Chapter 134: The Owner
"My kitchen is on fire," Aveline said hastily. "Call the fire department."
Alaric had run out without his mobile. Hearing her, he was about to grab her hand to lead her out of the building first, but paused. He looked up at the sprinkler. No fire alarm had been triggered.
She wasn’t pulling any pranks, was she?
"Why did you scream?" he asked carefully. "What did you see before running out?"
Aveline opened her mouth, then shut it again. "The pan," she said after a beat. "It caught on fire."
His brows furrowed as he took a step toward her. "Is it still burning?"
"I don’t know," she muttered, almost embarrassed. "I didn’t look back. I just ran out."
From the look on her face, he guessed this was her first time cooking. He opened the door, and she grabbed his T-shirt to stop him. Before she could utter a word, she saw that everything inside looked the same.
Alaric glanced at her hand and went inside with her in tow. There was nothing serious, just embarrassment and the lingering scent of scorched butter in the air.
He stood at the kitchen entrance. The fire had died out as the butter burned away. Smoke trailed faintly in the air. Her pan sat tilted, the mangled first attempt at a pancake now resembling a charcoal art piece.
Aveline peeked into the kitchen behind him. "Oh, nothing has happened..."
He glanced at her before stepping inside and turning off the burner. His eyes swept around the mess in the kitchen before settling on Aveline.