--Chapter 10: Of Cookies and Couples--
--To all my faithful readers: I'm sorry this took so long--school's been crazy. So please bear with me for the next couple of weeks, and I promise to keep the updates coming--
She plopped an egg into the bowl with the rest of the ingredients already there. A little vanilla, some baking soda, and a cup and a half of flour and she was in business. The mixer whirred, folding all the elements into one homogeneous mixture of tan goo. Veronica walked in the door just as Lauren started dropping little balls of dough onto a cookie sheet. "You bake too?"
"Yeah . . . there's just something therapeutic about it--all these things you put into it don't really taste good by themselves, but together they make something no one can resist. And you think you have control over the process--I mean, you control what goes in--but if you change one step, even by accident, they come out a little different. Each batch tends to have its own personality."
"Wow . . . no one else ever understood it like that before--they just thought I liked giving them to people--which I do, but the process isn't for them."
"Exactly," Ren smiled. "So what's up?"
"Just finished work at the library and was hoping to run into your brother." Veronica grabbed one of the cookies that were already finished and sat down on a stool at the counter.
"Well, I haven't heard from him since we left the house this morning. He did mention something about Dick though--they might be doing something together." Veronica nodded--it seemed like a viable explanation.
"You don't mind if I hang out, do you?" Ren gave her a look that said you're kidding, right?
"Please . . . if I minded you being here, you wouldn't be here." Veronica smiled at her, as the door opened.
"You know that handy mobile device that you keep in your pocket? You're supposed to answer that when it rings," Veronica commented without turning around. Since there was no knock, the person coming in must have been Logan.
"I did," Piz replied. "And now I'm here."
"Oh, you're not who I was expecting," she said, doing an about-face and seeing her mistake.
"But he is who I was expecting," Ren countered. Piz walked into the kitchen, grabbed a cookie, kissed Lauren on the cheek and sat down on a stool next to Veronica.
"Ren said she was baking, so how could I stay away?" He and Ren exchanged a smile.
"No chance you ran into Logan at school today is there?"
"Nope," he said through a mouthful of cookie.
"How many times did you call him?" Ren asked, opening the oven and putting the full cookie sheet inside.
"Four--the first time it rang, but the last three it went straight to voicemail, like he turned it off."
"Hmm." Lauren furrowed her brow, wiped her hands on a towel, then reached for her phone. She found her bother's number and hit the send button. Just like Veronica had said, it went straight to voicemail. "Logan Malcolm, call me or Veronica as soon as you get this . . . apparently you got some 'splainin' to do."
"Logan's middle name is Malcolm?" Piz laughed.
"Honey, your name is Stosh Isaac Piznarski." He immediately sobered as Lauren reminded him he had no reason to laugh at Logan.
"Hey, I can't help that my parents hated me."
"They didn't hate you," she said, placing a hand on his arm. "They just didn't realize that someday you'd be leaving your small town where names like that are okay." Ren searched through her phone again and pressed the send button.
"Yeah," came the voice at the other end.
"Is Logan with you?"
"Yeah he's right here," Dick answered. "Logan, it's the Little Chick." Logan accepted the phone from him.
"Hey Ren, what's going on?"
"What are you up to?"
"Why?"
"Why don't you want to answer me?"
"Why you want to know?"
"Why do you need to know why I want to know?" Veronica shook her head and sighed, understanding that, based on Ren's side of the conversation, Logan and Dick were probably up to no good. Piz gave up trying to understand and ate another cookie.
"Can I talk to him?" Veronica asked. Ren obliged, handing her the phone. "Where are you? And why is your phone off?"
"Oh, hey Veronica; the battery died--I need to recharge it tonight."
"You didn't answer my first question."
"We're out at the beach--we were just on our way back."
"Okay, see you soon then." She hung up the phone and handed it back to Ren.
"So where is he?"
"He said he's at the beach, and his phone died. Why do I not believe him?"
"Because it's Logan and Dick," Ren rationalized. "Logan wasn't exactly forthcoming when I asked him where he was, which tells me that he's probably doing something he shouldn't be doing."
"I'm sure everything's fine Baby." Piz stood up, wiped some flour off Ren's face, kissed her cheek again and grabbed another cookie.
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"Well, we almost escaped that one."
"They know something's up?"
"If I know my girls, they do--they probably have no idea what, but they know something's going on."
"This is gonna be harder than we thought."
"Yeah, can I leave all this at your place? . . . Just 'til I can talk to Veronica."
"Yeah Dude, no problem, but you may want to do that like, now."
"I can't just yet--they're together. But I'm supposed to be hanging out with her later tonight."
"Just be careful Dude--you know how she can get."
"Dick, she doesn't really have fangs, put your fingers down."
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Ren put the last tray of cookie dough balls into the oven. "So did your dad ever find out who was selling to Dick the other day?"
"Yeah," Veronica answered as Ren put the dirty dishes into a sink full of warm, soapy water and washed the flour from her hands and arms. "It was a kid named Emilio Martinez--second in command. Apparently, I've been out of the loop for too long because I didn't even know the PCHers had switched leaders again."
"Who are the PCHers?" asked Piz, still stuffing his face with cookies.
"They're a biker gang, but the members are high school students," she replied. She looked down at the counter, and then back at Piz. "How many of those have you eaten?"
"You better slow down there; you're gonna get a stomach ache if you're not careful," Lauren warned, pulling a glass down from the cupboard and getting the milk out of the refrigerator.
"Yeah, vacuum much?" Veronica laughed. Piz looked slightly ashamed.
"At least I know they're good," Ren smiled, setting the glass of milk down in front of him. He took a drink and put an arm around her.
Logan and Dick walked in the door to a trio of suspicious looks. "Your hair's not wet," Lauren observed.
"What are you Veronica?" Dick asked. "Ooh, cookies!" His attention was so easily swayed, the girls couldn't help but laugh.
"My hair's also a lot shorter than yours, and therefore dries faster," Logan responded, kissing his sister on the cheek. Then he made his way over to Veronica and kissed her.
"I don't believe you either," Veronica taunted. Logan kissed her again, lingering for a moment.
"Hey now, you don't see us doing that in front of you," Ren objected.
"Let's keep it that way, shall we?" Logan replied. "It's bad enough you're dating at all."
"Logan, shut up; she could do a lot worse," Veronica put in, shifting her gaze to Dick as he inhaled cookie after cookie. Dick finally noticed everyone staring at him and looked up at the group.
"What?" Crumbs dribbled down the front of his face and shirt.
"And you guys thought I was bad," Piz noted.
"Another four dozen bite the dust," Veronica said.
"Well, as much as I love being ridiculed, it's Friday--and that means it's club night," Dick said after swallowing. He grabbed six more cookies and kissed Lauren on the cheek. "Thanks, Little Chick." Then he headed out the door.
"We have somewhere to be." Logan grabbed Veronica's hand and she shrugged at Ren as he pulled her out the door. When they were out of earshot, Logan explained the situation to Veronica. "I couldn't tell you on the phone . . . I love you, but I couldn't chance you tipping Lauren off at all."
"Why can't Ren know?"
"She just can't, okay? Now come on, unless I'm mistaken, I promised you dinner."
"You want something to eat?" Ren asked. Piz looked at her for a second.
"Did you not just see me eat all those cookies?"
"I meant real food . . . Besides, the guys in Boston'd eat that many cookies and still have room for half a pizza."
"Is that a challenge?"
"I'm just saying . . ." she shrugged.
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Logan stopped, and pulled Veronica to him just outside the door. "So do you think she's gonna like it?"
"I think she'll love it," she answered. She closed her eyes, losing herself in the kiss that followed. She pulled away and smiled up at him; she liked the way he'd changed. He was more responsible, more focused, and she somehow had the feeling that he now kept less from her. He was finally growing up--who'd have thought it would take actually being a quasi-parent to make it happen. He quickly kissed her again, then reached for the doorknob. Two steps inside and he froze, mortified by what he saw.
"Hand check!" Veronica called out.
"Oh God!" Piz jumped about five feet in the air, holding up his hands. "Um--we--we weren't . . ." Ren sat up and winced. Logan started to say something, but never got it out--Veronica pulled him back to the bedroom.
"I can honestly say this is a first for me--I've never had my brother catch me making out before." Lauren closed her eyes and shook her head, a pained look still on her face.
"He's going to kill me now isn't he?" The color had drained from Piz's face.
"He's not going to kill you."
"Yes he is," he nodded. She placed a finger beneath his chin and turned his head to face her.
"I won't let him." He smiled and kissed her.
"Still--I should probably go."
"Okay," she sighed. They stood up, and she walked him to the door.
"Oh." He suddenly remembered something, looked at his watch, and kissed her once more. "Happy Birthday, Baby."
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