There was a knock on the door, and Merengue looked up, her hands swinging loosely by her sides.
"Merengue, I'm coming in now, OK?" The voice sounded muffled through the door.
"Alright, shortcake!" She called back. The door opened, and Tia entered, balancing a large wooden chest on her arm. "Oh, let me help you with that!" Merengue grabbed one side of the chest and helped lower it onto the coffee table. "All set!" Merengue dusted off her hands and headed to her refrigerator as Tia opened the chest and took out her tea set.
"I thought it would be nice to use these pretty things once in a while, teacup…"
"Yeah, and they're so nice-oh no!" Tia looked up.
"Everything OK?"
"Um…we're out of cake. Dizzy must've gotten to them while I was out."
"Oh, Dizzy…" Tia shook her head and chuckled. "It's not a problem, Merengue."
"We really should have cake, though…" Merengue closed the refrigerator door and put a hand to her chin. "Oh, I know!" The exclamation point lit up her face. "We can bake one!"
"Hm, I've never done much baking," Tia said, coming to Merengue's side. "Could you teach me?"
"Of course! Let's get out the ingredients." Merengue started humming as she pulled containers from various places in the pantry. "Could you get the stuff from the fridge?"
"Sure." Tia opened the door and stood in front of it for a second. "Butter's important, right?"
"Yeah!" Tia took out the covered stick with two hands, cradling it carefully. "Make sure to take out the milk and eggs, too."
"Milk and eggs, milk and eggs…" Tia pushed a few containers aside. "Ah! Found them, teacup." She took out the cartons and placed them on the counter where Merengue was pouring flour into a large bowl. The oven hummed behind her.
"Alright, take the butter and put it in!" Merengue finished measuring the sugar and dumped it right before Tia let the butter drop from her hands. It sank into the other ingredients.
"Wow, it looks…like it's eating the sugar." The butter hit an air bubble and sunk down. The two laughed.
"Guess it was pretty hungry, huh?" said Merengue. She pushed the rest of the ingredients toward the bowl. "OK, milk." She opened the container and started to pour it. Her hand slipped. "Ah!" Tia quickly steadied her hand in time. Merengue twisted the top back on with her free hand, and they stood there, their hands together on the milk carton for a few moments.
"Ah, well…what's next, Merengue?"
"Right! The eggs." She put the milk down hastily. "This part's pretty hard, so just watch me, OK?" Merengue took each egg carefully in her hand and tapped it twice against the side of the bowl. For the most part, they fell open neatly. Their contents plopped into the bowl and sunk into the mixture. "OK!" Merengue took the bowl and connected it to a mixer. "Here's what we're gonna do." She explained the process, and Tia took a few steps back.
"Won't it, um, go everywhere?"
"Oh no!" She laughed. "You silly," she said, touching Tia's arm. "I know what I'm doing." Merengue pressed the button and they watched (not without some trepidation on Tia's part) as the ingredients sloshed and mixed and transformed into a cream-colored substance. Tia looked on with fascination. It's smooth…yet somewhat gooey. She wondered how it tasted.
"Here." Merengue dipped a spoon in the mix and handed it to her. "Try it." Tia licked a bit of it off the wood. Her eyes lit up. It tasted like cake! Except…not quite… Merengue laughed at the look on her face. "OK, you silly. We're baking this." She took out a tube pan and started pouring the batter. "Here, help me smooth it." Tia took a dull knife and swished it on the surface of the cake a few times.
"Now what?"
"Now we bake it." She pushed the tin into the oven, closed the door, and set the timer.
Tia settled into the white couch cushions. "How look will it take to bake?"
"Oh, about an hour." Merengue took a seat beside Tia and snuggled into her shoulder. "What should we do...Oh!"
"What is it?"
"Well, it's..." Merengue shifted and nudged her hands together. "...a bit boring." She paused. "I, um, have to go grocery shopping."
"Ah, you don't just order them online?" Of course she didn't. She was always so into things; whatever she did, she did with energy and enthusiasm.
"No, I have friends in the town a few minutes away from here! I was thinking we could go visit."
"I'd love to!" Tia hummed to herself. How wonderful it would be to get out of town and meet Merengue's friends...
"But first…" Merengue nuzzled her head back into the crook between Tia's head and shoulder. "Can we stay like this for a little while?" Tia stroked the top of her head.
"Of course, Merengue." Tia closed her eyes and listened to Merengue's breathing. It was so quiet, so comforting…
The two fell asleep. The soft chimes of the clock and the hums of the oven only steadied their slumber. They awoke an hour later, when the oven went off.
"Oh!" Merengue sat up groggily. "Guess we fell asleep." Tia stretched.
"The cake must be done, then!" They got up.
"I'll prepare the cake!"
"And I'll make the tea." Tia hummed while boiling the water. Hm, what tea should we make? Something to go with a light cake… She selected an orange flavored casket of leaves and took out two strainers and cups. Merengue got out some strawberries and sliced them thinly, then arranged them on the top of the cake.
"Tea time!" They settled in front of the tea table and served each other.
"Ah! I forgot…" Merengue froze with a bit of cake halfway to her mouth. Of course. The grocery shopping.
"Don't worry, Merengue." Tia said with a smile after taking a sip from her cup. The cup clinked against the china as she set it down. "You can eat at my place tomorrow."