CEO's Contract Obsession-Chapter 183: [Bonus - ] Be Honest
Amy woke up cold and in pain. Her lower back hurts more than before she went to sleep. She curled up on the ground waiting for the pain to subside and fortunately, it did. She looked around to look for Henry and found the bananas that Henry brought her.
She smiled, feeling lucky to have Henry by her side in times like that.
’Where are you, Henry?’ she asked herself as she look left and right but did not find him. She took and peeled one banana. Her eyes widened when she tasted it. She had never tasted a banana as sweet as that, and so she ate more.
When she finally had her fill, her jaw dropped when she saw that there were only three bananas left and she was not even sure if Henry had eaten already or if three is enough for him. She instantly regretted pigging out when they are in that situation.
She felt bad that once Henry returns he has to get by with just three bananas for dinner. To cope with her guilt, she decided to become useful. She picked up some river stones and arrange them in a circle, to be used as the base for their campfire.
Her movements were slow since she was still not feeling well and when she was able to finish her simple task, she was utterly exhausted and decided to sleep again thinking that her energy will regenerate faster that way. This time she used the floaters to sleep on and cover herself with her scarves.
Henry returned to their camp with two huge bundles of firewood, a backpack full of fruits, and a bunch of dry leaves wrapped in one of Amy’s scarves. He noticed that Amy is now sleeping on the floater and most of the bananas were gone.
He was glad to know that Amy’s appetite is back and she will definitely get better faster that way. When he came closer, he saw the river stones that Amy put together for their campfire and felt proud of his wife. Even though it was just a small gesture, the fact that she is not feeling well and still able to do that, made Henry appreciate Amy more.
The branches that Henry found were dry and soft enough to be used in starting a fire. He arranged the sticks and dry leaves at the center of the river stones that Amy made. He then chose two branches, a small one and a bigger one.
Henry used a sharp rock that he found near the stream to carve a flat spot on the bigger branch. He then took the shorter branch, positioned it on the flat spot that he carved, and pushed it back and forth, keeping a forty-five-degree angle. He kept going until he saw some smoke coming out of the bigger branch.
At that point, he pushed harder and rubbed the small branch against the bigger branch faster. The branch produced more smoke and he could see bits of charred wood dust that started to pile up at the top.
Henry increased the pressure of his right hand on the small branch as he went faster. The smoke became bigger and the branch produced some ember. Henry immediately placed the smoking branch into the campfire. He turned it over, transferring the bits of coal into the dried leaves, and blew some air onto it gently.
He watched the smoke grows bigger and bigger until the fire came out. Henry grinned as he pats himself on the shoulder inwardly for a job well done.
He glanced at Amy and saw her still sleeping. He then took some banana leaves and lay them on the ground near their campfire and placed all the fruits he harvested on it. He took some fruits to the stream to wash them up and to his surprise, he saw some river snails.
His face lit up, even though he is not good at cooking, he knows that those snails can be eaten. His father taught him that on one of their camping trips. He quickly put down the fruits that he was holding on the side of the stream and started collecting the snails.
He used his shirt to carry everything that he collected, and it was a lot. He placed it on fire to cook and eat some of them while waiting for Amy to wake up. He had to admit to himself that he is already hungry, famished even, after doing so much in just a few hours.
He looked at the number of fruits and snails that he had harvested and felt pleased for it could feed them at least until tomorrow. They don’t have to worry about food and firewood for at least one day and they can then focus on building their shelter.
Henry was done eating and was washing up when Amy woke up, she felt a little better. That short nap really helped her get some of her energy back.
"Henry!" Amy has called him a little louder than usual. Henry jolted while he was washing his hands in the stream.
"You startled me, love. Feeling better?" he asked.
"Yes, but I have something to tell you, please don’t get upset."
"Why would I be upset when the love of my life got her appetite back?"
"You already saw... I’m sorry I only saved three for you," Amy’s shoulders dropped due to the embarrassment of what she had done.
Henry sat beside her and showed her his closed fist, "Can you guess what’s inside?"
Amy looks back and forth between Henry and his fist while creasing her forehead. She was completely confused about what is he trying to do.
"Come on take a guess," Henry said.
"A fruit?" Amy can’t come up with anything, her head is still throbbing but she doesn’t want Henry to worry, so she just tried to guess it with something that could fit in his fist.
Henry chuckled and slowly opened his fist. Amy smiled when she saw the already-cooked snail in Henry’s hand. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
"I cooked it over that fire that I started using those branches," Henry proudly pointed his finger to the campfire.
Amy laugh, she knows Henry is boasting about how he made the fire using just branches. But that made her proud as well. "Bravo, Mr. Boy Scout, now let me taste that."
Amy took the snail and ate it. She had two before she felt her stomach turned upside down. She quickly ran to the stream and threw up not only the snails that she just ate but the bananas as well. She threw up everything that she had eaten that day.
That made Henry worry more, "Are you alright? Be honest with me, Amy... How do you feel? I really don’t think that you are ok."
