Believe it or not, I saw the movie first and then read the book. This exists in a world where the epilogue doesn't exist. Also, it's set during this pandemic, so, trigger warning on that if you don't want to relive the early days of the quarantine. Totally get it. Otherwise, enjoy!
When they'd first gone into isolation, Josh's only comfort in the face of so much unknown was the prospect of spending his confinement with Lucy. They'd been living together well before the pandemic began in what was formerly just his apartment, but he'd missed playing with her all day ever since leaving B&G.
Needless to say, they didn't get much work done those first few weeks. It was so easy to fall back into old habits. The Staring Game over morning coffee, the Copycat Game during lunch and the How You Doing? Game in the afternoon. The only difference now was that the sexual tension that used to go unresolved at the end of each day could now come to glorious fruition.
It was perhaps inevitable that their sexually-charged bliss couldn't last and, after a particularly risqué game they invented to lighten up their interminable Zoom calls nearly resulted in an HR disaster, they mutually agreed they should work in different rooms. While sequestering himself in their bedroom submerged in walls the same piercing blue as Lucy's eyes was a special kind of torture, it also made the times when Josh got to open the door and find her snuggled up on the couch with her laptop and a tea that much more delectable.
By far his favorite excuse to see her during work hours were their shared meals. Josh had always gotten intense pleasure from cooking for Lucy, but suddenly having to craft their every meal pushed him to new heights of creativity. Perhaps inevitably, finding the right dish each day became yet another game. At first, it was about surprising Lucy with her favorites. Strawberry waffles in the morning and slow-cooked pasta Genovese in the evening. Then it was about impressing her. Sandwiches with his homemade sourdough for lunch and decadent chocolate soufflés for dinner. It was hard work, but Josh loved making Lucy happy. And it was better than the alternative.
Joshua Templeman loves many things about Lucy Hutton, but perhaps his favorite is how utterly hopeless she is in the kitchen.
He learned this the hard way shortly after they first moved in together, when her attempt to make a box of, horror of horrors, Kraft macaroni and cheese, ended with a fire extinguisher and a fake cheese smell that lingered in the apartment for weeks. Since then, she'd gladly avoided doing anything more complicated than boiling water for tea. That is, until his birthday rolled around this year.
Despite how much Josh assured Lucy that he didn't mind taking care of her that way, Lucy felt guilty that he had to do so much work each day to keep them fed. So, she'd decided the best gift she could give him was to cook him a full dinner, from appetizers to desserts. However, fearing for both their apartment building and his own health, Josh had eventually talked her down to just post-dinner dessert. And so, after making their lunch, he'd been given strict instructions not to leave the bedroom until she let him.
At first, it was fairly easy. Once he'd finished work for the day, Josh sat back and caught up on the day's news. But soon, even endless doomscrolling couldn't distract him from the sounds coming from the kitchen. He'd nearly opened the door once after hearing a terrific crash followed by Lucy cursing loudly, but she'd threatened to, "beat him with a spatula," if he did and while Josh was sure he could take her, he didn't want to risk her getting in a lucky shot. Lucy could be dangerous when angry. It wasn't until he smelled smoke that Josh decided he couldn't stand by any longer.
"Hey, Shortcake," he calls through the closed door, "everything alright in there? Smells like something's burning."
"Everything's fine!" Lucy yells back, though Josh notices her voice sounds a little pinched. He cracks the bedroom door open and peeks into the kitchen. To his relief, he doesn't see any fire, but he does find Lucy running toward the oven and wrenching it open.
"Oh no!" she exclaims when she sees its contents.
"What's happened?" Josh asks and strides through the door and into the kitchen.
"Josh, I told you not to come out here!" she admonishes and tries to block his view with her tiny body.
"I'm not just going to sit in the bedroom while you burn down our building," he replies. "Let me see," he adds and gently nudges her aside. What he finds in the oven appear to be little, smoking clumps of coal. "What are those?" He can't keep the horrified tone out of his voice and Lucy smacks him in the chest with an oven mitt before slipping it on.
"They're supposed to be shortcakes," she explains as she retrieves the baking sheet from the oven.
"Wait a minute," Josh starts, beginning to smile, "were you making..."
"Strawberry shortcakes," Lucy finishes for him. "I guess there's no point in keeping it secret any longer now that you've come out here and spoiled the surprise." She crosses her arms and glares at him and Josh huffs an incredulous laugh.
"Oh come on, Luce, you still think we're going to eat those?" he asks, pointing at the baking sheet.
"We might be able to scrape off the burnt parts," she suggests, not sounding at all confident. Josh gives her a look and walks to the oven. He grabs a knife from the block and cuts into the least burned shortcake. Somehow, it's completely raw inside. He raises an eyebrow at her.
"Alright, it's a disaster," Lucy groans, her shoulder slumping in defeat. Josh's expression softens at her dejected look.
"Where's the other stuff?" Josh asks, glancing around until he sees two bowls sitting on the counter, one with what looks like whipped cream and the other with some sort of strawberry mixture. "These look promising." Josh plucks a halved strawberry from the bowl and pops one into his mouth.
"Dear God," he chokes, spitting the strawberry out into his hand.
"How did I mess that up?!" Lucy whines. "It's literally two ingredients!"
"I think you mixed up the salt and sugar," Josh grinds out, rinsing his mouth out in the sink.
"This is mortifying," Lucy says. She slumps onto one of the bar stools next to the kitchen island. "I swear you put the salt and sugar in those just to sabotage me." She points to the two identical containers on the counter, the only way to differentiate them the printed labels Josh stuck to the lids. Josh smirks and raises and eyebrow at her.
"Well, excuse me for assuming you could read," he teases, "we do work in publishing." Lucy scowls at him and crosses her arms over her chest and Josh can't help but laugh.
"I'm guessing you made the same mistake with the whipped cream," Josh posits, but when he dips his finger into the bowl and tentatively brings the whipped cream to his lips, he's surprised. "Wow," he says, admiring its fluffy sweetness. "It's perfect."
"Really?" Lucy says, her face brightening. "At least I got one part of the recipe right."
"Honestly, 1 of 3 is about what I would expect based on your past cooking," Josh admits.
"Joshua Templeman, you ungrateful bastard!" Lucy yells and chucks the cooking mitt she's been wearing at his head.
"I'm sorry, Shortcake," Josh says as he easily dodges the mitt. He presses his lips together to hold in his laughter and sidles up to Lucy on the stool. He grabs her face in both hands and nearly cracks up at the way her eyes are pressed into little slits of anger. "I love you for trying," he says softly. He leans down and gently kisses her lips once and when he pulls away, she's still glaring at him, but she's also fighting off a smile. "But how about we agree that cooking is my job from now on?"
"Deal," she agrees, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him down for another kiss. She sighs as she pulls away from him, looking so contented that Josh thinks he may die from how much he loves her, when Lucy suddenly turns to frown at the bowl of whipped cream. "What are we gonna do with all that?" she asks.
Josh smirks as a particularly naughty thought comes to his mind.
"Those may be a bust," he says and gestures at the burned dough balls, "but lucky for me, I've got my favorite little strawberry shortcake right here." He dips a finger into the bowl of whipped cream, swipes it on the side of her neck just below her chin and then feels the sound of her giggling against his lips as he kisses it off.
"Aren't you a lucky birthday boy?" Lucy whispers in his ear.