Tell Me With Flowers

18. Let's get started

MILES

I was grinning ear to ear like a fool. As if I had got laid. But mind you, I hadn't.

It was a rare feeling and I craved more of it. I didn't want to let it go. No, I hadn't won a lottery, but it made me feel like it. I had never been this happy even when I had been with Shelly.

There were times when I had wished bad up on Shelly so that with one fall, she would come running back to me, and I would be the knight in the shining armor to hold her as she leaned on me.

But now, I didn't care a damn about the girl who had left me behind. Heck, I hadn't even thought about her since a whole week. It was like achieving a milestone. The smile on my face was just a proof of that. The only thing I could hope was that it wouldn't be jinxed.

The reason was as clear as day.

Megan Taylor.

I had seen girls and women swoon at me, but Megan didn't fit any of the category of women I had encountered before. That accounted to something, and it was probably the strongest thread that was drawing me to her. All the initial ideas to get her as a one-night stand was flying out the window and I wanted to know more of her before I went ahead.

And damn, I wanted to go ahead.

But we both needed time. I had to make sure that she wouldn't break me just like Shelly did. That she wasn't another impostor of the girls I had seen before. Though I knew she wasn't I only wanted to make sure.

I drove to the destination I had in mind. It had been exactly a week since the wedding. Laura and Mark had flown off to God-knows-where to celebrate their honeymoon while I decided to make a grand opening to the show that I was proud of.

I had called up an interview only two days ago, announcing that I would be opening it for the public. The tickets were sold off way earlier than the hot cross buns. Austen had made all the arrangements necessary, and I had cross verified all the equipment.

The chefs were ready and for now, everything seemed to go in flow. Another reason for me to be happy. Lately, I was finding way too many reasons to keep grinning ear to ear.

I parked in front of the hall and got down the car. I was early by half hour and yet, there were paparazzi waiting at the front gate. As soon as they saw me, they started clicking the photos. I was only glad that I had my aviators on.

"Mr. Jackson! Mr. Jackson!" The reported shouted my name while the girls oh-ed and ah-ed at my every move. I waved at them as I made my way towards the front. If they wanted me to give them a line, then it would be with the people who had helped me come up with this.

I stood in front of the crowd, with Austen and Jerry behind me while the chefs took the sides. I greeted them before I turned to face the crowd.

"Thank you everyone." I said, standing in the middle. "I really appreciate you coming here today. As all of you know this is a cooking class for about thirty days. It's a way of putting our holiday time to learn something new. Welcome all. I also want to announce that half of the amount that was collected as an entry fee to the show, is going to a charity that is involved with cancer. With that, I want to welcome all the participants and I assure them that they won't be disappointed. Thank you."

I nodded at the camera men, and they took a few pictures of me. Walking briskly with the associate team, I entered in and saw that everything that I had pointed out to Austen last night had come perfectly.

The large hall was put up with chairs - around thirty of them. The hall was connected to the garden and an internal smaller area where we would cook. Eventually, I had asked Austen to set up the cooking in this hall since it was bigger and more spacious.