Ace of Clubs

Sweet Almosts

They weren't supposed to meet today because it was a Saturday but the Senate had an important hearing yesterday so they rescheduled. Leni found herself in Risa's living room, researching about the establishment they got married in and if there ever were people who got divorced right after.

"Ris, tignan mo 'to." She looked up to see Risa gone from her seat. "Ris?"

"I'm in the kitchen!"

She half-expected Risa to be in her glasses and still looking through her paperwork but she ended up giggling at the sight of Risa in a purple apron. "Ano'ng ginagawa mo?"

"I'm baking!"

"We're supposed to be working."

"And this was supposed to be a surprise for you pero nakalimutan ko gumising nang maaga to bake kaya sit down, continue working and ako na bahala sa meryenda."

"Nakakahiya naman. Tulungan na kita."

"Nahiya ka pa sa'kin. It's okay, bisita ka naman sa bahay ko."

"Weekly ako nagpupunta dito magdadalawang buwan na, hindi na ako bisita. Let me help."

"Sige na nga. Halika dito."

Leni stood beside Risa, observing how organized she was with her ingredients and materials. Risa handed her a pink apron with the design similar to the one that she wore. "Oh ito. Wear this so you won't get flour on your blouse."

"Couple apron ba 'to?"

"Oo. Ang cute 'no?"

Leni wore the apron and asked, "So, misis ko, ano'ng ibabake natin today?"

Risa smiled at that and started giving Leni instructions. They were buzzing in the kitchen, with one whisking the dry ingredients and the other mixing the wet ones. "What did you want to say to me kanina?" Risa asked. They went over the information Leni found online, careful with the baking procedure they were following.

Leni carried the bag of flour and was about to place it on top of the counter when Risa reached forward to grab a spoon and bumped into her, causing the flour to spill everywhere. More specifically, on Leni. Even with an apron on, she was covered with it from the chest down.

They stared at each other, eyes almost popping out of their heads. The older woman looked at herself covered in flour and then slowly looked at Risa whose mouth was open in shock.

"Lens...hindi ko sinasadya." Risa explained, trying to stifle her laughter which had Leni glaring at her.

"Ah," Leni replied in a menacing tone, her eyes glaring at Risa. "Hindi mo sinasadya?"

"Hindi talaga, I swear."

Leni slowly walked towards Risa ignoring her excuse and taking a handful of flour in her hand. "Leni, 'wag. Please, 'wag."

A squeal left Risa's lips as Leni smeared a handful of flour to her face and laughed hysterically. "Leonor, ano ba!" She took the nearest ingredient from where she stood and threw some of it on Leni.

"Ris, nag-aaksaya ka ng asukal!"

"Ako pa nag-aaksaya? Ikaw nga nauna dyan."

"Eh sino ba nakatapon ng harina? Diba ikaw?"

Risa didn't respond to that and instead made her way to Leni, slathering her face with the egg yolk. "Kadiri ka naman, sa mukha ko pa talaga."

"Deserve mo 'yan! Akala mo ba dahil asawa kita makakatakas ka na sa paglagay mo ng harina sa mukha — Leniii!" She whined as Leni did the same to her.

They ran around the kitchen like that, in a matching pair of aprons, hair tied in messy buns, and faces covered with their supposedly baking ingredients, all to get revenge on the other for messing up the kitchen.

Laughter, shrieks, snarky remarks, and the sound of the kitchenware clattering could be heard in Risa's kitchen. The two women seemed to forget the reason why they were there in the first place. Both to bake and to work. Half an hour passed and it seemed like none of them wanted to give up.

"Nakakarami ka na, Risaaa," Leni complained as Risa swiped her finger at the chocolate batter and placed it on Leni's nose. The younger woman hurried away from Leni and raised her hand to stop her from going near.

"Stop na, mag-bake na tayo."

"Ikaw nag-umpisa."

"Oo na, ako na nag-umpisa. Pero hinihingal na ako and I'm hungry so can we bake na?"

"Sige na nga. I don't want my wife going hungry."

They cautiously made their way back to the kitchen counter, all guards up in case one of them just fakes the surrender. When they realized that they really should stop with their chaos, they started baking the first (also the last) batch of their cookies. Risa turned the radio on and started singing along to the music.

Leni sang along too, enjoying the peace that finally came over the earlier topsy-turvy kitchen. A few minutes later, they finally placed their baking tray inside the oven. Risa sat atop the counter after wiping it clean while Leni transferred the remaining ingredients to smaller containers.

"We were victims of the night, the chemical, physical, kryptonite," Risa sang.

"Helpless to the bass and the fading light, oh we were bound to get together," Leni continued.

"How'd you know that song, Lens?" Risa asked in awe at Leni knowing the lyrics to a pop song.

"Jillian played it a lot sa car before."

She took my arm
I don't know how it happened

Risa hopped off the counter and pulled Leni's arm, "Come on and dance with me, wifey." Leni raised her brow but went with it anyway because why not? She was about to comment on Risa's bad dancing skills but the other woman stopped her before she could.

"Messy kitchen calls for messy dancing. Stop judging me."

Oh don't you dare look back
Just keep your eyes on me
I said you're holding back
She said shut up and dance with me

Leni laughed loudly as Risa twirled and spun her around. "Aba, aba, nagpapractice ka ata."

"I aim to please, misis ko."

Their lively dancing slowed down and it was as if the music faded to a softer tone because Leni couldn't tear her gaze away from Risa's lips. She looked up and was met with kind eyes who stared right at her soul. Ang ganda, she thought.

In the heat of the moment, Leni found herself tiptoeing up to bring her lips closer to Risa's, who already had her eyes closed in anticipation. She held Risa's hand tighter as if to tell her if she was doing something she shouldn't be.

And then the timer dinged, announcing that their cookies were ready.

That seemed to snap the two women back to reality. Risa cleared her throat and separated from Leni, cheeks red and palms sweating. Leni took a step back and did her best to avoid Risa's eyes, scratching the back of her neck in embarrassment.

"I'll get the cookies."

"Ayusin ko lang 'yung mesa."