded to him.
I split the veggies and gave them to wash and cut. Emily took care of the carrots and some Capsicum annum, which is the popular Bell pepper. I gave the curry leaf to Damian and he made a face.
"What exactly do we need these leaves for? It's just a noodle." Damian complained again.
"It's a soup noodle, moron." I said in response.
"Who uses carrots to make a soup?" He asked again.
"Can you please shut up and cut the onion? I need them now." I snapped at him.
"I don't have a good feeling about this." He calmly said.
"When have you ever had a good feeling about anything? I'm done listening to you, D." I said to him, already annoyed with his nagging and unending complaint.
"Damian, let her do her thing. You're distracting her and if anything should go wrong, it'll be on you." Emily advised him.
Some minutes later, all the ingredients were ready and my pot was already on fire. The cooking didn't take long and its aroma filled the room. I was satisfied with it and when I sniffed in, I felt happy and Emily nodded me a smile.
"It's not about the aroma. Let us have a taste of it." Damian said.
"Damian, your lack of faith in me is too bad. I strongly suggest that you repent." I said to him.
"Whatever Jenny." He responded.
I poured the whole content into a big bowl and I set it on the table in front of Damian. He frowned.
"I thought we'd be using chopsticks." Emily said as she picked up a fork.
"That's expensive. I'll get it later but for now, we'll make do with what we have." I replied to her.
I took a spoonful into my mouth and I was proud of my creativity. The noodle was tasty and its aroma was topnotch, thanks to the curry leaf I had added to it.
"Damian, dig in." Emily said and nudged him.
" I can't. It's too hot, so I'll eat mine later." He said.
"Your loss." I teased him and he smiled.
I and Emily devoured the whole bowl and I promised to make another soup noodle for Damian, as we couldn't spare anymore for him to eat.
Source
Soon, they went home and I was left alone in my room. A few hours after they had gone, Emily called me and complained about a stomach upset. I told her it might be because of the hotness of the food and after some little talk, the call ended. I felt a rush in my stomach, it seemed like a thousand cars were passing through it. I bolted into the restroom and emptied my bowels.
I can't tell how long I had spent in the restroom but when I came out, I felt very weak. It seemed like I had lost a hundred pounds of weight. This went on till dawn and by then, my face was so flushed with pain and weakness.
Damian managed to bring Emily over to my place as we both suffered from the diarrhea. He tended to us and teased us at every chance he got and we couldn't do anything about it.
"I told you I had a bad feeling about this but you wouldn't listen." He said to me.
"How was I to know that it'll turn out this way?" I asked him.
"At least, you can still talk. It's a good thing." He responded and that annoyed the hell out of me. "When are we having our next tryouts Chef Jenny?" He asked and giggled.
"I hate you, D." I muttered.
"I know." He said and laughed.
'I will never try out any dish again.' I said to myself.
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