Afterlife: Redemption

32

LANE

Pushing the onions aside, I set to work chopping up the peppers. I was running out of room in my area of the kitchen, my section of the counter covered with various vegetables that I had already cut. I huffed in annoyance, glancing from the corner of my eye to my companion.

"Mia, can you hurry up with that shit so I can put my stuff in the pot?"

Not even looking up from the tomatoes in front of her, she snapped. "If you keep bitching at me I will dump this shit over your head. See how good this sauce tastes then."

Sticking my tongue out at her, I turned my attention back to the peppers, a light grin coming to my face. This was our usual exchange whenever we decided to cook together. It was always a fine and dandy idea to start, finding a recipe online, adding or subtracting personal favorites, and setting to work. But our camaraderie was usually as short lived as our tempers, and we would quickly turn to complaining to each other about each other and our lack of prowess in the kitchen.

This time was no different, as Mia had come home from class hours before, in a relatively good mood. I told her of my news, both with regard to NG and Adams return. In terms of NG, she was happy. With Adam, she was ambivalent. She seemed just as taken aback with his appearance as I had been, immediately launching in to the same questions I had asked myself when hearing the news.

Why now? Where has he been all this time? What is he even like now?

Mia had never met Adam, his departure from my family happening before I even started college. But I had spoken to her about him several times, her being the only person in my life who I truly told everything to. She knew of the change in him before he left, and the abruptness and silence related to his leaving. But just like me, she knew nothing of his reasons. None of us did.

Knowing we would have no answers to the questions we exchanged, I decided we needed a distraction. I had told Harry I would cook dinner rather than have him bring over take out yet again, so as a means of productivity, Mia and I looked up a recipe for chicken parmesan online, and set to work.

This brought us to now, me on one side of the stove, her on the other, both working on separate parts of the sauce, but neither making much progress. We were both horrid cooks, so I should have foreseen how this would go. But I had been too anxious for a leans of escape, and didn't really think it through.

The chicken was already breaded, thankfully, cooking in the oven while we focused on the sauce. The pasta was in the pot, ready and waiting to be boiled once we got our shit together enough to have the main staple of the dish prepared.

At this rate, the take out option hadn't been completely abandoned just yet.

A soft rap at the door caught my attention, and a glanced for a moment between the veggies in front of me and the sound. I was too covered in veggie guts to touch anything else.

"Come in," I called, turning my attention back to my task.

The door opened, and Harry stepped inside, before pausing the moment he took in the sight that greeted him. Neither Mia nor I looked up, both of us frowning at our foods. Finally giving him a glance, I found him smirking.

"Well isn't this lovely," he quipped, setting his black duffle bag on the floor at his feet. "Finding two women cooking for me. I could get used to this."

"Shut up Harry," both Mia and I grumbled, causing him to laugh.

He came up behind me, encircling his arms around my waist to pull me to him. Kissing my cheek, he set his chin on my shoulder as he peered down at the peppers.