Chapter 828
Chapter 828 A Heartwarming Dinner
Toby hummed in response as he buttoned up his jacket and said, “Let’s go.”
Sonia took a step forward, but perhaps she was hungry and still groggy from her nap because she
wobbled on her feet. She had only just tried to walk when her legs caved under her weight, and she
toppled forward like a house of cards.
At the sight of this, Toby’s expression froze. He didn’t bother with thest two buttons on his suit jacket
as he reached out to grab Sonia’s arm, then pulled her forcefully upward and into his embrace.
The next second, Sonia found herself pressed against his sturdy chest, and she appeared to be in a
daze. The fact that she had nearly fallen clearly scared her.
Toby held onto her gently. He had one arm around her waist and a hand patting her back softly as he
asked anxiously, “Are you okay?”
She nodded feebly. “I’m fine.”
“What happened just now?” he asked as he gripped her shoulders and put some distance between them
so he could look at her.
She let out a slow breath. Having regainedposure, she replied calmly, “I was hungry, and I guess all
my strength drained out of me because one moment I was standing and the next I was swaying. You saw
what happened after that.”
Upon hearing her exnation, Toby nodded, then nced down at her feet. “Did you sprain your ankle?”
She was wearing heels, and she could have sprained her ankle from a stumble like the one earlier. While
he didn’t hear the sound of popping bones that usually apanied a sprain, he wasn’t taking any
chances.
“No,” Sonia answered with a smile. She shook her head good-naturedly when she saw how anxious he
looked and added, “My ankles are perfectly fine. I promise.” As she said this, she made it a point to turn
her ankle this way and that. When she was done with the right ankle, she proceeded to do the same with
the left, and atst, she stood still.
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Toby was no longer as worried when he saw that she was unhurt. Nodding slightly, he said, “Alright then.
Come on, let’s get back to the apartment. You’re hungry, aren’t you?”
“I am,” she replied.
And just like that, Toby put his arm around her waist and helped her over to the elevators.
Sonia, on the other hand, was kind of hoping that he would let her go so that they didn’t have to hobble,
as two so often did when they were glued at the hips. However, seeing as he was so convinced she
would fall if he let go, she didn’t have the heart to decline his gesture.
They didn’t have to hobble around for long before they reached the apartment.
Sonia set her purse down and grabbed the apron from the living room, then pulled it over herself as she
made her way into the kitchen to get started on dinner.
But she had only just stepped through the kitchen doorway when Toby grabbed her arm and said, “You
don’t have to cook tonight. It’ste, and you’re so famished you can barely walk. I’ll make dinner
instead.”
When she saw how serious he looked, she did not insist on making dinner and handed him the apron
instead as she conceded, “Very well, then. You get to have the kitchen.”
“Dinner will be ready in just a moment,” he promised as he took the apron, then gave her a gentle stroke
on the head before he headed into the kitchen.
She reached up to smooth her hair and let out an amusedugh, then turned to walk into the living room.
She sat down on the couch and watched some television while waiting for the man in the kitchen to
serve dinner.
Ten minutester, Toby was still making dinner, and Sonia was waiting for him patiently when her phone
suddenly rang.
She put the TV show on pause and set the remote control down, then picked up her phone. After
ncing at the caller ID, she put the call through and greeted, “Hello?”
“Hello, Miss Reed. We’re calling from the atelier,” a woman’s voice said pleasantly on the other line.
Sonia nodded. “Yes, I know. This is a ratherte hour for you to be calling. Is there something I can help
you with?”
“Well, we’re actually calling to inform you that the evening dress you ordered has already been shipped
over from Mn. May I know when you would be free to drop by for a fitting so we can see what
alterations need to be made?”
“Oh, the dress!” Sonia hit her head with her palm when she heard the woman’s exnation. Now that
she remembered, she gave an embarrassedugh. “I nearly forgot about that dress. I cane by the
atelier tomorrow afternoon for the fitting.”
After she had received the invitation from the mall the other day, she asked Daphne to ce an order for
an evening dress for her. Some time had passed since then, long enough for her to push this matter to
the back of her mind, where it would have inevitably dwelled forever had it not been for the call from the
atelier.
Presently, the woman on the other line said with a politeugh, “Well, in that case, Miss Reed, we’ll see
you tomorrow at the atelier.”
Sonia hummed in response. “Okay.”
When the call ended, she put her phone down.
Just then, a savory scent came up from behind her. She turned around to see Toby bringing a tray out
from the kitchen, and on it were tworge bowls of something.
He was standing, and she was sitting, so from her vantage point, she couldn’t see what was in the bowls
until Toby bent over to put the tray on the coffee table in front of her. She peered at the familiar coloring
of the soup-like substance in the bowls. Is that borscht?
The borscht was a rich red in color with potatoes, carrots, and other vegetables peeking out. She could
even see the slices of beetroot that had given the soup its distinct auburn-ish coloring. On top of the
soup was a dollop of sour cream garnished with dill. The savory scent she had picked up on earlier must
be from the sour cream.
A bright smile stretched across her face as she stared at the two bowls of soup and eximed, “Wow,
you actually made borscht!”
Toby handed her a spoon and said, “Well, you were hungry, and I didn’t think I had time to make anything
fancy. Borscht happened to be the quickest dish I could think of when I saw beetroot in the fridge. It’s a
simple fare, so I hope you won’t mind.”
Sonia shook her head to dismiss his self-invalidation. “No, it’s not a simple fare at all. You made this from
scratch, and this bowl of borscht is filled with your sentiments. There is no way it’s a simple fare, and I
happen to love borscht.”
With that, she stirred the sour cream into the soup and picked up a spoonful of the concoction, then blew
on it to cool it off for a bit before taking a hearty sip. At once, her eyes lit up, and she gave him an
earnest thumbs-up. “This is delicious! Hey, your culinary skills are improving!”
Toby gave her a lopsided grin. “Of course. I am a man who is constantly improving, after all.”
More importantly, there was no one else he would cook for, and if he wanted to make sure she ate well,
he was going to have to pick up proper cooking skills.
She beamed at him. “Aren’t you a modest one?”
“I’m just stating facts,” he pointed out solemnly as he looked at her.
She nodded. “Yes, yes, you’re factual and constantly improving. Come on, it’s alreadyte, and you’re
probably hungry as well. Also, you made this borscht, and you should definitely try your own cooking.”
Toby chuckled at the way her eyes sparkled when she praised his cooking and nodded as he said,
“Alright.”
They ate their dinner infortable silence, and neither one made conversation. The only sound that
filled the living room was the slurping that apanied their eating.
It was aical sight indeed to see two civilized persons abandon eating at the dining table in favor of
eating at the coffee table.
Every time they bent their heads to wee the next mouthful of borscht, they would quite literally be
head-to-head with each other. There were several times when they bent so far down that they knocked
heads, and while it wasn’t painful, the thud that came from it was still audible.
After each knock, they would look up and meet eyes, then exchange amused smiles before they went on
eating. Then, they would knock heads again, and exchange an amused look and a smile, and this
process repeated itself several times until they finally polished off their bowls of soup.
Sonia set her spoon down and leaned into the couch, practically lying on it as she patted her stomach.
Her eyes were heavily lidded as a contented smile spread over her delicate face.
She waspletely surprised by how wonderful the borscht had tasted. The vors were all there, and
Toby’spany only made the dinner all the better. She had so heartily slurped up the soup that she felt
like she might burst now, and as shey there on the couch, she didn’t think she would ever consider
moving again.
She wasn’t the only one feeling this way, for Toby looked like he was happily stuffed from dinner, too.
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