(A/N):
Drop a here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.
Guys I hope you put more comnts and power stones... Which will encourage ...
....
anwhile, at the Mumbai Indians gathering point, the situation unfolded exactly as Karuppu had hoped.
When Saurabh, Rahane, and Dhawan arrived, several players were already boarding the buses arranged to take them to the five-star hotel.
Sachin Tendulkar happened to notice imdiately.
"Where's Karuppu?"
Before anyone else could answer, Saurabh replied.
"Food poisoning."
Several heads turned instantly.
"What?"
Dhawan nodded seriously.
"Severe."
Rahane added with complete sincerity.
"He looked terrible."
The three had been completely deceived.
Nearby, Harbhajan Singh frowned.
"Food poisoning?"
"That fellow? Are you sure?"
Even Harbhajan looked suspicious.
"...."
The statent sounded unnatural.
Karuppu avoiding food was almost a dical impossibility.
Still, the concern quickly replaced the suspicion.
Soon everyone accepted the explanation.
Pollock simply nodded.
"Tell him to rest."
Thus, leaving behind one supposedly dying teammate, the entire Mumbai Indians squad departed for the hotel.
None of them realizing that the patient in question had made a miraculous recovery within approximately thirty seconds.
A few kiloters away.
Karuppu walked along the beach side path leading toward Emma's rented villa.
The evening breeze carried the sll of the ocean.
Moonlight reflected across the water.
The distant sound of waves continuously rolled against the shore.
Unlike earlier, he was dressed sharply tonight.
Black suit.
Black coat.
Freshly polished shoes.
And tucked neatly into his coat pocket sat the flower he had stolen borrowed from the resort vase.
The closer he got to the beach house, the more cautious he beca.
Not because of Emma. Not because of her father.
Because of Zeus.
The mory of the Great Dane's hot breath near his ear earlier remained vivid.
As he approached the gate, he instinctively glanced left.
Then right.
Then behind a decorative hedge.
To make sure there is No giant dog.
Good.
The security guard recognized him imdiately.
Without asking questions, the gate opened.
The guard even looked slightly amused.
"...."
Clearly soone inside had left instructions.
Karuppu nodded politely before entering.
The villa looked different at night.
The gardens were illuminated by warm golden lights.
Palm trees swayed gently.
The private pool reflected the stars above.
Everything carried an oddly peaceful atmosphere.
Still...
His eyes continued scanning the property.
Just in case. To make sure there is No Zeus.
Excellent.
Only then did he fully relax.
Eventually he reached the front entrance.
Taking a small breath, he pressed the doorbell.
-Ding!
A few seconds passed.
Then ca the sound of footsteps.
The lock clicked.
The door slowly opened.
And there stood Emma Watson.
For a brief mont, Karuppu forgot what he intended to say.
She had clearly spent ti getting ready for the evening.
Nothing extravagant.
Nothing that scread celebrity.
Yet sohow she looked completely different from the girl he had t beside the garden earlier.
The warm interior lighting behind her only made the scene look more surreal.
Emma smiled looking at him who seems to have put in effort to get prepared.
Karuppu smiled back.
Then both imdiately noticed sothing strange.
"...."
"...."
She wasn't moving.
The door was open.
Yet she remained standing directly in the entrance.
Blocking the way entirely.
Karuppu blinked confused awkwardly.
Emma continued standing there.
Still smiling. Still blocking the doorway.
Several awkward seconds passed.
Finally Karuppu tilted his head slightly.
"Am I early?"
"No."
Emma replied hearing his question.
"Late?"
"No."
Another pause.
Karuppu looked at the doorway.
Then at Emma. Then back at the doorway.
The situation felt suspicious. Very suspicious.
Slowly his eyes narrowed.
"Is Zeus behind the door?"
Imdiately Emma bit her lip.
A terrible attempt to stop herself from laughing.
That alone answered the question.
Karuppu took one careful step backward.
"No."
Emma shook her head.
"He's very friendly."
"I've heard those exact words before."
Karuppu replied imdiately.
"And I almost beca his dinner."
At that exact mont a familiar sound echoed from sowhere inside the house.
-Woof.
Karuppu froze hearing the barking.
Emma finally lost the battle and burst into laughter.
"-Pfft!!! Haha!!!"
The mystery was solved.
The legendary fast bowler in making.
The fearless IPL finisher.
The U-19 World Cup hero.
Was currently refusing to enter a house because of one extrely large dog.
And Emma was enjoying every second of it.
What Karuppu didn't know was that Zeus wasn't the real reason Emma was blocking the doorway.
Not even close.
The true reason stood several ters behind her.
Or more accurately...
The remains of it.
Few Hours Ago...
A few hours earlier.
The peaceful atmosphere inside the beach house had completely collapsed because of one person.
Chris Watson.
And his inability to stop teasing his daughter.
It had started innocently enough.
Emma had casually ntioned reminding that Karuppu would be arriving for dinner.
Imdiately Chris had looked at her.
"...."
Then toward the kitchen. Then back toward her.
And smiled.
That smile alone had been dangerous.
"You do realize... You invited him."
Emma nodded her head.
"Yes."
Chris leaned back comfortably.
"And what exactly are you feeding him?"
Emma opened her mouth to answer.
"...."
Then paused.
Chris imdiately noticed.
"Oh no."
The smile grew wider.
"You didn't think that far ahead."
"I did."
Emma lied hearing her father's teasing.
Poorly.
Chris laughed seeing his old Emma back.
Who would pout when ever she was got caught.
"Emma."
"I've watched you attempt cooking before."
"You nearly lost a toaster."
"That toaster betrayed ."
"The toaster was making bread."
The argunt continued for several minutes.
Eventually Chris made the fatal mistake.
He spoke the sentence.
The sentence that triggered everything.
"You can't cook."
"Accept it and move on..."
Silence.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Emma slowly turned toward him.
Chris imdiately realized his mistake.
Too late.
Challenge accepted by his daughter.
Within forty minutes,
Chris Watson found himself carrying shopping bags through a supermarket.
Because Emma had decided she would cook.
Personally.
Tonight.
For dinner.
And prove her father completely wrong.
Ingredients were purchased.
Vegetables.
at.
Spices.
Sauces.
Cooking oil.
And most importantly...
A beginner's cooking book.
Emma had chosen recipes specifically marked:
"Easy."
That word turned out to be a lie.
A terrible lie.
The first attempt lasted fifteen minutes.
The recipe sohow transford into sothing that looked like an archaeological discovery.
Chris politely suggested starting over.
The second attempt lasted twelve minutes.
The chicken remained suspiciously pink.
The vegetables sohow beca charcoal.
Nobody understood how.
The third attempt lasted twenty minutes.
It tasted like salt had declared war on humanity.
The fourth attempt was worse.
The fifth sohow achieved impossible new levels of failure.
By this point, even Zeus had stopped entering the kitchen.
The dog had chosen self-preservation.
anwhile Emma refused to surrender.
Every failure only increased her determination.
She checked the cookbook again.
Followed every instruction carefully.
asured ingredients with a scale.
Tid everything with stop watch.
Double-checked temperatures.
This one would work.
It had to.
The universe owed her at least one successful al.
Then ca the final disaster.
The legendary disaster.
The one Chris would rember forever.
Everything seed perfect initially.
The pan heated.
Ingredients went in.
The aroma actually slled good.
For the first ti all evening, hope appeared.
Chris cautiously entered the kitchen.
"Is it working?"
Emma looked proud with a smirk of a successor.
"I told you."
Then sothing popped.
A small fla appeared.
Both stared at it confusedly.
The fla beca larger. Then larger.
Then suddenly—
-WHOOSH.
The pan erupted.
Actual fire shot upward.
Emma froze caught off guard by it.
Chris froze looking at the fire appearing on the pan.
The cookbook offered absolutely no guidance for this situation.
The flas continued growing.
"EMMA!"
"I'M WORKING ON IT!"
"YOU'RE WATCHING IT!"
The next thirty seconds beca complete chaos.
Chris grabbed a water container.
Emma tried turning off the stove.
Zeus fled the area imdiately.
Then—SPLASH!
Water crashed onto the pan.
Steam exploded upward.
Smoke filled the kitchen.
The fire finally died.
The pan looked deceased.
Absolutely deceased. By whatever was remaining.
No other description fit.
By the ti everything settled:
the stove was off,
the kitchen resembled a battlefield,
smoke drifted through the air,
And the ventilation system desperately tried saving the house.
Chris sat down laughing so hard he couldn't breathe.
Emma threatened violence if he continued any longer.
Then—
-Ding! -Dong!
The doorbell rang.
The indication that the guest had arrived
Both froze in mid argunt.
Karuppu had arrived at the right ti.
Panic.Imdiate panic.
Emma rushed toward the entrance.
Chris nearly fell off his chair laughing.
The ventilators were still pulling smoke from the kitchen.
The sll hadn't completely disappeared.
And the evidence remained everywhere.
Thus when Emma opened the door...
She positioned herself strategically.
Like a goalkeeper protecting a championship lead.
Blocking the entrance completely.
Not because of Zeus.
Because behind her existed enough evidence to destroy her dignity permanently.
Back in the present....
Karuppu narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"...."
Sothing felt wrong. Very wrong.
Emma wasn't letting him inside.
The smile looked forced.
Her posture looked defensive.
And he could swear he slled sothing strange.
Sothing... Burnt.
Karuppu sniffed lightly. Then sniffed again.
-Sniff! -Sniff!
Emma imdiately beca nervous.
'Oh no.'
That expression alone told him everything.
His eyes slowly widened.
Then drifted toward the interior of the house.
Then toward Emma.
Then toward the faint sll.
Then toward Emma again.
Finally he asked her who was in the mid set of panic attack.
"...What happened?"
Emma imdiately replied.
"Nothing."
The fastest response in human history.
Karuppu nodded his head calmly.
"Interesting."
"Because that slled like sothing happened."
Behind Emma, a sudden burst of laughter echoed from inside the villa.
"-Haha!!!"
Chris Watson.
The traitor. The father wasn't even attempting to help.
Instead he shouted from sowhere deeper inside.
"Ask her about the cookbook!"
Emma closed her eyes.
Mortified. Absolutely mortified. Embarrassed by her father.
anwhile Karuppu was now fighting for his life.
Not against criminals.
Not against fast bowlers. Against laughter which might burst out of him at any mont.
And judging from the increasingly suspicious sll coming from the kitchen...
He was beginning to suspect that the most dangerous thing inside this house tonight wasn't Zeus.
It was dinner.
Emma's face imdiately changed the mont Karuppu started looking past her shoulder toward the inside of the villa.
The suspicious sll.
The distant laughter of Chris Watson.
And the fact that she was standing like a goalkeeper defending the World Cup final.
All three clues together were becoming dangerous.
Very dangerous.
Before Karuppu could ask another question, Emma stepped forward decisively.
Both her hands landed against his chest.
Not forcefully.
Just enough to stop him from advancing another step.
The unexpected contact completely caught Karuppu off guard.
"...."
For a mont his brain simply stopped working.
His heartbeat suddenly accelerated.
anwhile Emma maintained a perfectly serious expression.
"We are not eating here."
Karuppu blinked hearing her words.
"What?"
"We."
"Are."
"Not."
"Eating."
"Here."
Behind her, from sowhere inside the villa, Chris Watson's laughter echoed again.
"-Haha!!!"
That alone answered half the mystery.
Karuppu slowly nodded.
"Ah."
Now everything made sense.
The kitchen disaster.
The sll.
The panic.
The barricaded doorway.
Emma imdiately pointed toward him.
"No comnts."
"I didn't say anything."
"You were thinking it."
"I absolutely was."
That finally made her laugh.
Without giving him another chance to investigate the cri scene known as her kitchen, Emma stepped outside and pulled the door closed behind her.
-Clank!
The click of the lock sounded oddly final.
Like she was sealing away evidence.
Potentially forever.
The mont they began walking toward the driveway, Karuppu looked around.
"Doesn't your father join us?"
Emma didn't even hesitate.
"Oh, Dad's staying."
Karuppu raised an eyebrow.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"He'll be having dinner at ho."
Another pause.
Then she added with suspicious innocence.
"The food I cooked with love. Specially for him."
Karuppu stopped walking.
Slowly turned toward her.
"...."
"...."
Emma maintained eye contact seriously.
Neither spoke.
Finally Karuppu asked.
"Should we call ergency services first?"
Emma swatted his arm imdiately.
anwhile, inside the villa, Chris Watson sneezed unexpectedly.
Sowhere deep within his soul, he sensed betrayal.
Or a plot to kill him.
A few minutes later they arrived at the rental vehicle parked near the driveway.
Emma casually moved toward the driver's side.
Karuppu looked surprised.
"You're driving?"
Emma opened the door.
"Why?"
"You expected a chauffeur?"
"No."
Karuppu replied honestly shaking his head.
"I expected Hermione to apparate."
That earned another eye roll from her.
Soon both settled inside the vehicle.
The engine started.
Soft music filled the interior.
And the car slowly pulled away from the villa.
For a few monts neither spoke.
"...."
"...."
"...."
The ocean road stretched ahead beneath the South African night sky.
Streetlights passed occasionally.
The distant waves remained visible under the moonlight.
It was surprisingly peaceful.
Neither noticed what was happening outside the property.
Near the outer fence.
Hidden among thick bushes.
A small rustling sound appeared.
Leaves shifted slightly.
Then a cara lens slowly erged through the darkness.
Professional. Expensive.
Patient.
The owner had been waiting.
Watching. Observing.
It was none other than the most annoying flies a celebrities were facing daily life of theirs.
And no bug spray can stop them.
It was none other than one of the legendary Paparazzi.
And what he had just witnessed was interesting.
Very interesting.
A young rising international cricketer.
A globally recognized actress.
Leaving together in a sa car.
At night.
From a private beach house.
The photographer's eyes widened.
Jackpot.
The cara lifted.
The focus adjusted.
-Click.
One photograph.
Karuppu and Emma walking toward the vehicle.
-Click.
Another photograph.
Emma opening the driver's side door.
-Click.
A third.
Both entering the sa car.
The photographer lowered the cara.
A grin slowly appeared on his face.
-Grin!
Years of experience told him exactly what this looked like.
Whether it was true or not didn't matter.
Stories sold newspapers.
Photographs sold even more.
And right now he possessed sothing potentially worth a fortune.
anwhile, completely unaware of the cara hidden among the bushes, the car disappeared down the coastal road.
Inside, Emma and Karuppu continued talking casually.
Outside, under the cover of darkness, one paparazzo was already imagining tomorrow's headlines.
And sowhere back at the beach house,
Chris Watson stared suspiciously at the plate of food he managed to save before.
"...."
Which his daughter had lovingly prepared.
The forr lawyer looked at the food.
The food looked back. Or is it only his feeling.
Neither side trusted the other.
Finally Chris sighed.
"Well..."
"If Flintoff survived Karuppu..."
"...I can survive this."
Unfortunately, the food had other plans.
*******************************
(Author note:)
I hope you guys give your opinion and idea's.
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