Chapter Text
Five hours later, Andy was searching the kitchen for the baklava.
Andy: "NICOLÓ?? WHERE IS THE BAKLAVA?"
Booker and Nile exchanged a look between them before looking down at their plates, something Andy picked up on.
Andy: "Did you two eat the baklava?"
Booker: "I learned my lesson a long time ago."
Nile: "I didn't even know that Nicky had baked baklava today."
Andy: "Hmm."
Nicky came into the kitchen with Joe right after him.
Andy: "Took you long enough. Where is the baklava, Nicky?"
Nicky: "You won't get any baklava before you have eaten your dinner."
Nicky turned around and looked at Joe.
Nicky: "And the same goes for you, young man."
Nile giggled, which made Booker giggle, too, but before Joe could slap Booker, Nicky forced Joe down on a chair.
Joe: "I will get you later."
Nicky looked at Joe.
Joe: "I am eating. Look."
Joe put an entire potato in his mouth, but because it was still hot, he took the carafe with water and drank it all. Then, Joe looked at Booker.
Joe: "Not one word from you."
Booker muttered something before he ate the rest on his plate.
Andy: "Now that people are eating dinner, where is the baklava?"
Nicky: "I will tell you once you have eaten your dinner."
With a grumble, Andy sat down and ate her dinner. Nicky did the same thing. When Nile and Booker were done eating their dinner, they placed their plates in the sink.
Nicky: "Nile, Booker. Since you ate the kataifi I baked for Joe, you are on kitchen cleaning duty tonight."
Nile and Booker looked at each other. One thing was being in trouble with Andy, but another thing was being in trouble with Joe.
Joe: "You did what? You ate my kataifi."
Nile: "In all fairness, we thought we were eating the bak..."
Booker elbowed Nile, but it was too late.
Andy: "So, that explains the missing baklava in Milan and other places. You two are cake thieves."
Nicky: "They aren't the only ones around here stealing cakes."
Nicky looked at everyone around the table, and they all looked guilty. Seconds later, everyone started talking about how they all loved Nicky's cakes, and that was why they ate them all the time without asking.
Nicky: "Thanks for all the praise, but maybe I should stop baking cakes for a while until you stop stealing them."
Everyone started begging Nicky not to stop baking cakes. Then, Nicky stood up.
Nicky: "I will give it a thought or two. Night."
Nicky stood up and took the mug with tea.
Andy: "Before you leave, where is the baklava?"
Nicky: "Well, since you are a cake thief, you should have no problem finding it."
Nicky left the kitchen with a smile, while Andy, Booker and Nile looked at Joe.
Joe: "What?"
Nile: "Nicky is your boyfriend, so you better convince him to bake more cakes in the future."
Andy: "I agree with Nile. You are going to do whatever it takes to make Nicky bake cakes again."
Booker: "I agree with Nile and Andy."
Andy slapped Booker's nape.
Booker: "Avvv, what was that for?"
Andy: "You know what that was for. And for good measure, I am going to do it again."
Andy slapped Booker's nape again. Booker rubbed his sore nape.
Andy: "Now, back to you, Joe. What is your plan regarding Nicky and the cakes?"
Joe: "Uhmm, I don't know."
Nile: "So all the big talk about romance was just for show?"
Joe: "No, it isn't, give a man a chance to think."
Joe looked at Andy, Booker and Nile.
Joe: "Why is it I am doing all the work, when you are also to blame for the cake theft?"
Nile: "Because you are our resident Nicky expert."
Andy and Booker agreed with Nile. Before Joe could say anything, Nile pulled him up.
Nile: "So, go and use all that knowledge you have for something useful. We are all counting on you."
Andy and Booker agreed with Nile before they helped Nile push Joe out of the kitchen.
Joe: "I need to know. What will happen if I can convince Nicky to bake cakes again?"
Andy: "I will forget to be nice, and if you want to know what that means, just think back on what happened in Marrakech in 1512."
Joe: "I will keep that in mind."
Joe left the others and walked into the bedroom, where Nicky was sitting on the bed, reading a book.
Nicky: "I knew they would send you to convince me that I should start baking cakes again, so what is your plan?"
Joe: "Well, you see..."
Joe rubbed his neck sheepishly as he closed the door behind him, something Booker saw.
Booker: "He is in."
Nile: "Good."
Andy had finally found the baklava and sat down to eat it while watching Nile and Booker do the dishes.
Nile: "Do you think Joe will succeed in convincing Nicky about the cakes?"
Andy licked her fingers.
Andy: "We will know tomorrow."
Five seconds later, Nile and Booker kicked Andy out of the kitchen when she started offering good advice on how to do the dishes. Andy decided to find a pub and have some fun now that her stomach was full of baklava.
Nile: "Sorry that I mentioned the baklava before."
Booker: "That is okay."
Booker took the stack of dishes so he could put them in the cupboard.
Booker: "Did you know that we were eating katafi and not baklava?"
Nile: "To this day, I didn't even know that there was a cake named katafi. What is the difference?"
Booker: "Beats me. But let us find out later, because right now we need a plan when Joe remembers we ate his cake."
Nile nodded.
Nile: "Maybe spending time with Nicky will make him forget what we did."
Booker laughed.
Booker: "We can hope for that, but I still say we need a backup plan in case we need it."
Nile: "I agree. Any ideas?"
For the rest of the evening, Nile and Booker tried to come up with a plan that would save their lives in case Joe remembered they had eaten his cake.
But if Nile and Booker's plan worked and if Joe succeed in convincing Nicky that he should bake cakes again, is a story for another time.