"Thank you for driving me to training", tells me Rúben when we park at the training centre.
"It's ok. You sure someone can drive you back home later? I don't mind picking you up".
"Yes. Bernardo will drive me home and my car will be fixed tomorrow. Don't worry".
"Perfect", I say, giving him a goodbye kiss. "I'll be waiting for you then. I can use my time at your place to work without noisy neighbours bothering me. And I could cook dinner for us, maybe?"
"If you want to", he says, already out of the car and getting his bag. "But we can order something".
"I'm happy cooking today", I love cooking for people. "Have a good training".
He's already by my door so he can steal another kiss before leaving.
"Thank you. See you later!"
**
When I'm back at Rúben's, I put the kettle on before I start to get everything ready for work. I haven't been able to do much lately due to my neighbours doing renovations in their apartment at the worst times, so I'm looking forward to a productive afternoon.
In between work sessions, I start googling recipes for dinner. What should I cook?
Two hours, a coffee and two cups of tea later, I'm done with everything I needed to do so far for the project I'm working on. So I decide to check we got all the ingredients I need for the pie I'm planning on cooking for dinner. Rúben should be back in an hour, so I'll be taking the food out of the oven by the time he's back. Perfect.
Moving around Rúben's place isn't always the easiest. He's no giant, so his things are at normal height for most people...but not for someone as short as me. He loves joking about our height difference but always makes sure the things I need are not on the highest shelves. However, he can't do that when he doesn't know what I'll be needing, like right now.
Walking around the kitchen carrying a chair so I can reach some of the ingredients I need makes me feel so dumb. Thankfully, no one is here to see it. But it gets the work done.
Being a bit of an organisation freak, I start to get all the bowls out to put the chopped veggies in them, in the order I'll cook them. Once the carrots are done, everything is set. I only need to get the spices and I'll be able to start cooking.
Oh, and I need a baking dish to put everything on. So I check the oven to see if the one that's usually there can be used but...there's nothing inside. How odd.
The drawers under the oven are full of stuff, but no baking dishes. Where has this man put them now?
After opening every drawer and cabinet door, I finally spot the baking dishes. On the top shelf. Of course. That'd be my luck. I guess it's time to get the chair again. Being short isn't that fun sometimes.
Checking the clock, I see I need to hurry up if I want to have the food ready for when Rúben is back. Even if he wouldn't mind waiting a little bit, I know he'll be starving after training.
But the damn chair isn't enough for me to reach the shelf. Does he have a ladder? No, we joked about it sometimes and he doesn't have one.
I realise the only answer is going on the counter and immediately hear my mum's voice telling me I can't do that because it's gross and I'll slip and fall. Well, I can clean the area when I'm down. And I won't fall. I'm tiny but, thankfully, not clumsy. And I need that bloody dish.
I soon find out it's easier said than done and that the area where I'll be standing is quite small, which reduces my movements a lot. But here I am, finally face to face with the dishes. Which one is the right size?
