"Maybe read that poem book in your hand."

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The sky is dark as Roshan makes his way to his car, parked outside the college. Even though he had spent the evening showing novices how to cook, the last thing he wanted was to go home and cook some more. As he gets into the driver's seat, he decides to grab some food on the way home. 

The little tented eatery was always a place of comfort for Roshan. No fuss, simple authentic food. It warmed his soul on a cold autumn night such as this. Plus, he needed an impartial ear to talk to. 

"Evening Mr Heath." Came the voice of the lady behind the counter. "The usual I assume?" 

"Please Jojo." Roshan replies as he pulls back the metal stool near where the magic happened. He would never tell Jojo, but it was through watching her skills from this seat which got him motivated and maybe he used her recipes on occasion to impress his students. 

The spring onions, followed by the strained kimchi, a moment later the white rice and finally the kimchi juice. All marrying together like a dream, before being plated up and a dash of sesame oil being drizzled over the top. "For you sir." She says, offering over the dish along with a beer. Roshan nods in appreciation, deciding he would walk home after all. He needed a drink. 

The lady looks at him a moment, noticing his shoulders appearing a little more slumped than usual. "One of those days Mr Heath?" She questions, with Roshan emitting a dry laugh. "Ah you could say that Jojo." 

The lady rests her utensil on the side and gives Roshan her full attention. "A problem shared?" She says with a smile and that was all Roshan needed to spill. 

"I'm running a new night class for adults, a basic cookery class and there's this new student..." He suddenly stops himself and has the urge to down some beer. 

"Ah I see, but you know Mr Heath, there is always one of those in every class." Jojo says smiling. 

"What do you mean?" Roshan asks, not knowing exactly where her perspective was coming from. 

"The challenge." She continues. "The wild one you need to tame." She reaches forward and pats Roshan on the arm as reassurance. "I have faith in you sir. You are good at your craft and maybe it doesn't hurt for us to be put to the test ourselves sometimes. We might learn a little about ourselves in the process."

Roshan forces a smile. What if he couldn't control the new student, but more crucially, what if he couldn't control himself?

***

Clark flicks over the page of the novel. He had never read anything like it before. How a computerised synthetic could act like a human and feel an emotion such as love. It was intriguing and a welcome distraction from the quietness of the vintage bookstore he owned. He had only served three customers all morning and had dusted twice! 

"Hey, it's you." 

Clark looks up to see none other than the guy who was sitting in front of him during class now in his store. "Tully right?" He says, turning the corner of the page and resting the book on the counter. 

"Yeah. And I know you're Clark Layton. Chef said it enough times." Tully says with a light chuckle. He then looks around him, taking in all the literature. "You have an amazing collection here. I didn't even know this place existed." 

"Ah thanks and yeah I like to think so." Clark beams with pride as he takes in his collections from around the world before refocusing on his customer. "So Tully. What can I do for you?"

"Well..." Tully clears his throat before continuing. "I want a book of poems. You know, like love poems." 

"Ah, a book of sonnets!" Clark deduces, raising a finger before walking around from behind the counter and walking to the classic literature section. "Shakespeare is your guy. The sonnet king." Clark says, taking a small book from the shelf with a solitary rose printed on it. He hands it over to Tully, who takes the book and begins to look through it. 

"But it's in old English. I can't read that." He says, furrowing his brow. Do you have something like this but a bit more modern?" He hands the book back to a disappointed Clark. 

"Well, no, not really. Maybe you need to go to a more conventional store." Clark always forgot that people weren't always on his wavelength. Tully nods in agreement. "What did you want sonnets for anyways?" Clark wonders. 

"I'm going to ask Ben to move in with me." Tully says, coming over all flush in his cheeks. "I want to do it right. I want him to say yes." 

"Oh, he will definitely say yes." Clark says laughing. "I could tell from the cookery class that he idolises you."

"Really? You see that?" Tully says with hope. 

"Sure he does." Clark says smiling. 

"And I'm sure you will win over  Chef too. They say a way to someone's heart is through their stomach." Tully says, nudging Clark's arm a little. 

Clark suddenly comes over a little nauseous, but tries to mask it with a laugh. "What are you talking about now?" 

"I might not know my old English, but I like to observe people. I remembered you were in the wrong class and for some reason you chose to stay and I saw the state of you and Chef when you came back from having your arm treated. Ben says he thinks you two argued, but Ben is an innocent bunny.''  Tully steps a little closer to Clark, looking at him squarely in the eyes. "Tell me I'm wrong."

Clark sighs heavily. "Can I ask you something Tully?" 

"Sure!" Tully replies, now backing away a little. 

"You and Ben, from that brief time I was watching you cook together, you get each other. You seem to fit like a hand in glove. It's almost like you can read each other's minds. I want to have that too and I don't know why, but I felt it for a brief moment with Chef. It's stupid. I don't even know him." Clark felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders at finally admitting it to at least someone. 'Tully, I'm meant to go back to my Spanish class next week, but I don't think I want to. Aah I'm so confused."

"Maybe read that poem book in your hand." Tully says with a smile as he taps the cover "It could help you work out your feelings and maybe I'll see you next week in class or maybe I won't." 

Clark looks at the bright red rose on the cover. Perhaps the answer lay within the pages of the book.