Page 56 of Scorched Hearts
If she could, she’d host dinner parties every weekend. There seemed something so graceful about welcoming friends into their home and the organizational zeal that preceded the party.
She knew that once Alex would be born things would change. Their energy wouldn’t allow for these as often. But there’d be other exciting things to come.
“Elle, should it look like this?” Maya’s concerned voice reached her out of the kitchen.
“Like what?!” Elle’s blood ran cold. She ran to the kitchen at once. “DID YOU BURN MY CHICKEN?”
The bird sat on its plate covered in coal black. Elle sat down on the kitchen chair, lamenting.
“Oh no, I’m so sorry Baby. I didn’t know I had to hurry with it…” Maya touched Elle’s back.
“It’s fine,” Elle said unconvincingly. “It’s fine. We can scrape the burned parts off a little. I’m sure it’ll still be good inside. It’s fine.”
“I’ll set the table, all right?” Maya said, wanting to leave Elle to her own devices in trying to fix the chicken.
Setting the table was one of the favorite parts for Maya. She’d grown in her mastery of decorations, setting the table with flowers, and buying beautiful cutlery. She felt as if she was in a fairytale, having grown up in a house that couldn’t afford anything of the sort, especially not a garden. She put blue-tinted flowers into empty wine bottles, making the sturdy table as beautiful as it could be. Then she made space for candles, going back into the house to fetch them.
“How’s the chicken looking?” She laid her hand on Elle’s back, wanting to be as supportive as she could.
“Not terrible.” Elle grunted like a sculptor in the middle of a creative flow. “I’m fixing it.”
Maya nodded, not wanting to interrupt, and went to look for the candles. She had a clear aesthetic vision for the evening, she wanted it all to be full of flowers and warm candlelight, the perfect background for lovely conversations. The heaps of unnecessary trinkets in the drawers of their house always brought a smile to Maya’s face. They were little insignificant witnesses to her life together with Elle.
“Maya, they’ll be here in twenty minutes!”
“I’m almost ready!”
The light outside took on a more evening tint, the clouds bathing in light orange and pink of the approaching sunset. The temperature dropped a little, making the perspective of a warm meal even more delicious. The first guests began showing up, handing Maya and Elle bottles of wine and kissing their cheeks.
“I brought you something great.” Fleur flashed her teeth in a darling smile, “It’s the best non-alcoholic wine I’ve ever tasted.” She gave Maya the bottle and the two shared a long embrace.
“It’s so good to see you again.” Maya finally let her go. “Thank you so much for the wine. We will definitely taste it tonight!”
Soon, the firefighters flooded the little garden gate, some accompanied by their partners. Elle hugged everyone tightly, making light conversation and slowly leading them toward the table. She put on instrumental music, uncorked the abundant wine, and finally commanded everyone to take a seat because she and Maya had been starving for a while already and couldn’t wait anymore for the food. The group giggled, admitting they’d also had been waiting to taste Elle’s impeccable cuisine. She nodded gratefully, then went inside to retrieve the dishes.
“Do you need any help?” Maya turned around, looking in Elle’s direction.
“No, no, sit down, I’ll manage,” Elle responded, hurrying to get everything.
“She gets so despotic in the kitchen.” Maya laughed with her friends once Elle was gone from their sight.
Elle soon emerged out of the kitchen with the appetizers, platters of vegetables and bowls with dips. Everyone dug into them as soon as she set them on the table. No conversation could survive the competition with food. The sounds of biting down and chewing filled everyone’s ears, and soon most of the vegetables were gone. The simmering of conversations resumed, slowly building up to the wonderful noise of excited speech.
“Have you thought of a name yet?” O’Malley asked.
“Yes, actually, we decided today.” Maya looked lovingly at Elle, taking her hand. “She’s going to be named Alex.”
The gathering began clapping their hands. “What a nice name. Congratulations!”
Overcome with excitement, Maya had to feel Elle’s lips on her own. They locked in a long kiss, forgetting those around them.
“All right, all right, guys. Don’t be so disgustingly sweet.” Haley rolled her eyes.
“Haley, leave them be. They’re wonderful.” Kaia smiled, leaning on Hallie.
Elle pulled away from the kiss. “I should get the chicken. It should be warmed up already.” he sgot up and ran into the kitchen again.
“I’ll go help her.” Kaia got up as well and followed Elle into the house.