There's no way I can prepare everything for tonight. And with Fiona here, this is going to be the worst dinner ever, Cordelia thought, reading the list of foods she had to prepare.
The headmistress had gotten up around five-thirty in the morning; she had a lot to prepare for and wanted to make sure that everything was perfect. After all, it was the first time they celebrated thanksgiving all together. That dinner had to go perfectly as if it was the last thing she did. But it wasn't meant to be – Like most of her plans, it wasn't going to stick and the day would probably end up going horribly bad. She discarded those thoughts and continued on happily with her morning. When Misty woke up around eight, the amazing smells coming from the kitchen drew her in.
"Hey, Dee. How ya doing?" she asked, grabbing a paper from the kitchen table and feeling her mouth watering as she read the list of the food that Cordelia was going to prepare.
"It's going well. Would you hand me some butter, please? I can't find it." Cordelia asked, already cursing her insistence on cooking the meal herself and wished she had taken up Delphine's offer to help a few days earlier. Why had she been stubborn and said no?
"Of course." Misty walked to the fridge and grabbed a stick of butter, which she then handed to her friend. "Are ya sure ya don't need any help? I'd be happy to do it." She knew Cordelia would reject the offer.
"If you want to. I'm driving myself crazy already. I was so stupid to think I could do this alone."
"Ya're not stupid and it's totally fine for me to help." And with that, Misty joined her in preparing the dinner. They had just put the turkey in about two hours later when the students woke up. Cordelia insisted that they ate a light snack, so they chose cereals and went to eat it in the dining room.
"So we were thinking that since we're the only students that are staying here for the holidays we're planning to go to the Six Flags park after Madison finishes showering. We'll be spending all day but we'll be back in time for dinner." Zoe said after they finished and taking some ingredients to make sandwiches.
"Isn't that the old abandoned amusement park near Lake Michoud?" Misty asked.
"Yeah."
"Who's going?" Cordelia questioned.
"Madison, Queenie, Kyle and I."
"If it's only you it's okay. Just don't let Madison drive, she's horrible on the road."
"I heard that." Madison hissed from the kitchen's door. Zoe rolled her eyes and packed the sandwiches into her bag. "Bye bitches."
"I want you home at eight!" Cordelia yelled.
"Okay!" she heard Zoe answer before hearing the door close.
"It seems that is the two of us to prepare everything, huh?" Misty said. "Do ya mind if I put music or something?"
"No, go ahead." Cordelia said, focused on mashing the potatoes. She could see from the corner of the eye the swamp witch taking the music player to the room and turning it on.
What happened to her? I thought she was here
In the eyes of love, I saw her through her tears
I saw her expire, I saw her move on
Like a ghost through the fog, the ghost is gone
"Have you realized that we are like some kind of weird family?" the swamp witch asked, leaning on the kitchen counter.
"A weird family?"
"Yeah. You're the mother, who takes care of everyone in the house. Your mama is the grandma, who is always drunk and makes bitchy comments." Misty explained, making the other woman laugh. "Zoe, Queenie and Madison are the teenage daughters who can't stop fighting but after all they like to spend time together. Kyle is Zoe's boyfriend, and Myrtle is the crazy aunt."
"And you?" Cordelia asked, stopping her work and turning to look at Misty.
"I'm the cool mama, of course."
"The cool mama? Are you saying that I'm the boring one?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Uh…" Misty doubted, not knowing how to explain. "I was just saying that you're the serious one, the one that get's worried about the girls and cares the most about them."
"That's the same as saying that I'm the boring one."
"C'mon, let's dance." Misty said, trying to change the topic.
"I have to finish mashing the potatoes, Misty."
"You have all day to do that." the swamp witch answered.
"This isn't a song that I can dance."
"Then I'll change it." she said, approaching the music player and changing the song and grabbing Cordelia's hand before the woman could turn around and pulling her close. She placed her hands on Cordelia's waist, slowly starting to move. Cordelia followed her, raising her arms and putting the around the swamp witch's neck. She had suddenly forgotten about the dinner and the turkey and everything that surrounded her. It was only her and Misty dancing on the kitchen, their bodies dangerously close.
You may be the one
But you'll never be the one
You think you'll understand
But you don't understand
"Cordelia…" Misty whispered, looking down to the woman. "I really like ya."
"I know." Cordelia answered, resting her head on Misty's shoulder, suppressing her desire to kiss the witch. She couldn't fall for Misty, not today. She had to keep her head focused on the dinner. "I like you too. You're my best friend."
The smell of all the foods filled the air, making Misty's taste buds begin salivating in anticipation for the meal. Normally she would be stealing and eating the starters before they arrived to the table, but that night she had decided to be polite and wait until everyone was in their seats. Cordelia was in the kitchen, talking to her mother.
"Fiona, can you explain to me why there is a complete stranger in our dining room?"
"He's not a stranger, Delia. He's Lewis Johnson, the son of Claude Johnson, who of course is one of the richest men of the city. And he's interested in you." she said before taking a long sip of her glass of vodka.
"Still sounds like a complete stranger to me." Cordelia answered. "I keep telling the girls to not to bring boys here and then you invite a total stranger to the house, discrediting me in front of my students and putting the coven in severe danger. Have you even thought that he could be a witch hunter?"
"Look at that, the pot calling the kettle black."
Cordelia sighed. She couldn't deny it; her mother was right. She had no right to scold her, after all, she had been the foolish, naïve idiot who had opened the doors of the coven to a witch hunter. "I can't believe that you are still trying to find me a husband after what happened with Hank. Make me a favor and die before Christmas, please." the headmistress hissed before taking the roasted turkey's plate on her hands and taking it to the dining room. Fiona's seat was at the end of the table, sending the unspoken message that she was the leader and was in control of the coven, while Myrtle Snow was at the other end, admiring the table decorations with a glass of wine in her hand. The strange man was sitting at one side of the Supreme, while Madison had been placed at the other side, a wonderful travesty that amused Cordelia. Hopefully they will kill each other tonight, the headmistress couldn't help but think. She placed the turkey in the centre of the table and took her seat, discretely touching Misty's shoulder with her fingers. "Kyle, would you like to do the honors?" she asked with a smile.
"Yeah." the boy answered, taking a knife and starting his work. He was sitting between Madison and Zoe, just in front of the headmistress. Although the two girls had decided to go on a truce for a night, the tension was obvious, and the poor boy felt awkward. Misty immediately reached for the turkey and proceeded to take a huge slab of meat for her plate. Coupled with gravy, the turkey seemed irresistible to her, so she chose a big piece of dark meat, roasted to perfection. The skin had some sort of spice on it, although in that moment she couldn't recall its name. The turkey's incredible taste filled Misty's mouth. Dee is such an amazing cook, the swamp witch thought between bites.
"Queenie, darling, could you pass the Cranberry sauce, please?" Myrtle asked. The girl, who was sitting between her and Zoe, obeyed without saying anything. "So, you're Claude's son, right? How is your father doing?" the redhead asked, looking at the man.
"To be honest, I haven't seen him for two years."
"Oh." Myrtle said. Silence fell on the room. Most people familiar with Thanksgiving would say that being able to spend a day with your family is truly a tremendous privilege, but when it became to terms of the coven, being all together sitting in the same table at the same time became tedious. Fiona stood up and went to the kitchen, looking for a bottle of vodka while observing how Lewis engaged conversation with her daughter after taking another slice of turkey. The Supreme smiled.
"We could go out someday. Maybe go to the cinema, have dinner together and well, go to my house afterwards. I have a private pool." Lewis said. Show-off, she thought, a bit jealous of him and everything he could offer to Cordelia. For what she had heard of his conversation, not only he was one of the richest men of the city, but he had mansions in Europe and private jets. It was then when she felt Cordelia's hand discreetly grabbing hers from under the table, caressing her knuckles with the pads of her thumbs. She kept talking to Myrtle with a shy smile. Fiona served herself another glass of vodka.
"Zoe, I completely adore your dress." Myrtle said, looking at the girl's black cocktail clothes. "Where did you get it?"
"She found it in the dumpsters of goodwill, obviously." Madison said with a critical voice.
"If I had known that you were going to be such a bitch tonight I would have fucking stabbed you and left your corpse in the SpongeBob ride." Zoe hissed.
"Girls, stop it." Cordelia said, trying to end the tension between the girls.
"I'll stop when she stops trying to humiliate me in front of everyone."
"Better take a seat, because that's not going to happen."
"Girls, enough."
"You're just jealous because Kyle likes to be with me instead of you." Zoe said, taking the boys hand with a satisfied smile.
"I'm going to fucking kill you, bitch."
"I swear that one of these days I'm going to kill Fiona. And that stupid pretentious imbecile too." Cordelia exclaimed, entering the kitchen followed by Misty and closing the door after them. Lewis had finally gone home, not without writing down his number on Cordelia's cell phone with a grin on his face. After talking to him for two hours, the headmistress was sure about how her own hell looked like. Myrtle and the students had excused themselves and had gone to their bedrooms minutes before, while Fiona was still focused on emptying her bottle of vodka on the living room.
"If ya need any help I'll be glad to help ya." Misty said cheerfully, putting the dishes on the sink and turning around to face the headmistress. "I need to talk to ya."
"I just can't believe that she arranged for him to come to our thanksgiving dinner." Cordelia kept talking, furious and unaware of Misty's words. "And have you heard him? He's an arrogant, stupid jerk just like his father. They think that any woman will fall to their feet when they say that they have private pools and big mansions and-" she continued saying, just to be interrupted by Misty's lips melting with her own in a quick kiss. The swamp witch had approached to her quickly, taking advantage of the woman's rant. "Oh." Cordelia gasped after the woman pulled apart.
Misty's expression was intense now, almost threatening. For a moment, Cordelia thought that the swamp witch was angry with her (Cordelia hadn't stopped complaining about Lewis since he had left the house) but before she could ponder it further, Misty pulled her again in a hungry kiss. She responded immediately, surprising herself. Her mouth was so warm, the caress of her lips softer and sweeter than she could have imagined. Cordelia opened her mouth with a low moan, losing herself into the witch's embrace before feeling her body being pushed against the door. When the need of breathing became necessary, Misty broke the kiss, keeping their foreheads touching.
"I lied this morning." the headmistress said in a whisper. "I don't like you as a friend, but I was really scared of how the dinner would turn and I had tons of things in my head and I didn't know how you would react if I told you that I love you."
"You love me?" Misty said with a smile.
"Yeah. Do you love me?"
"More than I love Stevie." Misty said, kissing the woman again.
Maybe it hasn't been such an awful dinner after all.