Nicole: To her Sarah put on a brave face about her past, it seemed horrible compared to her own past. She'd not led a sheltered life nor had it been overly privileged, it had been middle class, hell even close to the upper cusp of that bracket. Private school, nice clothes, a used car for her 17th, university...she felt a pang of sorrow for Sarah at how different their lives must have been. She dared not say anything of the sort though, she knew that would most likely open up the situation and push someone like Sarah into a defensive positon...she didn't want that to happen. She wanted to say something, but instead opted for a half smile over the whole thing and a thankful feeling of relief as Mimi distracted Sarah for the moment, letting her break from the conversation and 'help' Nathaniel.<br/><br/>"Oh it was hardly lessons, just self taught stuff and picking up from my parents." Even if it had only been that Nicole was quick to locate a wide variety of spices and other little additions for the group stir fry, thinking it better to join in if this was a group meal. Chilli, garlic and ginger among other things were tossed into the frying pan with the chicken as she leant around those in the way with light mutterings of 'abit of this' and 'abit of that'. Soon enough she was close to muscling Nathaniel out from his position. "Make sure you keep things moving more....and turn down the heat or you'll burn the garlic. Make sure the peppers and carrots are peeled and -then- chopped into strips, otherwise you burn everything else before they have a chance to cook themselves. I mean peel the actual flesh of the vegetable and then cut that, you get really thin strips. Spring onions need to be cut really really fine, you should notice the flavour and not the texture as you eat them." Whether Nathaniel was watching the pan or chopping the vegetables Nicole moved to do whichever was free, either she was modest about how much she cooked or it came naturally.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>