Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
We only had one fancy tablecloth and for the life of me, I had no fricking clue where to find it. It wasn't with Gran's fancy porcelain, it wasn't in the cabinet with the other tablecloths or dish towels, and it wasn't in the linen closet.
Even more frustratingly, Gran was not replying to my messages as if Faye wasn't coming over in fifteen minutes and I was running behind with...
everything. The chicken was still raw when I poked it and yet, the skin was already starting to burn.
I still needed to change but I wanted to do that after I ran a hoover through the kitchen to clean up the broken wine glass on the floor.
This would be a good time to be a powerful witch.
I reached for my wand, pointing it at the invisible shards of glass. My magic was weak from only relying on my connection with the Wild Spirit so only some pieces levitated, leaving me unconfident that I got everything.
I would still need to hoover and Faye was going to be here in... Thirteen minutes!
Thirteen minutes and still so much to do! Why did I think hosting a cute date was a good idea again? This was just chaos, pure chaos. The only saving grace was that Balthazar had excused him when he found out about the movie night so there was nobody to witness this catastrophe.
A timer beeped and I rushed over to the stove, although for the life of me, I couldn't remember what the timer was for.
Definitely not for the chicken, that was probably still pink and mocking me.
Was it for the parboiled potatoes? Were they ready?
I stabbed a fork in them, nodding when they seemed tender... enough.
I glanced at the clock. Twelve minutes to get everything under control.
I rushed through my tasks which meant putting the potatoes in the oven where they were supposed to brown in the chicken fat.
I didn't have time to question why there was so little chicken fat on the bottom of my tray so I just ignored it.
The oven could sort that out by itself. I hoovered the kitchen at lightning speed, almost strangling myself on the extendable cord, and changed out of my sweaty clothes.
In a perfect world, I would hop in the shower but I didn't have time for that.
I was just pulling up the zipper of my blue dress when my phone lit up with a message from Faye saying she was outside, perfectly on time.
With one last look in the mirror, I thundered down the stairs, glad Gran wasn't here. She would be shouting at me to take it easy and I really did not have time for that.
I arrived at the door out of breath and wishing it wasn't glass so I had one more moment to put on a facade of composure. Unfortunately, Faye could look right through the door and see me for the mess that I was. At least Faye wouldn't judge me for it.
"Hi!" I said, stepping aside to let her in. "You made it."
"It's not a long walk," she said, pausing in front of me with an expectant but hesitant smile, like she was debating something. I only got what that was when she rose up on her toes and pressed a light kiss against my lips. "Hey."
My stomach fluttered and I reached for her face, drawing her in so I could return a kiss of my own. "Hey back. Thanks for coming."
"Of course. I love spending time with you." She touched my side when she came further into the coffee house. "And I'm curious to see how your cooking skills have improved."
"Better lower those hopes. The kitchen is a warzone," I said after I locked the door and we started heading upstairs. "I should've known better than to trust a random recipe from the internet."
"What are you making?"
"Stuffed whole chicken with roasties, gravy, and green bean almondine. It said it was a simple but impressive meal and wow, was that a lie," I said, glad when we made it upstairs and there was no burned smell. I didn't know much about cooking but I knew that was a good sign.
Faye came into the kitchen and shrugged off her coat, revealing a black blouse with silver beads and tight, tight jeans. She looked good but when did she not?
"Do you want a drink?" I asked, reminding myself to be a good host.
"I'd love a drink. What do you have?"
"Juice, beer, I've got cordials to make a cocktail.
Wine... Wine!" I suddenly remembered what the timer was for and dashed towards the freezer, a curse dropping from my mouth when I pulled out the bottle of rosé that was far beyond chilled.
Crystals were forming on the glass and the liquid inside was starting to freeze.
Faye's voice came out amused. "Forgot to chill the wine so threw it in the freezer?"
"Yuppp," I said, holding up the bottle. "So, fancy a glass?"
"Absolutely. Lucky for you, I like my wine on the colder side. Also." She came towards me and put a hand on each of my hips. "Relax. It's just me."
She was right.
I took a deep breath, trying to banish the worries and stress. I didn't need to put up this facade of perfection, not in front of Faye.
"Can I help with anything?" Faye asked, looking at me with her caring dark brown eyes.
"Maybe open the bottle of wine? At the rate I'm going, I'm worried I'll drop it," I said, feeling some of the weight fall off of me. I could never have recovered like this with someone else but Faye had a way of making me feel grounded. She was one of a kind.
Faye took the bottle from me and got the bottle opener from the cutlery drawer, not even having to ask where to find it.
That was how familiar she was with this kitchen, with me.
Maybe it was only a second date but we weren't exactly starting from square one.
Far from it. We had so much history already, it felt like I got to skip the messy courtship bits of a new relationship and jump right into the best part of it.
The part where it felt like we were a team.
I reached for the wine glasses, careful not to drop them this time, and set them down in front of her. She filled them expertly with wine and presented one to me with the flair of a bartender.
"Thank you." I held the glass up to hers, careful to only clink it gently. "Cheers."
"Cheers," she repeated, taking a small sip and nodding. "Mmm, that's nice."
"It's one of Gran's favourites. I can't say I know much about wine," I admitted, glad that I could feel my nerves settle. Now that Faye was here, I felt more confident that tonight wasn't going to be a disaster after all.