The Actress and The Artist

Chapter 8: Food Or A Bomb?

El's healing process was slow, and some days she felt like she was back at square one. Most of the time she thought she'd never get better, but Max convinced her that the bad days were only temporary, and was there with her every step of the way.

"Okay, remember to text me if anything happens." Max said, tying El's hair with a scrunchie before she had to leave for work. It was her day off, and she could've stayed in bed for a bit longer, but she preferred being awake at the same time as her girlfriend, knowing the house would be quiet for the next few hours. Eleven knew how to tie her hair up, but sometimes Max just liked doing it for her.

"I will." El nodded, getting her water bottle from the fridge before putting it in her bag.
"Oh yeah, what do you want for dinner tonight?" Max asked her, checking what they had in the house before El shut the fridge door.
"Um... I don't mind. Why, do you need me to buy some things?"
"I don't know yet." She sighed, shutting the door and turning back to El. "But I'll tell you if I do."

Eleven nodded, feeling that so far the morning had been pretty good. Hopefully the day continued like that.

"Alright, I'll see you tonight then." She spoke, smiling lightly as she saw the necklace she had brought for Max's 18th birthday still on her neck. She rarely took it off.
"See you soon, beautiful." Max smiled back, wrapping her arms around her neck and leaning up to kiss her lips softly before letting her go. "Have a good day at work."

And with that, El left the house.

———

That evening, Max had called El and told her to pick up a few things she needed for her salmon dish she decided she was gonna make for dinner. The stove was already on and Max was well in her element once she heard the front door unlock, a smile growing on her lips as she felt two arms wrap around her waist from behind a minute later.

"Hello." El spoke softly, kissing her cheek before pulling away, putting the vegetables she had brought on the counter.
"Hey babe, how was work?" Max asked, feeling like her smile was permanently etched onto her face as she watched El undo her hair in the corner of her eye, sighing in relief as she was finally able to let her curls free.

"Good, Frankie was so annoying today though." She said, standing in front of the mirror and ruffling her hair a bit until it was back to normal.
"Frankie the recording guy?" Max wondered, recalling when El had told her about everyone who worked with her at the studio.
"Mhm." She hummed, washing her hands. "I already know what I want to do with the song, but I ended up singing the same verse like 50 times because he couldn't decide which angle of the mic sounded better!"

"What?" The older girl chuckled incredulously, opening a bag of potatoes.
"Yeah! And I kept telling him, 'oh, that one's better', 'can't we just move onto the next verse and go back if we need to?', and he kept saying, 'no no no, we're almost there', or, 'stop complaining and just get on with it'." She turned back to the stove where Max was cutting up the carrots. "Like I know he's amazing at what he does and all, but after singing the same words a hundred times on and on I was getting a bit bored. You understand me though, right?"

"Of course." She nodded, paying attention to the conversation while also focusing on not cutting her fingers in half, "I feel the same way when I have to shoot a scene a million times."
"See? So I wasn't the crazy one!" Max smiled, "Anyway, do you want any help?"

She looked around the kitchen for a moment, thinking of what she still needed to do. "Uh actually, yeah. Can you peel the potatoes for me and wash the rest of the dishes? Sorry, it totally skipped my mind." She apologised sheepishly, feeling bad for making El do them right after coming back from a long shift at work.
"It's okay, don't apologise for a couple plates." She laughed lightly, finding washing up sort of therapeutic. She grabbed the potato peeler from the drawer, rolling her sleeves up before beginning to help.

"What about you, how was your day?" She asked.
"Eh, fine." Max shrugged, "It's boring at home without you. Too quiet."
"Hey, what are you trying to say?" El frowned jokingly, glancing at her as she laughed.
"Nothing, nothing." She dismissed, shaking her head as she tried to suppress her giggles, "You should take that as a compliment, you're very entertaining to be around."

———

Minutes passed and the couple was just talking between them as El cleaned up and Max cooked dinner.

Eleven, halfway through scrubbing a glass, jumped and quickly turned to the stove when she heard sizzling.

"Holy shit, is that supposed to happen?!" She exclaimed over the loud sound of oil popping as Max avoided the boiling liquid trying to attack her, quickly grabbing the lid of the pan and putting it on top of the fish.
"Yep! Don't worry!" She said, sighing in relief as the lid was on. "Fuck..." Max hissed under her breath, watching the back of her hand go red as she felt a burning sensation digging into her skin. Guess she couldn't avoid all the oil.

"Did you burn yourself?" El asked, concerned as she immediately set the soapy glass down, changing the water from hot to cool- but not cold. She flicked some of the excess water from her hands into the sink before grabbing Max's wrist, bringing her hand under the water.

The older girl exhaled as she felt the pain subside slowly, keeping her hand in place as she turned back to the stove, knowing they still had a lot to do. But if she didn't want the burn to become worse for her, someone else had to do it. And that person had to be El.

"Alright, Eleven." Max began, looking at El as she looked at her. "You need to flip the salmon otherwise it's gonna burn pretty quick."
"No way." El shook her head, startled from its reaction to the butter and oil before.
"Come on, it's food not a weapon." She spoke, amused.
"Are you sure about that?" She asked, reluctantly stepping closer to the threatening pan.

"100 percent. Listen to me okay?" El nodded. "First you need to flip it, turn the heat down and let it cook for literally 2 minutes. Then add lemon juice. Sounds simple enough, don't you think?"
"Yeah... until it starts attacking!" El retorted, panicking.
Max chuckled, "Take a deep breath and do it. The whole meal is depending on you." She made it as dramatic as possible just to mess with her, knowing it wasn't that serious if it was a bit burnt.

"Okay, okay. I can do it. This is easy." El said, trying to convince herself.
"Yep, you've done a lot harder. Come on Miss Masterchef." She smiled.
"You're the one who knows all this stuff and look what it's done to you-"
"Hurry up, it's gonna burn! If it does it might explode in the pan!" Max lied, putting on a panicked tone.
"What?!" El exclaimed, suddenly not so confident. "I didn't know we were cooking a damn bomb!"
"Yeah, it's a chemical reaction with the oil or something! Hurry!"

"Alright alright, I'm doing it!" Eleven said, grabbing the tongs and moving closer, quickly picking up the lid and using it as a shield. "Okay, flip it." She picked it up and flipped it, screaming as it sizzled with the hot butter.
"Turn the heat down! Quick!" Max rushed her, removing her hand from the water and drying it off before turning the tap off.
El closed her eyes halfway, still using the lid as a shield as she put the tongs down, turning one of the knobs on the stove down, immediately putting her lid on the fish once she was done.

"Done!" She said, exhaling deeply before regaining her composure. "Gosh that was so easy."
"Yeah, you definitely weren't screaming the whole house down." Max chuckled, rolling her eyes playfully as she leaned up, kissing her cheek. "Come on, let's get the plates ready."