Since it was the first official school day, or end of it to be exact, Cordelia decided she'd follow the tradition of making cookies and tea for the girls.
She didn't have time to do anything, from scratch, so she had gotten the type of cookies you only had to stick on a cookie sheet and in the oven. She also had gotten pre-packaged tea. She knew if Myrtle were still around, she'd scold her for the fact that a botanist was making store-bought tea.
She sighed and arranged the circles of dough onto a baking pan. A few leftover kitchen workers and live-in maids shuffled around her, frantically trying to clean up in order to finish on time.
She looked at the doorway and saw Queenie walk in. She smiled and gave her a small wave. Queenie waved back and walked over to the counter.
"Hey." she said quietly. "Hello." Cordelia replied "Did you need something?" she looked at her watch. It was twenty minutes until curfew.
"No, not really. I'm mostly bored." Queenie rested her arms on the countertop and looked around. "What're you doing?" she asked.
Cordelia grabbed a women's magazine someone had left behind and flipped through it. "Nothing much." she flipped to the asinine and predictable horoscope section. "Making cookies and tea for you all." Cordelia smirked at Queenie, who laughed.
"I remember when you used to hide in your little greenhouse all the time." Queenie chuckled and played with one of her bracelets.
Cordelia nodded "Yeah, Myrtle was much more up to this kind of thing…" she paused and glanced down at the watch again "Being social and having a legitimate conversation or discussion with the students."
The preheat timer went off and she grabbed the sheet of cookies, placing them in the oven. She set the timer and walked back over to the counter, looking at the featured interview in the magazine.
"If you want to do something else with the other girls, you're perfectly free to, Queenie." Cordelia looked up from the magazine. "I'm sure playing a game of UNO with the new girls would be a lot more fun than watching the Supreme make cookies." Cordelia grabbed an apple from the bowl in front of her and bit into it. She looked around the kitchen as she chewed.
"Nah, I've been talking to those damn girls all day." Queenie laughed a bit. "Chilling in here with you is actually kind of relaxing." she looked at Cordelia and smiled. Cordelia paused in her chewing and smiled back.
"Most of the new girls are sweet and all, but they ask a lot of questions. I'm sure after a few weeks I won't be so annoyed by them." Cordelia smiled as she walked over to the screaming tea kettle. She poured the hot water into a nice teapot and placed two bags of tea in the pot, wanting it to be extra potent.
"That's a part of being a staff member and a member of the council." Cordelia glanced at the timer. She sighed and looked back over at Queenie. "At least you can relate to them." she bit into the apple again.
Queenie rolled her eyes. "You're so dramatic sometimes, Ms. Cordelia." Queenie walked around the counter to her. She leaned on one hand placed against the marble. "You can relate to these girls too. You're their saviour. You gave them a place where they could and are safe. A place where they can interact with others like them. And you're their leader."
Queenie took the magazine and rolled it up, lightly tapping Cordelia on the nose with it. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You've gotten this far and never been selfish, any step of the way. Even seemingly selfish things were to help the coven." Cordelia slowly nodded and smiled at Queenie, staring down at the tiled floor next.
"You've got this, Ms. C." Queenie patted her shoulder. Cordelia looked back up and mouthed 'thank you'. Queenie smiled back.
The timer dinged and she walked to pull the tray out of the oven. The cookies had slight burn marks at the edges.
"Dammit!" Cordelia exclaimed in frustration. She heard Queenie laugh and looked over at her.
"I'm sorry-" Queenie kept a hand over her mouth. "It's just…" she caught her breath. "Did you put any cooking spray on the sheet?" Queenie wiped at the corner of her eyes.
Cordelia bit her lip, flustered. "No." she replied quickly in a whisper. One of the cooks walked over to them.
"Ms. Cordelia, is everything okay? I smelled burning." the cook placed a hand over her nose.
"Yes, Gabriella, everything is fine." Cordelia's cheeks slightly flushed. "I just tried to to bake and…" Cordelia stared down at the messed up array of cookies.
"Why didn't you spray the pan?" Gabriella asked. Queenie was still laughing a bit.
"It said to have an ungreased cookie sheet." Cordelia sputtered out. "No one ever taught me how to cook!" she yelped.
Queenie laughed while shaking her head and walked over to the drawer of spatulas. She pulled one out and walked over to Cordelia, pulling the tray away from her. She had also grabbed the PAM and put it and the spatula on the cookies. They resisted slightly, but eventually came up from the thin metal.
"Well, I believe that." Queenie said as she put the items away. "But, why?" she asked as she walked around the counter and licked the butter spray from her fingers. She pushed the tray towards Cordelia.
"Well…" Cordelia felt her breath catch in her throat, realizing she hadn't talked about her upbringing in a while. At least with someone who wasn't Myrtle or her mother. She grabbed a plate from the cabinets.
"I lived with my mother and two of her husbands until I was about thirteen or fourteen. And you know how she is." Cordelia sighed through her nose and placed the cookies on the plate.
She brought the teapot to the counter and removed the bags with a spoon.
"And being here, we had Spalding on the staff, so I never had any reason to cook for anyone or myself. And then the population of witches lessened so much that I just assumed Myrtle would have to close our doors." She arranged the cookies in a prettier fashion and went to the upper cabinets to find the matching teacups and saucers.
"But Nan arrived and Spalding stayed, so again, I really had no need to learn." she grabbed a box of sugar cubes, a creamer bowl, and a small tin for said sugar cubes. She arranged those also.
She looked at her watch and saw it was now curfew. When she brought her head back up, she noticed Zoe was now next to Queenie.
"Oh, hello." she smiled at her and walked around to look for a silver platter.
"What kind of tea is that?" Zoe tucked a stray hair behind her ear. She had the rest of it up in a wet bun, along with her pajamas already on.
"Sleepy time. It's sleepy time tea." Cordelia found one and placed everything on it. She snapped and Kyle walked over from a different room. She noticed Zoe back away as Kyle got closer.
"Could you put these in the den, please, Kyle?" she pushed the tray his way. He nodded in response and walked away with it in hand.
"How are we gonna drink that if we're supposed to be in our rooms?" Zoe quipped. Cordelia knit her brows and walked over to the newly installed intercom. Her hand hovered over the 'hold' button.
"It's common practice for Supremes and Head Mistresses to make tea and cookies for the students, old and new, in order to help those with sleeping problems. Without magic, that is." She pressed the button and announced that the girls could come eat if they were all ready for bed.
"They're just gonna make us fat." she heard Zoe mumble between chewing one of the cookies. Cordelia chuckled and looked over at her. She was looking at the magazine now. Her and Queenie would comment on a cute purse or dress every few seconds.
"Yes. The most basic one is similar to an alarm clock. You have to use a lot of expensive, sedative plants though. You write down what time you want to be asleep by and what time you want to wake up. Then you drink the elixir and instantly fall asleep."
"Why do people need that? Why don't they take a melatonin or have a beer or something?" Zoe looked up at Cordelia with her eyebrows raised.
"It's mostly for the worst of insomniacs. Or people who are having trouble sleeping due to traumatic events." Cordelia sipped from the teacup she had poured for herself. She grimaced, used to the nice, non-bagged kind.
"Have you ever had to use it?" Zoe asked, smiling a bit. Cordelia paused mid-sip. "Only when my mother first dropped me off here." she gave a sad smile.
Cordelia noticed Queenie shove Zoe, as if she was scolding her for asking the question. Zoe just looked surprised and then shrugged slightly.
"I'll be going to my room now, girls. Keep everyone, including your-selves, out of trouble please." Cordelia walked over to give each of them a hug.
As she headed to her room, she noticed Kyle staring up the staircase. She stopped walking and called out to him.
"Everything alright up there?" she asked. He quickly turned his head, as if he'd been caught doing something wrong. "Ah, yes, Ms. Cordelia." he rolled up his sleeves, already having taken his suit jacket off. "Just making sure no girls are lollygagging around." he smiled slightly. She smiled back and nodded.
"Well, I've given Zoe and Queenie den duty, so you can relax now if you'd like." she started walking again. "Sure. Thanks Ms. Cordelia." she heard him say behind her.
"Goodnight, Kyle." she replied, turning her head to face him as she reach the top step. "Goodnight." he said back quietly and gave a small wave.
Cordelia got out of the shower and into her nightgown. After finishing her nighttime beauty regimen, she stared at the stack of books on her vanity. She knew she had a lot of studying to do. She sighed and grabbed the one on top.
As she got into bed she grabbed the white legal pad from her bedside table, along with a pen, and began reading.