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caroline
"i'm cooking dinner tonight!" the cellist announced as the little group was once again cosily settled upon central perk's only couch. "it probably won't be as good as monica's, but i guess i can try. i'd love to have you guys over."
"that's so sweet," monica smiled back at her friend, not in the least bothered by her offer to cook instead. "i can still give you a hand if you need anything though," she offered kindly.
"that would be great!" caroline accepted thankfully, pleased with the perspective of spending the afternoon with the monica and getting to know her better. monica, despite her tendency to like things planned and organized, was still much fun to be around.
"i can help setting the kitchen on fire," chandler smiled wryly, which had the listening members of the team roll their eyes at the joke.
"we better get going if we want everything to be ready on time," monica went on past chandler's comment, already getting up while checking her watch. "how about you all come at 7?"
"you're in for a wild ride," phoebe whispered to caroline and nodded to emphasize her point.
monica and caroline grabbed their coats, saying goodbye to their friends, and went back into the snowy street. cold weather had been announced to last throughout december, which made caroline feel particularly cheerful in spite of her being ill; she wouldn't trade the beauty of wintery New York for anything in the world. burying her chin into her warm scarf, and with frost already taking gnawing at her skin, she followed monica to a grocery store to get their ingredients for dinner—they planned on cooking an italian pasta dish.
"thank you for doing this," monica gushed, visibly excited to help.
"no problem," caroline replied earnestly, sharing her new friend's enthusiasm. "thank you for helping me! i think you're an excellent cook, my kitchen utensils are going to be thrilled to finally be used the right way."
"they'll have the time of their lives!"
the grocery store monica had recommended was rather small, with large widow panes and wooden furniture inside, and the young woman caught a glimpse of many crates of vegetables and fruits through the front door; it also sold hand-made limonade and tote bags. having picked up the habit of collecting memories during her touring the world thanks to her job, caroline got both a bottle of limonade and a tote bag to mark the occasion. she definitely made a mental note to remember the location of the shop for future reference.
the two young women made their purchases, monica being careful to choose the best ingredients, then caroline took her to the apartment. mittens straightened up from his spot on the sofa and listened to the rattle of the keyhole before the two young women appeared on the threshold.
"welcome to my place," caroline let her friend in, closing the door behind them and politely taking her coat. "meet my cat, mittens," she gave her ginger-striped companion a tender pat as she passed by, then showed monica around. "put yourself at ease."
"that's a lovely apartment," monica commented, turning on her heels to get a global view. "thanks for having us tonight," she gave caroline a sincere smile.
"it's my pleasure. you always let us stay at your place, it's only fair that you get a break!" caroline led monica toward the kitchen, where the cooking shenanigans would begin.
with monica in the room, the working space got organized in a handful of minutes. after caroline pointed out all the useful drawers and utensils, monica classified the different ingredients they'd need for the preparation of the dish and laid out the chopping boards. her optimism worked its magic and motivated caroline to get started as soon as possible.
overall, almost three hours were spent in the kitchen. after cooking the main dish, bolognese pasta, the chef and cellist reckoned that a hand-baked desert would be a sweet addition to the dinner. they opted for apple crumble—which monica thankfully knew how to bake—, so caroline keenly followed her friend's instructions. at last, once everything was safely left to cool in the fridge, they took a seat upon the sofa, getting caught up in a conversation.
then 7pm came around, and it was time to heat up the food and prepare for the guests' arrival. the doorbell chimed a few minutes later, making mittens's ears rise up.
