-- Ali's POV --
It was as if Summer knew I was down without even asking me. She got me excited about her ‘surprise’, which took almost all negative thoughts out of my mind.
Almost all of them.
Dennis’s lips against Lisa’s wouldn’t leave my mind. Why did he kiss her?! He was still married. Did he have no dignity? Then again, he had cheated before, so this was hardly surprising.
It still bugged me though.
It was a known fact that Summer was still hung up over him. I couldn’t tell her. But I’d still have to tell her I was fired. And then she’d think it was all her fault!
Which it wasn’t. It was Lisa’s. That bitch.
“Hey Summer, I’m back,” I called, turning the key in the lock. I didn’t get a reply when I walked inside. When I saw what was inside the kitchen, I dropped my keys in shock. “Oh...”
“Ali!” she said sadly, frowning. “It’s ruined!”
But I didn’t care. I didn’t care that she’d tried to bake me a cake and failed miserably. I didn’t care that the whole kitchen was filled with smoke. I didn’t even care that all the ingredients were strewn across the floor (though Gina would), because she’d tried to cook. For me.
“Come here,” I whispered, gliding over to her and pulling her into a tight hug. Surprised, her hands stayed at her sides for a second before she gently hugged me back.
“But why are you hugging me? I burnt it!”
“It’s okay,” I said, grinning and pulling away from her. “You tried your best.”
She smiled warmly.
“I thought you were going to be angry!”
“Gina will be,” I said, chuckling. “Come on, let’s clean this up.”
“How come you got the day off, then?” she asked as we started to clean up. I started to collect the flour in a dustpan and sighed slightly. Just when I had forgotten about it...
“Uh... I was ill,” I said lamely.
“Oh,” she said vaguely. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine now,” I answered just as distantly. She wasn’t listening, I knew it. When we finished cleaning up the kitchen, it was sparkling.
“Now all we have to do is bin the cake...” Summer said quietly, her lips still curving downwards.
I knew how she felt. When I was seven, I had tried to bake cupcakes from a recipe book. It didn’t end well when I went to watch to T.V. and then completely forgot about it. I remember how angry Mum had been.
“Let’s eat it,” I said abruptly.
“What?” Summer asked, looking at me as if I were crazy. “It’s burnt, Ali. You should know that, I thought you were a chef!”
“I know that!” I said, laughing. “But let’s eat it anyway! To show that this wasn’t a failure!”
“I don’t know,” said Summer, unsure.
“Come on,” I ordered, whirled around and heading towards the drawers where the cutlery lay. I took out a knife and handed it to Summer. Smiling faintly, she cut the cake and scooped it up in her hand. She hesitated.
“Go on,” I urged her.
“Okay,” she replied and took a deep breath. She shoved it into her mouth and then grimaced, choking on it. “Oh my Gosh!” she wheezed, cake spluttering from her mouth as she coughed.
I patted her on the back, laughing.
“Your turn,” she grumbled after she finally stopped coughing. Using Summer’s mistake to my advantage, I took the tiniest bite I could manage with her glaring at me. When it landed on my tongue, my eyes widened and immediately – almost instinctively – spat it out. It was revolting.
“Ew!” I cried, spitting it all out and then wiping my tongue on my sleeve repeatedly. Summer sniggered and then reached out for more.
“It’s probably an acquired taste,” she said simply. “All we need to do is put more icing!”
And that’s exactly what we did. Pink icing completely covered our slices when we took another bite. It was only slightly better but still an improvement.
“Next time you should do the cooking,” Summer mumbled, eying the burnt cake in disappointment before taking another bite. She scowled but, by now, was used to the taste and did not spit it out.
“You just need practice,” I disagreed. “I wasn’t this good before. It took time to get good.”
“You’re not just good; you’re amazing,” Summer said in a duh voice.
Warmth spread through my chest. Summer was complimenting me! Summer never complimented me. She never insulted me either, but that was only out loud. I was sure she had many negative thoughts towards me floating around in her mind.
“Thanks,” I said gratefully.
“It’s no wonder you’re assistant chef.”
Ah.
She’d said just the wrong words. I was assistant chef, I’m not anymore, I thought dully to myself.
I thought of Gina then. How was she doing without me? Was Dennis driving her mad? And what about Lisa? Were they actually going out, or had Dennis just done that to anger me?
I stared at Summer sympathetically. I liked her now. There wasn’t any bitterness towards each other, not after today. Somehow, I seemed to have gotten over the whole thing with her and Ian, my ex-boyfriend who broke my heart two years ago. It was the past, and I’d forgiven her.
But I couldn’t help thinking that this was karma’s way of getting back at her. I mean, she stole Ian from me and dumped him days later. Maybe her marriage had ended in disaster as a way of pay-back.
It was good, though. She found out Dennis’s true colours sooner rather than later.
“Hey Ali?” Summer, shaking me out of my thoughts.
“Yeah?” I said.
“Thanks.”
Confused, I said, “For what?”
“For everything,” she responded. “You let me stay, even after what I did to you. You were decent to me, even though I didn’t deserve it.”
“It’s fine,” I said, stunned. What was up with her today?! Why was she being so nice? It was like we’d swapped roles – I was now the bitch and she was now the good girl!
“I love you too, by the way.”
“Oh, uh... what?”
“That night when I first came,” she explained, “you said you loved me. But I never said it back. I do, though.”
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“Anyway,” she said just as I noticed a tear shining in her eyes. “I think we’d better get rid of this cake now. I don’t want anymore, do you?”
“No,” I shook my head.
I watched her as she dumped it into the bin. How had she changed so quickly? One minute she was so cold to me, the next I was as close to her as I was with Gina! It just showed that she really wasn’t a bitch at all.
“Right!” she spoke as she came back with an empty plate. “Can we make another cake?”
“Sure,” I said, laughing. “You’re very eager for someone who just burnt a cake.”
“I’ve got you now. Nothing can go wrong!”
“Can we bake a chocolate cake this time?”
“You’re the boss!” she said, mock saluting me.
“Alright,” I said seriously, chucking the cook-book on the floor. “Let’s do this.”
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I think this deserves a vote. They bonded! :D Remember to check out my other story --> 'Imaginary Boyfriend'!