CPOV

It's been a two months since I've met Ana and I can say I've truly started living. I know two months seems like a long time to be dating someone before you become a couple, but I have enjoyed our journey. Being with her everyday, even if it's only for a short time, is all I can look forward to during the day. I pick her up every morning and drive her to work, to then take her home at the end of the day. I love it when she talks so adamantly about her passion at SIP and she listens intently about my work. We've gone on a few more double dates with Elliot and Kate and we text everyday at lunch. We've only kissed each other on the forehead or the cheek, but I'm more than willing to let her make the next move as far as physical contact goes. It feels right to let her take control on where our relationship is going. We also haven't talked about our pasts, but I'm hoping that will change soon.

I'm home one Saturday night, feeling restless more than ever and I know I just have to see her. We just texted each other a few minutes ago, but I have to see her in person. I grab my overnight bag in case she lets me spend the night and grab my keys. I hop into my Audi Spyder and quickly arrive at her apartment. I run up to the second floor and knock on her door. It takes a few pain staking minutes for her to open the door but when she does, my heart skips a beat. She's in a gray t-shirt and black shorts but she has a light blue apron on with sunflowers along the edges.

"Hi Christian," she says eagerly as she walks into my open arms. I kiss her on the head and inhale her wonderful scent. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to drop by and see what you're doing."

"Well today is Kate's birthday so I'm making her a cake." Oh, she's busy.

"Oh, then I'm sorry I bothered you." I turn to leave but her hand slips into mine.

"Why are you leaving?"

"Well you're busy with the cake and I don't want to intrude on the celebration."

"Come help me make the cake and frosting." Oh God. Me and cooking; not a good combo.

"Uh I'm not good at cooking."

"Well this is technically baking so you're probably good at that. Come on." She pulls me into the apartment and the smile has returned to my face. She rummages through some drawers before she pulls out a red apron. "Bend down please." I do so I'm face to face with her. She blushes her signature blush as she places the neck strap around my neck. She runs her arms around my center to tie the straps together in the back. "Okay so we're going to make a double layered round vanilla cake. I put parchment paper in the bottom of these two pans to help get the cake out later when it's done baking."

"Okay, so what do you want me to do?"

"Put three cups of flour into this bowl," she points to the green bowl on the counter. "While I get the baking powder and salt ready." She walks towards the cupboard while I turn to look at the sack of flour. I hesitantly take the cup measurement and scoop out the ingredient. I'm about to pour it into the bowl when her hand gently comes to rest on top of mine. "You need to even it off with the butter knife. Place the flat edge of the knife against the back of the cup and scrape the excess of the flour off into the bag so it can be used again later." She beams at me with her kind and patient eyes. I feel so, stupid, for not knowing this basic kitchen knowledge. "Christian don't be embarrassed. The first time I made a cake, it caught on fire." I can't contain my laughter as I do as she tells me. "Okay so I'm adding one tablespoon of baking powder and ½ teaspoon of salt. Take this whisk and mix it up." I take the whisk and start stirring it around in the batter. She comes back over and shows me how to angle the bowl and flip the whisk around so I won't strain my arm muscles.

"How do you know this recipe Ana?"

"I make my dad a birthday cake every year for his birthday. After the one that became kindling, he helped me learn how to work in the kitchen."

"So you love to cook?"

"I do but I love to bake more."

"And you're not afraid it will come out wrong?"

"At least I tried." She beams at me once more before I turn back to my whisking duty. After a few minutes, she walks back over to me with a white dish that has a tiny white handle. Inside the bowl is runny yellow liquid. "This is called a grab-it dish. I used it to melt 2 sticks of butter. While I add this, can you measure out 1 and ½ cups of sugar please?"

"Sure." I feel very proud I'm helping her achieve something, instead of fucking it up. I find the cups and measure out the desired amount before I add it to the bowl. She scrapes off the excess batter off the whisk with a spatula, at least I know what that is, and gets a mixer out of another cupboard.

"Okay so mix this with the mixer on medium. Put it in the mix first, but you already knew that didn't you?" She winks at me and I chuckle once more. I do so until she tells me to stop. She adds one egg before telling me to mix it again. We do this step with three more eggs. She grabs the spatula and scrapes the excess off again before she swipes the side of the bowl. "Can you measure me out 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract please?" I do as she says. I look at the mixture, but it doesn't really look like cake mix. "We're not done quite yet. So next, we're going to need ½ cup of water and ¾ cup of heavy cream, or whipping cream." She shows me how she beats into the batter three separate times. "Okay it's time to divide and…well bake." She pours half the batter into each round pan before she places them in the oven. "So it's set at 350°F so this will bake for 27 minutes. Unfortunately, now it's time to clean up." I bend down and place a kiss on her cheek.

"Thanks for letting me help Ana. I feel so accomplished. Hell, maybe I can even surprise Gail with my baking knowledge." She cups my face and kisses me on each cheek.

"If you ever want another baking lesson, let me know." I see her eyes have darkened but her innocent blush comes back to her cheeks. We busy ourselves washing and drying the dishes and laughing at each other.

"Ana, would you like to go hiking tomorrow?"

"I would love to. Are Kate and Elliot coming?" Does she still feel uncomfortable being alone with me?

"No, I figured it would just be you and me." Her smile widens and she turns another shade pink.

"I'd like that a lot." When the cakes are finished, she takes them out and places them on wire cooling racks. She lays out the dishes we just got done cleaning. "Now comes my favorite part: the icing." She looks like a child in a candy shop as she gathers the ingredients. "So I'm going to let you do this by yourself but I'll tell you the ingredients instructions of course."

"You aren't worried I'll mess it up?"

"You won't mess anything up Christian, I promise." She looks at me encouragingly as I step towards my baking station. "So first you're going to melt ¼ cup butter in the grab-it dish. While it's melting, put 3 cups of powdered sugar into the bowl." I do so before I add in the butter. I stir it around for a while until she tells me to stop. "Next add 2 tablespoons of milk and 1/3 teaspoon of vanilla extract and just mix it up really well." I mix as I watch her pull the tabs of the parchment paper and out come golden cake rounds. My pride swells knowing I didn't fuck up her cake. She comes over to me with tiny colored bottles. "I'm adding eight drops of blue food coloring and two drops of red to make the icing purple. That's her favorite color." I continue mixing and sure enough, the once off-white icing is now a light purple color. Next Ana places one of the cakes down on a circular serving dish. She takes a spoonful of the icing and spread it around the top of cake. She walks back over to me and pulls me towards the cake. She places the other cake on top before she dips her finger into the icing and holds it out for me. "The chef should always get to try their masterpiece before sharing." I lick her finger, giving her my most seductive eyes. It tastes amazing, and I'm not only talking about the icing. I swear she's holding her breath as she bites her bottom lip. I release her finger and she shakes her head, still smiling. "Okay so just pour it over it and we'll spread it around." I follow her instruction and the cake looks incredible. She shows me how to even out the icing with a knife. "Well Christian, your first cake looks amazing. Well done." She turns to me and somehow she got icing on her face.

"Hang on, you've got icing on your cheek." I pick up a damp paper towel and cup her face. She closes her eyes and leans into my hand as I wipe the towel back and forth, clearing away the icing. When I'm done, she looks into my eyes before looking at my lips. I lean down and see her eyes flutter shut. Just as our lips make gentle contact, the front door swings open with a bang.