Arrow Inferno
Chapter 22: Stanley ‘STAN’ Norris vs. Ian ‘WILL’ Williams ~ Danger and charm… The Date!

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Stan opened the door and grinned at the smiling man who held two large grocery bags in each hand. "Thank you so much, Mr. Osei." He took the bags from the cook.

He'd given the cook a list of things he needed to cook the mashed potatoes that Will had requested for. The soldier had said he didn't mind the accompaniment as long as it was good so Stan had decided to go with beef and mushroom sauce and lamb chops.

"You're welcome, Mr. Stan." The cook grinned. "I hope Yaw has brought all the cooking utensils you requested for."

"He has, thanks."

"Good, good. Hey, Mr. Will." He called out when he saw Will appear behind Stan. Even though they'd both asked him to call them by their first names, the cook always added Mr. which never failed to make them smile.

"Hello, Agya Sei." Will addressed the cook by the name the Ghanaians around affectionately called him. Agya in their local dialect meant father but could also be used to address a male as a form of respect. "Today Stan is going to show me what he's made of." He grinned as he shook the cook's hand in greeting. "If we don't show up for lunch, then it's either we're dead from consuming his terrible meal or we're too full to eat anymore."

The cook laughed. "You won't die. Bad food never kills anyone. I added two aprons."

"Oh, he'll be the only one wearing one." Will laughed.

"You should help him." Then he looked past Will at Stan who had turned to go. "Call me if you need anything, Mr. Stan."

"Will do that, Mr. Osei, thanks."

"We'll see you tomorrow," Will said as the man turned to leave. But he turned to give Will a curious look.

"Won't you be coming for dinner?"

"Not today." At the cook's nod, he added, "It's not Jollof, I hope..."

"No. We'll be having fries but there will also be cassava flakes and peanut butter soup." The cook responded with a straight face.

"You mean gari..." Both Will and the cook burst into laughter. "What the hell is that?" Will briefly looked behind him when he heard the sound of grinding coming from the suite.

"That's the food processor." The cook chuckled.

"Right. I'll take my cassava flakes in the morning then." They had no training in the morning so he could afford to eat a heavy breakfast.

"No problem, Mr. Will. Bye."

Will closed and locked the door and then started for the kitchen. Finally, they had a weekend off so as had been agreed, Stan was going to cook for him. The anticipation had been so high it almost felt like a date. He'd chosen mashed potatoes because he'd missed it. But Stan had decided to give him a treat by adding a cheesecake as dessert because he'd let it slip that he loved cheesecakes. In the kitchen, he could see that Stan was already busy with the cheesecake. "What can I do to help?" Will asked.

"Nothing. Just sit there and keep me company as I work." Stan poured the mixture of digestive biscuits and toasted pecan crust out of the food processor and into a bowl. Then he brought a tall glass of iced tea to Will who had taken a seat at the mini dining table.

"Oh, thank you." Will took a sip and relaxed into his seat. "You're not wearing your apron."

"I don't need it."

"Aw come on, humour me." Will's teasing grin made Stan laugh.

"If that's what you want." Stan grabbed one of the aprons and tied it around his neck and waist. "Happy now?" He asked as he grabbed the mixture of butter and melted white chocolate from the microwave.

"Very." Will grinned as he watched Stan work. His phone kept ringing but he ignored it. "Dude, aren't you supposed to be measuring stuff?"

"No need. This is not the first time I'm making a cheesecake."

The confidence with which Stan worked proved that he indeed knew his way around a kitchen. "Who taught you how to cook?" Will asked.

"I kinda picked it up from watching people cook. I enjoy watching the chefs in my hotels work." He put his compacted crust into the freezer and then started on the filling. "I also learnt a lot from my friend Jeremy's mother." "But why the interest?" Will sounded curious.

"Why don't you answer your phone," Stan responded instead.

"No one important. I'll call back later."

"I remember my mother used to bake all the time." He shrugged. "I also remember the lovely aromas that always wafted out from the kitchen whenever she was in there." He added some vanilla extract to the mixture he was working on. "I feel closer to her somehow when I'm in the kitchen cooking. Silly, I know."

"Not silly at all. Mothers are precious." Will left his seat and went to Stan. "Fuck, that smells amazing." He stared as Stan mixed in some condensed milk. "It looks like clouds. Can I have a taste?"

"Sure." Stan took out the spatula but before Will could reach out and touch it, he tapped it on his nose, leaving a white cream on his nose.

"For fuck's sake." Will wiped the cream off with a finger. "I didn't say I wanted to sniff it." He pushed his creamy finger into his mouth and promptly let out a low moan. "Damn!"

"If you moan like this over food, I wonder what you'll do when it's sex." Stan drawled.

Will opened his mouth as if to respond but then thought better of it. Rather, he dipped a finger into the mixture and licked it. He'd almost asked Stan, sarcastically of course, whether he wanted to find out what he did during sex but had curbed the urge. The last thing he wanted was to make Stan uncomfortable in any way or to come across as pushy.

He was insanely attracted to Stan. It had been difficult as hell to comprehend but he was. He'd never felt that strong of a pull from anyone or never so much as looked at another guy and had such naughty thoughts about them the way he did about Stan. Maybe it was just a fluke and things would go back to normal soon. But until then, he'd been curious to know what it was all about.

However, for some reason, the instructor was holding back. The sexual tension between them was so thick one could cut it with a knife. But so far Stan had managed to limit it to just a few kisses. Anytime they kissed, which wasn't as often as he would like, Stan was careful not to let the kiss go beyond that. He would always give a silly excuse anytime their kisses got too heated, and leave. It was very frustrating and annoying but so far he'd been cool about it.

He didn't remember having such constant blue balls as he'd had to endure in the past days. He'd been tempted to go to Akua on occasion but he remembered how much that seemed to bother Stan so he hadn't. Well, at that rate, he would be visiting his lady real soon.