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 the last 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 regained composure, 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 explanation, Toby nodded, then glanced 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 accompanied 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 at last, she stood still.
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’s late, 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 amused laugh, 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 minutes later, 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 glancing 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 rather late 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 Milan. 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 explanation. Now that she remembered, she gave an embarrassed laugh. “I nearly forgot about that dress. I can come by the atelier tomorrow afternoon for the fitting.”
After she had received the invitation from the mall the other day, she asked Daphne to place 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 polite laugh, “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 two large 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 exclaimed, “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 already late, 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 in comfortable silence, and neither one made conversation. The only sound that filled the living room was the slurping that accompanied their eating.
It was a comical 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 welcome 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 was completely surprised by how wonderful the borscht had tasted. The flavors were all there, and Toby’s company 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 she lay 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.
