Double Trouble

7

"Gosh, why does she have to voluntarily do shopping for Mom?" Lena mumbled. It was not like she had a problem doing something for her mother, but she would have preferred not having to go to three different shops, because there was no big supermarket for everything in this small town. Luckily, small town also meant, the distances between the shops were small. Therefore, the shopping was quickly done.

On her way to the last store, she met a girl her age with red hair and a cheeky grin on her face.

"Elle! What a lovely coincidence! Are you going to Matt's?" the girl asked.

"Yeah, actually."

"Great, then we can go together." the girl replied and looped her arm through Lena's. She did not bother to talk to her for the rest of the way and just dragged Lena to the food store called Matt's. There, she decided to wait outside. Lena went into the store and bought everything her mother had asked her to buy. Matt, the owner of the store, was quite delighted to see her again. He was a friend of her mother's and always nice to Elle when she came into his store. When he put her shoppings into her bag, he added two cookies.

"Here you go, Elle! One for you and one for Aurora. Have a nice day!" he said smiling. It happened sometimes that he would let her have a little treat from his store on one of her shopping tours. Lena knew that from Elle's description. So, she smiled and thanked Matt. In her mind, she also sighed in relief, because thanks to Matt, she also now knew who the red haired girl was. Elle had told her about Aurora, but she had had no picture. However, Matt had seen Aurora waiting for Lena outside through the large window of his store. So, now Lena knew who she was.

"No! That's my cookie!" a voice from outside suddenly protested. Lena turned her head and saw Aurora with another red haired girl in front of the store. The other girl seemed about two years younger than Aurora and herself and currently, she was lying on the floor. Aurora was standing next to her biting into a cookie. She grinned and said: "Thank you, Hope." before leaving.

Lena went to see the girl and helped her get up.
"What happened?" she asked.

"Aurora took my cookie!" the girl said.

Lena went a few steps onto the street, so that Aurora could see her and shouted: "Hey! If you do that again, you're gonna have to deal with me!"

"Huh? What's gotten into her?" Aurora mumbled under her breath while walking away.

"Thank you, Elle!" Hope said, pleased to have someone standing up for her, and hugged her.

"You're welcome! Here,-" she took one of the cookies out of her bag and gave it to Hope, "take this one. It was actually for Aurora."

Hope smiled. Lena looked at her closer. She knew, Hope was the step-daughter of her mother's friend Caroline. Caroline's husband Klaus had his daughter during his first marriage to a woman called Andrea. Her biological mother was currently living a life of luxury with her new, rich husband, Jackson. She visited her daughter every few weeks and sometimes, Hope would go and live with her mother for a few weeks. But most of the time, Hope lived with her father and his new wife. Caroline and Hope had a good relationship. Elle wrote in her notes that her and Hope always got along very well, but apparently, Lena would have to be gentle, because Hope was a sensitive girl.

Lena smiled at Hope.
"Where are you headed?" she asked.

"Back to the bookstore. Care is waiting for me. I just went outside, because there's no bathroom in the bookstore." Hope replied. Lena knew the bookstore was in the opposite direction than her mother's apartment, since she had seen it earlier that day.

She nodded. "Then I will see you in a few days." she said.

"Yeah, see you! And thanks again!" Hope said and walked off.

Lena watched her disappear around a corner, then walked back home. When she entered the kitchen with her groceries, she took out Elle's list again, to see what else she would have to do. And when she read the next point, her stomach dropped.

"Cooking? Every Wednesday and Thursday because Mom has to work at those times? Really?" she sighed. Then, she determinedly took out the ingredients for Spaghetti Bolognese and said to herself: "I'll definitely manage somehow! How hard can cooking be?"

***

Two hours later, Elena Gilbert came home from work. She could already smell something in the corridor, that smelled... interesting, as she would kindly put it. She entered the kitchen and saw her daughter standing in the middle of the kitchen, with messy hair and tomato sauce stains all over her. The kitchen was no less if a mess than the girl. Tomato sauce everywhere and a chunk of water and a dough-like consistency that was originally meant to be pasta.

"Mom, I was just trying to cook something for us!" Lena said. She was devastated and close to tears. She ran to Elena who pulled her into a comforting hug. "I think I forgot how to cook!" she added.

"Shhh, sweetheart, it's okay! I mean, I am surprised to see this; you were always cooking with me since you were four! But I understand if your mind needs a little reminder. Why don't you and I cook together tomorrow? Then you can re-learn it." Elena said. Lena wiped a tear from her cheek and nodded.