The morning sun streamed through the McDonald mansion kitchen, but Jenna's mood was anything but bright. She had been assigned the "honor" of preparing breakfast for Richard and his family as part of some bizarre family bonding ritual. Laila had laughed so hard when Jenna told her, "You're seriously making me a chef now?"
Jenna scrambled eggs like her life depended on it, but the kitchen smelled more like burnt oil than gourmet delicacies. Richard appeared in the doorway, his expression carefully neutral. "What's that smell?" he asked, eyebrows twitching.
"Breakfast," Jenna said, holding up a frying pan like a shield.
Richard's mother peeked in behind him, giving Jenna a polite smile that only added to the pressure. "It smells… unique," she said diplomatically.
Jenna sighed. "Unique is good, right?"
Suddenly, the eggs leapt from the pan like fireworks. Richard dodged instinctively, tripping over the rug, and landed in a heap on the floor. Jenna froze, mortified. Laila would have called it "classic Jenna breakfast chaos."
As Richard struggled to sit up, he glared at her, though the glint of amusement in his eyes betrayed him. Jenna tried to apologize, but her words were drowned out by Diana entering, snickering. "Oh, I see someone is trying very hard to impress," she teased, glancing at Richard sprawled on the floor.
Jenna's face turned crimson, but even she couldn't help laughing when Richard finally muttered, "Next time… cereal only."
The rest of breakfast proceeded with careful caution, and Jenna promised herself — humor aside — she would never attempt cooking in this house again.