Jack waited, patiently waited, for the pie to be done. Surely he could've taken care of his morning routine in the time it would've taken to bake the pie but…Jack just stood there standing, watching it cook. Sure enough they say a watched pot never boils, but…this pie indeed cooked fully despite the Jack watching it barely blinking.
"28 minutes and 37 seconds for perfect cooking."
He then took a bite of it. Munch munch.
"Delicious."
Jack's plan could definitely not fail. This test pie idea of his was great, he knew that if he had baked the pie two days earlier and left it alone, it would never taste as good as a pie fresh out of the oven. Though it was awfully hot, Jack didn't seem to mind.
And so, he quickly did his chores.
And then he noticed something, his basket of strawberries were still sitting in the basket outside. A thought occurred to him, what if someone would decide to rob him of the result of his hard work and trials? This wouldn't do at all, so he took the basket inside, placing each strawberry inside one at a time…
This of course, took nearly an hour. And when he went outside again, he realized a lot more time passed then he though! Just as he was about to take one strawberry to Elli's place, he thought about something else.
Could he really afford to give her yet another strawberry after using up so many for a piece of pie? And how he lost a few strawberries already? He got a chill up his spine. Perhaps it would be worth it to not give Elli a strawberry for a couple days? Surely the result of getting a birthday present plus the fact that it's a strawberry pie, would probably count the affection levels of 15 days worth of strawberries, which in turn would be, 15 strawberries.
Jack was very very very very very sad about not being able to see Elli today, but still he knew this would be a good idea.
Then he decided to devote his remaining time of today to think up anything else he should do. With her birthday tomorrow, he had to make sure he did this just right. So he thought and thought. Perhaps some whip cream? He had none of that so that wouldn't work…perhaps a ribbon? On a piece of pie? That just sounds silly. If it was jam or something maybe but pie? Or maybe he should just ditch this whole pie idea and give her strawberry jam instead so he can put a ribbon on a jar! …Though who in the right mind just eats plain jam by itself? Maybe strawberry jam on strawberry pie…? Or maybe he could perhaps put the piece of pie into a jar and then could have a ribbon on it, and she would look at the jar thinking its jam, but surprise surprise when she opens the jar!
In the end, he spent hours thinking up pointless ideas and went to bed at a normal time.
So then the morning came, and Jack was very excited indeed. He immediately began his day not preparing the pie, but doing his morning chores. His chores today took him exactly two hours. It wasn't quite the average time it took him to do it all, but today he had a stop watch today. He then began the preparations for the pie, including the time to prepare it, it took 29 minutes and 50 seconds today.
He wanted to make sure that he didn't have to wait at all today, so much sure to walk at just a pace that would take him 31 minutes and 10 seconds to arrive at Elli's place.
Elli was just getting ready to start her work there, and was a bit surprised to see Jack.
"Jack, hello! You're early today."
Elli saw that he was holding something, she wondering what it could be this time.
And so, Jack put the freshly baked piece of pie on her desk.
Elli was bewildered, she just looked at it, and then looked at Jack.
"..What is this?"
"A birthday present."
Elli was stunned. Simply stunned. She took a closer look, and then saw that it wasn't just any pie! It was STRAWBERRY pie! And it looked delicious!
Though she couldn't help but ponder, how could Jack have known her birthday? But then she came to the conclusion that he must be interacting with the other townspeople! Realizing this is the only plausible conclusion, she let out a sigh of relief.
"Jack thank you so much! This looks delicious, really thank you!! I seriously did not expect anyone to give me a birthday present today except for my family, this was truly generous of you!"
Jack had received a reply of extreme happiness, he couldn't help but grin, an expression he's yet to make. But still, without making eye contact, he handed her a disposable fork.
Elli took it, and quickly took a bite.
"Mmmmm…so delicious! Where did you buy this?"
"I…I made it.."
"You MADE this? This is really delicious! You'll have to show me how sometime!"
"..sure."
And with that, the conversation had run out of words, as it turned to Jack simply watching Elli happily eat the pie.
And so, Jack left putting his arm up once as to indicate he was saying 'bye'
It seemed that his mission was a success, though he then thought how sad it was that he could only see her so happy on a birthday. If only birthdays could come more often, this plan of his would go a lot smoother and faster.
