Achieving Heaven Through Hell Part 1: A Peaceful Afterlife

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Sponsorship

Vaggie sat in her office, the hotel's expenses done up in a spreadsheet on her PC; this place would be out of business in a day if it didn't have the resources of Hell's own Royalty to draw on. She sniffed, an absolutely wonderful smell wafted though the air: dinnertime. Razzle and Dazzle made alright food, but they were always willing to try a new recipe, which was something Vaggie respected. Her stomach rumbled, she'd skipped lunch today, it seemed like a good idea at the time but now it felt like she was digesting herself. She got up and breathed deeply, trying to identify the smell. Vaggie followed her nose down the hall to the dining room, the sounds of chopping and mixing just audible as she got closer.

"...me how to cut like that?" A familiar voice said. What was Charlie doing in the kitchen?

"Certainly," said a much deeper, masculine voice. Him. "It's easier than you think."

Vaggie peered into the kitchen and saw Razzle and Dazzle manning the stove, frying up finely diced chicken in a greased pan and mixing a saucepan full of an off-yellow substance. Charlie stood in front of a cutting board with a peeled, halved-carrot on it, knife in hand. Kira was standing behind her, leaning over her shoulder.

"Now, I'll just show you what motions to use," he said, reaching around and wrapping his hand over hers on the handle; Vaggie's eye narrowed. With his other hand he placed her hand on the carrot, guiding her fingers. "These fingers are bent like so, to avoid cutting yourself. Now, it's a flowing motion through elbow and wrist, this is important because it will prevent the food from sticking to the blade. The knife never leaves the board, you just pull it back and up and when cutting you push it down and forward. Back and up, down and forward." He led her through a few chops. "There, see? Now, you try."

Vaggie almost sighed in relief when he let go of her and backed away. Why? Charlie could take care of herself, and a lot better than one might expect, and it's not like he could actually kill her. Why did it bother her so much when he was close to her?

Charlie slowly but surely repeated the chopping and before long she was pushing the carrots through quickly. She looked up a Kira, a grin on her face. "I think I'm getting it!"

She sounded so...happy, and not just normal Charlie happy either. Vaggie noticed her fist clenching, her claws digging into her palm.

"Brava! You'll get faster as you practice more," Kira said, picking up the cutting board and swiping the diced carrots into a boiling pot. "Now, dice the onions and break up the broccoli. Razzle, that chicken looks about ready, it can go in. Dazzle, how's the roux?"

Dazzle sampled the yellow sauce from the wooden spoon and nodded approvingly. "Baaah."

"Good, mix it all together and leave it to simmer, then help Charlie cut up the octopus, onions and ginger, I'll get to work on the batter."

He picked up a bowl and a grated spatula, with a flick of the spatula he launched a nearby egg into the air, quickly and effortlessly positioning the bowl below the falling egg, catching it just above with the edge of the spatula. The egg split and disgorged the white and yolk into the bowl why the shell remained on the spatula, which Kira then flicked into a waste basket. He Picked up a second egg and cracked it on the counter, splitting it overtop the grated spatula over a smaller bowl. The egg white slid through the grate and into the smaller bowl while the yolk remained and was dropped into the mixing bowl.

A small round of applause drew his attention to the other side of the kitchen, where Charlie, Razzle, and Dazzle stood in a line, clapping. Kira looked confused for a moment before taking a bow.