Strawberry Kisses Phavy Prieto (bookstand for reading TXT) 📖

But now it was all real: I was living in my own film and could decide the plot myself.

As the intercom rang, I ran to store the suitcases in the closet as Damian had said. A young girl appeared on the intercom screen.

"Yes?" I answered politely instead of opening directly.

"Mr. Devoir? It’s Amelie," she replied with a French accent.

I opened and waited patiently until Amelie came out of the elevator dragging a cart with the food to be prepared.

According to Damian's requests, she had organized a less elaborate menu that did not reveal the culinary art of a great chef. The menu consisted of a selection of cheeses, pâté and vegetable rolls as appetizers, stuffed chicken with aromatic herbs and potatoes in pepper sauce as a main course, and orange cake with chocolate sauce for dessert. According to the chef, the final result was going to be perfect for the occasion, while I was just hoping that the chicken would not burn or the cake did not turn sour because of me, in case that woman had asked me to help her cook.

In the end I just limited myself to peeling potatoes, to respect the cooking times and, above all, to arrange the food into plates so that it really looked like it was prepared by me.

Once the cake was ready and the chicken baked, I asked Amelie for her phone number to possibly give me express cooking classes in case I needed to impress more diners. That woman was exceptional! In just an hour and a half she prepared everything. She was worth her weight in gold.

"Is everything ready? It smells good!" Damian exclaimed.

"That orange cake must be spectacular!" I said as my mouth watered only at the thought of how long I had to wait before tasting it. Damian's parents were going to come in half an hour, and I still had to have a shower and get ready.

"You are spectacular!" he reassured me, giving a fleeting kiss on my lips. "Luckily, I'll have you all to myself in that bed tonight."

"Do you have any sinister plan, Mr. Devoir?" I asked, mesmerized by those eyes full of passion.

"Maybe I have some handcuffs somewhere," he said coming closer as I took steps backwards without knowing exactly whether or not I would bump into any piece of furniture in the house, "although my plans, far from being sinister, are more inclined to be very pleasant," he added with a vague smile that made me melt. "It's pretty late so I'll take a shower first. Although I'd love to drag you into the shower with me, honey."

That sentence only made one thing clear to me: sooner or later I would share that shower with Adonis.

Chapter XVII

I began to meticulously set the table with the finest porcelain I found in the kitchen cabinets: elegant and beautiful with gray decorations on the edges. Even though I had never been an expert in the field, the memories of some interior design magazines helped me to set up a beautiful table complete with candles and decorations. It was my only satisfaction in organizing that dinner.

I took a quick shower, unfortunately by myself. I had already put my clothes aside for that evening while Damian was getting ready: something sober and elegant without looking like I wanted to impress. I put on cute panties, stockings, a tight light blue midi dress, and a pair of comfortable skin-tone stilettos. After a quick touch-up of my make-up I headed to the living room from where I could hear the voices of my in-laws already.

At that moment I remembered that I hadn't put on any perfume or deodorant and that my intention to make a good impression was going to die there.

I'm a disaster.

"You didn't tell me she was so pretty!" was the first thing I heard before I looked up, because I was focused on controlling myself so as not to hyperventilate and sweat, although I knew my body would react in some other way to create new embarrassing situations.

I had no experience in meeting in-laws, because I had never met any of them. I was more lost than a shrimp in a desert. It would have been more likely for me to bake a delicious orange cake, rather than be nice to a mother-in-law who was afraid I could take her child away.

You’re going to be a daughter-in-law for only two weeks, Maria. So grit your teeth and move on.

"Hi," I said not knowing what I was supposed to say.

"Come, honey," said my saviour, handsome in his sky-blue and white striped shirt. He held out his hand to get me closer to them and wrapped his arm around my waist, "This is my mother, Elisabeth, and this is my father, Ismael."

"Nice to meet you," I said, holding out my hand to Damian's mother. "I'm…"

"Maria!" she exclaimed, approaching affectionately to give me two kisses.

So the bad reputation of mothers-in-law is an urban legend, and it turns out they are caring and lovely women?

"You must forgive my wife. She is extremely happy that our son is finally getting married. Nice to meet you, Maria. I have heard a lot of good things about you in the company. Your resume is impressive," said Damian's father, making me blush.

"Have you already investigated her, dad? I thought you would wait at least until tomorrow," Damian said ironically.

"Relax, son. I found it curious that Maria worked in our company and for this reason I asked for some information. I think that's normal, considering she'll be part of the family, right? I beg your pardon if this may have offended you. It seems that I don’t do anything good lately."

"Don't worry, you didn't offend me at all," I replied smiling because I found this little family squabble cute and adorable.

I thought of