Matters of the Heart

Chapter 0.18

|| Calum ||

The familiar scent of peaches wafted through my nasal cavity as I forced my eyes open to greet the morning light. The side of the bed next to me was still slightly warm but empty. No surprise there -Madison's always awake before I am.

Getting out of bed, I made my way into Madison's en suite bathroom and quickly rinsed my mouth out with some mouthwash -brushing my teeth would be irrelevant if I still have to eat breakfast- before venturing into the main area of Madison's apartment.

"Ja, ek weet, vriendin," She was saying over the phone as she stood in front of what looked like a mixing bowl from my view. "Nee, hy slaap nogsteed...ek maak ontbyt nou...Tara! Jy's maar vrek leilik, weet jy...jy kan maar ontspan, ek gaan hom nie dood maak nie..."

As Mads chatted to whoever was on the other side of the line, I couldn't help but just listen. I didn't understand a word of what she was saying but the language fascinated me and it just sounded so good coming from her.

"Okay, don't be salty just because my boyfriend's cuter than yours," Mads said into the receiver with a snicker, her linguistic skills shining through as she switched back to English. "Hmmm, ya I'm sure... Ja, Ja, praat soveel as wat jy wil," She giggled as she turned around and made eye contact with me and then broke out into a smile which I reciprocated. "Luister, ek moet nou gaan, hy's wakker... Hou jou bek, jy's onbeskof... Lief vir jou en mis jou ook, vriendin... Praat later, bye."

She ended the call and then put her phone down and came over to me.

"Morning," She greeted me as she wrapped her arms around my bare torso and let her head rest on my diaphragm (because that's as tall as she is).

"Morning, sweetheart," I said and then kissed her forehead.

"Did you sleep well?" She asked me as we stepped into the kitchen.

"I did," I nodded. "Would have been nice to wake up next to you though," I said with a teasing pout.

"But then who would have made you breakfast?" She asked, her teasing smile right on point.

My eyes went wide. "Mads, we both saw what happened yesterday. Do you really -"

"It's just pancakes, Cal," She laughed. "I've got this. Yesterday was just a bump in the road."

I looked at my girlfriend, completely unconvinced. Yesterday she attempted to make waffles for lunch. Only, the mixture didn't turn out so right. I'd managed to save it though so it could still be used before she shooed me out of my own kitchen so she could continue. Only, she used the wrong setting on the waffle iron and they burnt to a crisp on the outside pretty quickly while still being raw on the outside. We ended up ordering pizza for lunch.

"Why don't you let me continue and you...can make coffee?" I suggested, not wanting a repeat of yesterday. Mads may be good at a lot of things but cooking is really not one of them and I don't want her to accidentally set her kitchen on fire.

She looked at me with an indignant pout that made my heart flutter because it was so fucking adorable.

"I feel like you don't trust me in the kitchen anymore," She sulked.

"Because I don't," I teased and then hugged her. "But that's okay. That's why you have me."

"I'd be very upset with you if you weren't so cute," She mumbled, causing me to laugh and then kiss the top of her head.

"Cuter than your friend's boyfriend, huh?" I chuckled as I took a hold of the whisk that was in the batter bowl. She hadn't yet mixed the batter but from first view, I knew she wouldn't have done well with it simply because there wasn't enough milk.