Transcontinental Overload

The group entered the house, each one of them bustling with leftover energy. Eliska didn’t realize that taking them to the National Zoo would make everyone excited. Harry was especially enthusiastic since his arm had healed and he could move freely again. And Louis was almost as excited as Harry was, maybe even more so. He kept trying to make animal noises in each habitat they passed and somehow, Eliska found it endearing.

“Today was fun!” May commented as soon as they all got into the living room and flopped down onto the couch next to Zayn who immediately wrapped an arm casually around her shoulders. “What’s for dinner?” Molly asked, looking at the crew expectantly. At the mention of food, everyone perked up and stopped their chattering about their day at the zoo.

“Please don’t tell us it’s catering food again,” Louis voiced, his face pinched in annoyance and the other grunted, as if agreeing with him. Eliska just leaned against the wall, watching everyone complaining about how they’re tired of the same food for the past week. “It’s curry all the time! My stomach doesn’t even agree with me anymore,” Louis continued. In the background, Niall piped in, ‘what’s wrong with curry? I love it.’

“You love everything, Niall,” Liam said, rubbing the back of his neck. Everyone began talking at once, the room filled with voices. Someone suggested ordering pizza while the other opposed to the idea because it would risk people knowing where they lived at the moment and probably would allow some crazy stalkers coming there.

The filming crew and the producer looked uneasy and the one that was in charge of their food during the duration of the filming was talking to someone on the phone. After a few minutes, he hung up and looked at the group lounging in the living room. “Everyone!” he called out, trying to get everyone’s attention. It took a while for the noise to come a stop but as soon as he got everyone’s attention, he held up his hands in the air. “So I’d called the caterer and good news is, they haven’t prepared your dinner because it’s not for another six hours or so.” As soon as those words left his lips, everyone started talking again. “So!” Everyone quieted down again. “So we can either tell them what exactly all of you want for dinner so they can prepare it. Or…”

“Or I can cook for you guys!” Eliska piped in, suddenly getting excited on the prospect of introducing everyone to other kind of Malaysian food that is not spice-related. She knew some of them were already bored with the heavily-spiced food served to them daily since their arrival in Malaysia and just the day before Louis had complained to her that he couldn’t even smell cloves and peppers anymore. It made him sick. Louis threw her a look that she just dismissed with a shrug. “But some of us need to go and do some shopping though. There’s a Tesco nearby.”

After discussing for a few more minutes, they came to a decision to let Eliska go shopping for ingredients with Louis (‘it would make a great footage for the next episode’, the producer had said. Eliska didn’t know what he meant by that or what he had planned so she didn’t say anything). After changing to less sweaty clothes, the couple got into the car along with a cameraman and a bodyguard to look after their safety. So far, they hadn’t been mobbed viciously by fans but they’re not going to take any chances.

They arrived Tesco after a five minutes’ drive and Eliska didn’t waste time in picking a shopping cart and dragging Louis along with her into the hypermarket. “So I didn’t know you cook,” Louis started as Eliska was picking some prawns at the wet market section. She was quiet for a moment, concentrating on the task at hand. Louis shifted his weight from one foot to another, messing with the roll of plastic next to him.

“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me,” Eliska responded after a few moments. He just hummed at the answer, watching Eliska pushing the cart to another isle. They shopped like that for about half an hour, Louis commenting on little things and Eliska just responded accordingly. Her relationship with Louis had improved greatly since that night but it still took her a while to actually get comfortable. “You want something? Snacks? Or anything?” she asked after she took one last look at her shopping list and saw that she had bought all the ingredients she would need.

Louis shook his head, no. Eliska just nodded, pushing the cart towards the cashier’s counter and waited in line to pay to their purchase. “What are you gonna cook?” Eliska faced Louis who was waiting for her answer with a smile on his face. Then, he peered into the cart. “I see prawns and there are noodles. And… dried chillies?”

“Yeah… I’m planning on making prawn noodles.” Louis bobbed his head up and down, scratching his chin lightly. The queue moved and they took a step forward. “And I also got us some instant prata bread for tomorrow’s breakfast. We can eat it with curry… don’t roll your eyes, it’s good with curry.”

“But we have curry almost every single day.” If anyone asked, Louis would not admit that he was whining. Eliska chuckled a little at him and Louis decided that he actually liked to hear the sound of her laughter. And she had a very beautiful smile.

“You haven’t eaten my curry. It would be different, I promise.” Louis rose his eyebrow and she just smiled wider. Anything Louis wanted to respond was cut when it was finally their turn and after paying, the subject dropped altogether. After everything was paid, they all piled back into the car and drove straight towards the house.

“We’re back, peasants!” Louis announced as soon as they got into the living room, flashing the shopping bags proudly with a wide grin on his face. Eliska shook her head and smiled fondly, watching Louis’ antics. Never had a second passed by in quietly whenever Louis was involved, Eliska had learned that ever since the shooting started. Being a fan of the band, she often read about Louis’ mischievous nature and how the boys often described Louis as the prankster. But being able to see know him on a personal level, it gave her a new perspective on the boy from Doncaster.

She still wasn’t sure whether it was a good thing or a bad thing just yet.

“Come on, let’s take everything to the kitchen so I can start,” Eliska said finally, helping Louis with the bags and walked towards the kitchen. Harry who was talking with Noémie perked up at that.

“Can I help? I love cooking,” he piped in, getting up from his seat, a bright smile spread across his face.

“Yeah, sure.” Her reply was short but it was accompanied by a smile. Soon, the three of them along with the cameraman entered the kitchen. “Put everything on the counter.” She pulled up her hair and tied it into a messy ponytail. She began working quietly, chopping the vegetables and soaking the noodles in hot water. “Harry, maybe you can peel the prawns here and Louis…” she stopped and watched Louis who was just sitting in front of the counter for a few seconds. “You helping?”

Harry laughed at that. “Louis in the kitchen?” Then, he laughed again. Louis shot Harry a warning look but the younger boy kept on laughing as he peeled the prawn. “Keep the heads. I wanna use it for the soup,” Eliska said, washing the vegetables. She put everything neatly in one place where she can easily reach when she needed it and continued on washing the beef ribs. She’s an effective worker, Louis noted.

“You learn to cook from your mum?” Harry asked conversationally. Eliska shook her head.

“No. My mum is a busy woman. I spent my time mostly with my maid. I always sat with her while she’s working in the kitchen and I picked up her cooking skills from there,” she explained, putting the ribs aside. And they continued conversing, sharing secret recipes and favourite dish to prepare. The conversation flowed easily between the two and Louis just watched quietly. It’s not like he didn’t try to butt in but every time he did, the two just acknowledge him for a few seconds before they became enveloped with each other again.

Louis wasn’t impressed.

It took him a while to make Eliska even talk to him but here Harry was, being his usual charming self, joking and laughing with the girl. Louis was not happy. He did the only thing that came to mind. With his elbow, he nudged the glass bowl near him and let it fall onto the kitchen tiled floor. It fell and smashed into pieces, the loud sound filled the whole room, disrupting the conversation. Eliska jumped a little in surprise and both she and Harry turned to look at Louis, both with wide eyes. Louis just puffed out his cheeks and stood up before walking out of the kitchen, crossing his arms in front of his chest like a petulant child.

No one ignored Louis Tomlinson, he fumed internally.