Kitchen repertoires ✔ Charles & Nicole
I'm sure ya look good doin it missy
Nicole smiled, a little embarrassed, as she put the phone on the counter next to her ingredients. She'd already begun heating up the stove for the salmon, and the rice preceded even that. All the ingredients of the salad lay spread out on most of the counter, as Nicole measured them one after the other, and put back the excess food that she wasn't going to use. She was glad that her friend was back in Annapolis. She hadn't met him for almost a solid year, and truth be told -- she'd started missing him, even with their Skype calls. It was different to have someone physically be there for you, as opposed to through the lens of a camera; even if they'd grown closer and closer much thanks to it. A tingle of excitement went through her body at the thought, though it was almost immediately followed up by nervousness. A knock on the doorframe of the kitchen brought her attention to her mother, standing there with a smile on her lips. She wasn't nearly as intoxicated as she could be -- one could even think that she'd just had a glass of wine too many before dinner.
"What are you smiling at, doll?" her mother inquired with a grin of her own, leaning on the frame and looking her up and down by the stove.
"I'm just in a good mood, that's all," she replied with a faint shrug of her shoulder and a smile, even though the smile was directed toward the vegetables she was cutting. Her mother giggled, though inquired no further. "Oh, and, mom?" Nicole cut in, and turned her gaze to her mother. "I'm having a friend over for dinner. We'll be sitting here, in the kitchen. You're free to join us," she suggested airily, almost as if it didn't matter if they joined them or not. In all honesty, Nicole wanted them to join her and Charles -- and the best way to convince her mother to do so would be to act as if it was entirely the woman's own initiative.
"A friend, huh? Haven't seen many of your friends in a while," the woman replied, her grin growing bigger. "We'll be fine out there, though. Don't you worry. You sit in here with your friend."
"I haven't had a friend over for dinner - ever," Nicole reminded her mother with a small smile that made the woman chuckle. "But as you wish."
Her mother vanished back into the living-room. Nicole hardly had a chance to turn back to the food, however, as the doorbell of the apartment rang. The same blaze of simultaneous excitement and nervousness raged sharp through her body and made her start by the stove. She wiped her hands on her apron, and immediately rounded the kitchen door and headed out into the hallway. For some reason, she took a moment's pause -- just a small nanosecond -- before she opened the door. As involuntarily as ever, a blush crept up her cheeks at the sight of her friend -- maybe even more heavily so as their previous conversation over text messages started flashing inside her mind. "Hey, Charlie," Nicole greeted him, her lip caught in a childishly excited smile.
