Whiskey In A Teacup
Anna Summers knew it will end up as a disaster, but nothing was going to stop her anyway.
"You'll ruin my appetite." Kristoff terribly muttered in disgust. "Let me rephrase that, you've already ruined it."
A boiling concoction of sticky, red sauce bubbled thickly in the casserole, and a pungent smell of burnt garlic and tomato paste hung heavily in the air.
"Jesus Christ, Anna! Whatever you're brewing in there will send both of us to the hospital!" the blond nearly hurled at the sight of it.
Anna rolled her eyes. "It's not as bad as it looks!" she tried to sound convincing, but apparently, her voice betrayed her. Even to her own ears, she sounded unsure and doubtful.
"This was a bad idea. I can't believe you talked me into this." Kristoff shook his head in disbelief.
The redhead frowned. Sure she's clumsy, untalented and quite a bit of an airhead sometimes, but that doesn't mean he could go on and rub it in all the time.
"You haven't even tasted it yet." she chastised.
"I don't need to taste it to know what it'll do to me." he responded with a mere shrug.
"How will you know you won't like it until you try it?" she persistently countered. Unfortunately, Kristoff isn't a big fan of the trial and error method.
"Then you try it first. If it's good, I'll dig in too." he finally said, knowing Anna would most likely take the bait since she's not one to back out of a challenge. Her chest puffed out and a grin was immediately plastered on her face. Anna scooped a spoonful of her cooking and blew on it several times before shoving it inside her mouth. It wasn't long before she wished she hadn't done that.
The redhead stumbled to the kitchen sink, choking and spitting the sauce out of her system. As if that wasn't enough to rid her of the entirely bad taste in her mouth, Anna gurgled and rinsed with tap water.
Kristoff sighed, rubbing his temples in the process.
"I've been trying to get it right for the past week! Maybe cooking really isn't just for me." she came to a sudden realization.
Kristoff felt the need to approach her and commend her for at least trying, but the apathetic words came tumbling out instead. "Come on, let's clean up the mess you've made."
"Alright," Anna pouted. "But what about lunch?"
The blond's phone buzzed. He checked up on it and hit the snooze button.
"That's my cue. I gotta go and pick up Sven from the vet." he apologetically told her.
Anna rubbed the back of her neck before nodding. Sad, as her friend was about to leave already. Noticing the sudden change in mood, Kristoff offered a promising smile to her.
"Hey, you'll get it right next time. You just need to keep practicing and you'll get better." he reassured, trying not to mess up his advice.
"Thanks Kristoff...and sorry for wasting your time." she muttered.
"I'm supposed to give this to you after you cooked something decent today," he fished out something from his pocket. "But since you're sulking, here."
He handed out a small paper to her. The redhead took it and read the label.
She gasped.
"Kristoff! This is—" he eyes went wide in an instant and she felt a rush of excitement coursing through her.
"A stub to the Sweets Festival downtown." he smugly finished for her.
"What—Where—How did you get one?" she laughed, unable to believe it with her own eyes.
"Long story short, I bumped to this guy Kai and helped him with a few things. Turns out, he works in a pastry shop participating in the event and he gave me two stubs in exchange for my gentlemanliness." he beamed, flashing her with his own prized ticket.
"Is that even a word?" Anna giggled. "When do you plan on going? Shall we go together?"
"Well, since it's a two-day event and I have part-time during Saturdays...then Sunday it is."
Anna frowned. "Hm, I guess we can't go together then. I've to run errands for mom on Sunday."
Kristoff's phone buzzed again, the alarm going off louder this time.
"I really have to go Anna. But I'll keep in touch. I'm gonna write a full page summary on what cakes to eat and to avoid." he winked.
Anna rolled her eyes. "You don't have to. I'm going on Saturday remember? And I plan on stuffing my face with everything they have to offer on display." She escorted him outside and kissed him on the cheek for good measure.
"I'll see you soon feisty pants."
Just as soon as he was out of sight, her growling stomach pulled her back to reality.
"What am I gonna have for lunch?"
Elsa Winters was feeling uneasy. She just came back from her vacation in her hometown in Norway, only to find her safe haven like this.
"Miss Winters, welcome back." greeted a well-dressed waiter.
"It's good to be back." she managed to reply with the same enthusiasm as the man. "Where's Gerda? I told her the cakes should be displayed on the left and the pralines should be next to the soufflés."
An amused chuckle reverberated inside the now closed establishment and a woman appeared to embrace the worked up lady to calm her nerves.
"You haven't changed a bit. Welcome back, Elsa." came the sweet reply of the older woman.
"And you thought I wouldn't notice how you deliberately changed the arrangement?" Elsa countered, a smile grazing her lips. "It's good to be back. I trust everything's set for the event?"
Gerda nodded before adding, "We're just waiting for your approval on the list."
Elsa scrutinized the items on the clipboard handed out to her as she placed a finger under her chin.
"Let's replace pudding with éclairs this time. Other than that, we're good."
Gerda took not of it immediately. "Right, of course. What of Sir Agdar and Norway?"
"Father's the same busybody as always, but we managed to get together during his working hours. Norway's a dreamland. I would've loved to stay longer, but duty calls." Unable to stop from yawning, Elsa excused herself to retire for the night. "I leave you in charge until tomorrow. I won't make myself useful and available in my current state."
"Of course. For now, make the most of your time and rest, dear."
And for once, Elsa Winters will do just that.