She doesn't eat like the daughter of the president, that's for sure… I told myself as she ate, not using the proper utensils, like a… teenager. I gently reach for a croissant, some eggs and bacon. I add some pepper to the eggs.
"Wow, that's not a lot of pepper" she said between mouthfuls
"I have a strong sense of taste" I reply
"I guess the sense of smell comes with it then?" She asked
"Yes"
She paused, looked at the ceiling and then rushed out the dining hall "I'll be back, just wait!"
I keep eating nonchalantly, when the chef, Philippe comes out the kitchen to greet us. He looks around and sees only me, confused he asked:
"My, but where is Miss Tinya?"
"She went to her room, she said she'd be back soon" I replied
"Oh, but I have forgotten!" He clasped his hand to his forehead
"What?"
"You must cook something! You had told me you would!" he told me with a sly smile and pointing his index finger at me
I sigh… I don't really want to cook for strangers, but still… I get up and go the kitchen and tell him: "better get on with it then?"
He nods and shows me where everything is. He walks to the oven and tells me about the pots and pan, where the spices are, on a shelf right next to the elements.
"Now, may I ask what you will be cooking today?" he asked eagerly
I put my hand to my chin and start to think… What could I cook for these people? Something simple… "What could I cook…? You've already made breakfast" I said
"Well… you could always cook tonight or… Some sort of dessert?"
Dessert, dessert… Nothing too complicated… How about some cookies, mine are actually way better than everybody else is… At least that's what the Legionnaires tell me… "How about some cookies, is there a specific flavour you'd like?"
He looks at the dining hall, more specifically at Tinya's chair where her unfinished breakfast lay. Then he shut his eyes and sighs. After maybe a few seconds he opened his eyes "I believe Miss Tinya's favorite cookies are double chocolate chip"
I notice a smell now: it smells like roses and strawberries. I shake my head and reply to Philippe "Great. Double chocolate chip is then"
I turn around to go to the refrigerator, but I'm blocked by Tinya, who has a huge smile on her lips. She's holding a small purple flask in her hands and her cheeks seem a bit flushed.
"Soo?" She asked
Sooo… Smells nice… Like home… I look slightly up as I'm really taking in the smell. "Oh, god" I sigh, in spite of myself
Her smile quickly dropped. "D-Don't you like it?" she asked a little sad
"No" I replied quickly… Too quickly… "I love it. Reminds me of home"
She squealed and hugged me surprisingly tight for such a small frame. I couldn't help but just appreciate the moment. I've never been hugged since the other girls saw me for the first time at the Legion… I've forgotten how it feels, to be hugged like that… Unfortunately, Philippe decided this would be an appropriate moment to break us up. He cleared his throat:
"Miss Tinya, is that perfume?"
"Um, yes. It is" She replied shyly
A sly smile formed on Philippe's lips, he walked up to me and nudged me with his elbow, chuckling. When he finally stopped, he was almost laughing his chef hat off. He cleared his throat and said:
"Did I not tell you? Did I not?"
Remembering what he told me when I first met him… such a handsome young man! I'm sure Tinya will devour him up… I chuckled at the memory. "Yes. Yes you did" I chuckled slightly
"Tell you what" Tinya asked"
The chef looked at me and said "I do not believe you should know… Yet"
"Why not?" She pouted and crossed her arms, enforcing the rich kid image. It made me smile
"Perhaps your new bodyguard will tell you, but not now. He is helping me cook"
"What are you cooking?" She asked excitedly
"Actually, we're BAKING. Cookies… Double Chocolate chips, maybe?" I asked
"DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHIPS?" She quickly caught herself. "Mind if I help?" She asked quite shyly
I looked at Philippe, but didn't really believe the look he gave me… She can't really be that bad… I thought and gave a matching look. I turned to Tinya and told her:
"Sure"
She nearly shrieked and started to jump in place… Well, SOMEONE likes to bake. I'm not actually surprised: she trains to fight, eats like a normal teenage kid, why wouldn't she like to bake as well?... Lightning Lad does those things and he doesn't like to bake… I snapped out of my reverie when the chef shook my shoulder telling me to get some ingredients.
"Go take the flour, the sugar and the oil for the cookies; they're in the closet over there" he pointed to the back of the kitchen
I headed to get the ingredients, when I stopped in my tracks and turned around:
"Are the chips in there too? I could get them"
I noticed Tinya wasn't here anymore… Strange I can't smell her. At all… I cleared my throat and asked Philippe who was now waiting somewhat impatiently:
"Where is Tinya?"
"She left to get the chips, now go get the other ingredients!" he whisked me off to the closet
I get to the closet and open it. It's actually walk-in food storage…. I still wonder where Tinya ran off to…Sprock. Where is she? Anyway, the flour… heavier than those small flour bags we buy at the legion that's for sure! Nothing I can't handle though. Next is the sugar, little bag, little weight. Lastly, the gallon of oil for the baking… Somehow I manage to pick it up with my left hand, even though my arm is holding the sugar bag. When I walk out of the closet/food storage, I see Tinya sitting on the counter next to Philippe. Her long legs are hanging off the counter and she's gracefully swinging them. I'm somewhat surprised, although I don't show it. Although, now she's wearing sweat pants and a white tee-shirt… When did she get changed?...
"Where were you?" I ask putting down the ingredients on the counter next to her
"I went to get the chips" She replied innocently, with a sweet smile to 'help' me forget
I scoff at this, even though it's quite sweet. "Nice try, Tinya. But those tricks don't work on me. Also, I know when someone's lying. I can guess Philippe had the chips already, because I know YOU didn't get them. What did you do? Also, why and when did you change?"
She looks somewhat astonished at me… Probably forgot I could 'smell' it when people lie… Her expression turns back to her normal one. She sighs and answers my questions:
"I went upstairs when you left for the closet to change and not dirty my clothes"
"Alright" I reply and we start to mix the ingredients, according to my mother's recipe, not Philippe's. He wanted to taste my mother's cookies.
They ingredients are now all in the same bowl. I grab a wooden spoon, when Philippe and Tinya stop me.
"What?" I asked annoyed
"Don't you want to use the mixer? That seems awfully thick." Asked Philippe
I shake my head. "Mother's recipe. One of her tips was to ALWAYS mix the ingredients by hand. Besides, if my mother could do it, so can I" I reply
Although the paste really is thick and very hard to mix with just a spoon, I want to follow my mother's recipe… I can't believe I actually remember her cookies recipe, I never really take the time to bake anymore, just cook. And just easy meals, really. Why can't we just have a cafeteria? Like the Justice League had?.. I'm almost done mixing the paste, when Tinya asked me a question:
"Soo? When did Puppy learn to bake?" she said with a sweet voice
I stopped what I was doing, set down the bowl, leaned on the counter and hung my head. I sighed…I get what you're trying to do… Don't think I didn't try. It hurts every time I think about her, okay? Damn, it's not like I want to remember mostly the sad moments, but… My mind, my conscience won't let me be… I get back to reality to answer Tinya's questions and be over with it.
"Don't call me puppy. I learned baking when I was five… When she died, I inherited her family's cookbook; it has all sorts of recipes and general tips. It's hard to believe it was written by members of the family…" I answered in a nostalgic and sad tone
"Come one Brin! Lighten up!" she huffed, punching me in the arm "We're baking cookies! Not talking about funeral arrangements!" She joked
"I get what you trying to do…" I began, but no sooner than that, Philippe took the bowl from me and started mixing again, saying:
"Brin, I'm sure your mother would not like you to only half-mix the paste, would she?"
Now that made me smile… Why is it so hard to think about mom? Especially around Tinya? Although Philippe makes a pretty good comedian… I yanked the bowl from Philippe's hand and handed it to Tinya.
"Wanna help?" I asked, she quickly nodded. "Then mix this" I said with a smirk
Sure enough, it took her some time to get started and she spilt some… I didn't even know you could SPILL that, unless you flipped the bowl over! I chuckled at the thought. Pretty soon though, the paste was ready to be formed into Tinya's favorite cookies. I took out three spoons.
"Scoop some batter up with the spoon, enough so it just barely overflows the spoon." I showed them. "Then, roll it into a ball like this" I proceeded to turn the bunch of batter into a perfect ball, the size of a golf ball. "No bigger, understood?" I asked Tinya, she sighed, pouted and crossed her arms. "We want some batter to be left when we're done, don't we?"
She nearly jumped into my arms, although she was hugging me "I love you!" she said playfully.
I hesitantly hugged her back. I told her "Philippe told me they were your favorite, so I made extra"
She wasn't really listening now, as she was rolling the dough into balls, all the size of golf balls… I never saw anybody roll cookie dough so fast, except maybe from Superman… I stopped her.
"Stop. You've filled the two trays. You can have the batter now" I say with a small, sincere smile
"Yay! Thanks puppy!" she quickly grabbed the bowl and ran away before I could say anything to her nickname
I sighed, shaking my head. Tinya on a sugar rush… This was not going to be pretty. I turned around to see that Philippe had his arms crossed and he was giving me an all knowing look.
"Sucking up your little dove?" he asked, with a smirk
I kept my serious face, even though I was blushing, but very slightly… What's wrong with being nice to a girl? Does it mean I'm in love with her? I was an animal for so long I can't really remember… No, it can't mean that… "What?" I finally asked, giving him a chance to change what he said.
He chuckled "Brin, you may not be able to see or feel it yet, but I sure do. I'm a chef, so I know it when people are in love. Nothing survives without nourishment; we of all people should know that!"
Then he left. Leaving me alone in the kitchen to ponder on what had happened
