Michiru was not home at four o'clock. Haruka's mansion was some way from the ocean. If Haruka wanted to be there by six, she'd have to floor it, and getting pulled over would not get her and Michiru there any faster. By that time, Usagi was back on the sofa, snoring noisily with twin fountains of drool pouring from her gapped mouth. Haruka was pacing fervently before the door, glancing at her expensive watch, clock, sundial, every other minute. It was the sundial that disturbed her the most. The sun was already quite a bit to the west.
Haruka found herself thinking about Michiru in many ways; some that were not appropriate in such a situation. She was beginning to resort on her first few options, for one. Michiru wouldn't have stayed out today if she wanted to go to the beach. She was also thinking about her fingers. Her kissing, too, but what she longed for the most were her long, artistic, perfect fingers. She could do so many things with them. How she missed them. It had only been a short time, but the time that they had been apart seemed like an eternity to Haruka.
If Usagi had been watching Haruka, she would have seen the look of anxiety slowly melt into a mixture of anxiety i and /i lust. Haruka began to lose interest in the idea of spending the night on the beach, and was simply hoping to spend the night in bed with Michiru, Michiru's tongue, and of course, Michiru's fingers.
Maybe a striptease or a massage or a nipple rub….or a nice bath together…or a good horizontal rubdown with my strap-on...
Haruka was smiling again, unconsciously rubbing her chest with her right hand and eliciting sounds of pleasure as she pondered her evening. She didn't notice that the roaring from the sofa had ceased and that Usagi was staring at her, a confused expression on her face as she watched the other woman's had moving briskly across herself.
"Uhhhm…Haruka?" Usagi peeped, obviously startling Haruka. "Could you keep it down? I need my beauty rest you kno-" Usagi's blond head was back on the pillow and snoring away before she could finish the sentence.
Haruka immediately removed her hand and stood up straight, a bit confused about what she had just been doing. She looked at her watch. It was four twenty. She and Michiru hadn't made any reservations at a restaurant, so she would have to prepare something herself. Haruka might not have looked, but she was an excellent cook. However, she probably didn't have any decent ingredients left in the refrigerator due to the eating machine sleeping on her sofa.
Haruka went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator and gasped. Apparently Usagi had eaten everything besides the vegetables and a small cut of beef. It was looking a whole lot like stew tonight, but that wasn't much of an anniversary dinner. She was sure that Michiru wouldn't mind too much; as unromantic as it may, Michiru loved beef stew.
After a closer inspection of the untouched goods remaining in the refrigerator, Haruka removed a bundle of leeks, some potatoes, and a bag of whole carrots and added them to the counter along with beef and the freshly washed rice. Haruka removed the beef from its wrapping and placed it on the cutting board, skillfully cutting the meat into perfect cubes. She lined up the leeks on the opposite side of the board and quickly cut them with the expertise of a master chef. Haruka peeled three potatoes, each in one continual cut, and diced them in the same manner as the beef. She washed the carrots quickly but thoroughly and sliced them into perfect a ring of orange circles. Haruka was in a hurry, so she'd have to cook much faster that she normally did.
Haruka carried the board over to the huge pot of boiling water and dumped the contents of the board into the water, splashing droplets of scalding water onto her arms as she did so. She barely noticed the pain and turned the burner onto the highest heat. Haruka went to the freezer, pulled out a frozen blueberry pie, removed the box, and tossed it into the oven. Then she poured the rice into the rice cooker added water, and turned it on. Michiru would be here before the stew was ready, but she could always start on a bowl of rice.
"Haruka? Is that PIE that I smell?" Usagi suddenly blared. Even though Haruka was several meters from Usagi, it sounded like she was screaming in her ear with a loudspeaker. Haruka winced and shook her head.
"No…it is just rice," She fibbed. Haruka could have been certain that Usagi had been sleeping a second before. She sure had a nose for food. Haruka could smell any scent that even resembled that of pie at that time.
Usagi was suddenly right behind Haruka now.
"Are you sure about that?" She asked again, making Haruka jump and turn around. "You know that I know that I know when I know that I know I smell PIE!"
Haruka blinked. "I really don't have any…"
Usagi had already opened the oven door, steam pouring into her face and making her cry out.
"HARUKA HOW COULD YOU!" she screamed, clutching her burning face for a moment and then reaching into the oven to retrieve the pie that she knew must have been in there. She let out a piercing scream and dropped the pie at Haruka's feet, splattering boiling purple goo all over her bare legs, feet, floor, and Haruka's tuxedo.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! OHHHH MY GOOOOOD! WHY DID YOU NOT TELL ME IT WAS SOOO HOT? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!" she screamed, rushing towards the sink to douse her hands in cold water. She turned on the sink and doused her hands in the water alright, but she also managed to spray water all over the kitchen and bumped several dishes to the floor. Haruka had completely forgotten to wash all of the dishes that Usagi had used. She supposed that the broken glass on the floor was what she had to pay for it.
Haruka fevrently brushed at the pie at her clothing as Usagi destroyed her kitchen. It was no good, it would go to the cleaners to get rid of the stains. Then the fire alarm came on. Apparently Usagi had left the oven open and steam was continuing to pour into the room. Haruka shut the oven instantly and fanned franticly at the sounding alarm above her head, and it went off after a minute. Usagi was still wailing and running water over her hands. Haruka went over to the sink and turned off the faucet. Usagi's hands were not burned, barely even blistered.
"Usagi! Look what you have done!" Haruka shouted over Usagi's wails for the water to be turned back on.
Usagi ignored Haruka and tried to turn on the faucet, but tripped and almost fell onto a pile of broken glass as she did so. Haruka caught her under the arms before she could do so. She had enough things to worry about, let alone a bloody floor, and not to mention a bloody Usagi. Haruka grabbed Usagi roughly by the arm and dragged her toward the door. Usagi presented quite a fight, but she was nothing against Haruka and she was pushed out the door in five seconds.
Haruka could hear the desperate woman pounding on the door from the kitchen where she was now mopping. Usagi had been pounding the door with her fists for several minutes at end, screaming apologies though the door. She had ruined everything. Usagi always ruined everything. It almost seemed to be her sole purpose on the Earth, and half the time she wasn't even on the Earth, but in the clouds dreaming her stupid girlish fantasies. Haruka could have hired a maid, Michiru had always suggested it, along with bodyguards, but Haruka never felt right about having other people in her house. She could do her own work, and besides, they could always be spies or criminals.
She had almost gotten things perfect. She had been dressed well, the place was clean, and a nice dinner would have been ready within a couple of hours. She still had the table set and decorated with candlesticks and their bedroom set in a perfect environment for lovemaking, but she was a mess, and desert was ruined. Also, the sofa was covered in crumbs that had been to small for Usagi to jam into her mouth, and bits of pastry filling were smeared on the cushions. The front of the house had Tsukino Usagi written all over it. It wasn't something that she wanted walking in to see. If only Haruka had bothered to look out of the peephole before opening the door to Usagi.