Page 39 of Wolf's Redemption

I raised my eyebrows and smiled.

"At least this time, you won't lecture me when I stop dating her," I said.

She rolled her eyes and stood up from her chair.

"It's been long enough. I have to get to my class," she told me and stared at me, waiting for me to say or do something. "Don't play hard to get. I know you're dying to come with me."

"I don't want to invade your space and make you uncomfortable," I replied.

"Bullshit! We, women, like attention to see a man's commitment to us, his ability to make us laugh, and his willingness to win us over," she said in a firm voice. "Get off your ass and go conquer that woman."

"Mom, but..."

"No buts, the clock is counting down, and she'll be gone soon. Make the most of this time she has left with us," she encouraged me.

"Okay, no excuses," I added, getting up from the chair and feeling my adrenaline pumping. "I'll do my best."

We walked to the lab in silence, she went in first, and I followed. Cathy seeing me made her cheeks redden, and she avoided my gaze.

"Will you be watching today, too?" her voice trembled as she asked me.

I walked over to her, helped her adjust her lab coat, and took an extra one that was hanging. "No, in fact, I'll take your offer, and I want you to show me too."

Cathy looked at my mother, but she pretended not to pay attention to what was going on.

I put on the safety glasses and waited beside my mother for Cathy's instructions.

She was nervous. Just my presence alone managed to upset her like that, but at the same time, she was trying her best to act like nothing was going on. One moment she would look at me with a blank stare, but the next second she would change her expression to a harder one.

"Let's get started then," she said, bringing over a small woven basket containing an apple, peaches, pears, and a few pieces of coconut. "Today, we will extract the essential oil from fruits and use it as a base for our perfumes, choose a type of fruit."

"I want the peaches," said my mother cramming as many as she could into her hands.

Cathy then stepped in front of me. She was calmer now and looked at me with a totally serious expression.

"Which one do you recommend?" I asked her.

"Coconut," she answered just like that.

"Why coconut?" I asked her as I grabbed them.

"Because it has a tropical scent, it's one of my favorites," she mentioned.

Before I took the last piece, I ran my hand over hers, and I did it intentionally to see her reaction.

"Sorry," I said.

"No problem," she replied, pursing her lips. "Let's get started at once because this process is longer."

She set the basket down on one of the shelves on the side of the lab.

"Lydia, you must put the fruits in the press to extract the liquids and then start the filtration process," she told my mother, taking her to the end of the workbench where she had already set up the small mechanical press and explained in detail how to do the process.

Cathy turned to me with a serene and very professional expression. She was into her role.

"Yours is simpler, you must grind the coconut pieces with water, and when you get a completely white substance, we will separate the liquids from the solids and heat the liquid until it all evaporates, and we are left with just the oil," she said without a single pause.

"That's all?" I asked, biting into a piece of coconut. "It's tasty. Do you want some?"