#jintelia

Adelia took a deep breath before picking up her phone and dialing Rodney’s number. It was exactly noon- just when she said she’d call. The phone rang only once before the ebullient boy picked up on the other end.

“Right on time! So, what’s cookin’, good lookin’?” Rodney asked, his tone cheery as ever. Adelia sighed slightly, putting the cell on speaker-phone and placing it on the counter.

“Nothing, yet.” she deadpanned a response to his pun, causing him to give a giggle on his end of the line. She gave an audible exhale.

“Come on, Adelia, don’t be nervous! This is going to be a piece of cake- literally!” Rodney laughed as he made another pun.

“I’m going to hang up if you don’t stop that.” Adelia warned him.

“No you won’t- you need my help, remember?” he was teasing her, though he only meant well.

“I’d sooner burn down my kitchen if it means escaping your word play.”

“But all work and no play-” Rodney began.

“This is why I don’t call.” she said bluntly, though she didn’t mean it, of course. Rodney chuckled, pretending to be insulted.

“What? Oh, you’re so cold! And here I thought you didn’t call because you were too busy with your boyfriend.” his tone was melodramatic.

“What did I tell you about calling him th- oh, I give up. Let’s just start, shall we?” Adelia insisted. Admittedly, she was nervous, and a bit embarrassed. Asking for help? This was entirely new. But Jinta has just been promoted at work, and she was determined to congratulate him in a way that he would appreciate.

Rodney was grinning on his end, even though Adelia couldn’t see. She was so different in regards to Jinta, and it made him both amused and at ease to see this change in Adelia. “Okay, so you got all the ingredients on the counter? Double check and make sure you’ve got everything.” Rodney instructed her.

“I can do that much, you know.” she told him, though did a quick check just to be sure. “Everything is accounted for.” she declared, and took out the recipe card Rodney had told her. On his end, he was looking at the same recipe.

“Alright, first, combine all of the dry ingredients. You’ll need to start with two cups of flour, and work your way down the list of each dry ingredient.” he told her.

Adelia opened the cupboard, taking out a glass bowl. However, she paused as she realized something. “Rodney?” she asked.

“Yes?”

“What kind of cup do I use? I have a coffee mug, and a regular glass…. what size cup is used in baking?” she asked, feeling rather foolish to have to ask. There was a slight pause on Rodney’s end.

“Do you have a set of measuring cups?” Rodney asked hesitantly.

“What?” Adelia paused. There were special cups for baking? Her face flushed red, and she quickly grabbed a coffee mug.

“Adelia, do you have measuring cups?” Rodney asked again, sounding a bit worried.

“Of course I do! I was just joking, Rodney.” she lied quickly, looking at the coffee mug in her hand. Well, the proportions would still be the same, wouldn’t they? She dug into the bag of flour, pouring two over-flowing cups into the bowl.

“Alright…. uh, I wouldn’t joke about that if I were you. Knowing you, you would try to use a coffee mug or something.” Rodney murmured, concerned. He proceeded to guide her through the rest of the dry ingredients, which she more or less was able to do without any major mishaps. The ratio of ingredients was heavily skewed, but at this exact point in time, she didn’t see the consequence.

“Okay, so now you’re going to crack the eggs in. Just lightly tap it on the edge of the counter, and break the egg in half over the bowl.” Rodney guided her.

“That sounds easy enough.” she murmured, picking up and egg. She lightly tapped it on the edge of the counter, but it didn’t even crack. She furrowed her brow, tapping a bit harder, still nothing.

“It’s not breaking.” she said flatly.

“Okay, use a bit more force. A bit.” Rodney eased her.

She then tried a bit more, to no avail. Frustrated, she slammed the egg against the counter, and it shattered, splattering along the edge and onto the floor. She stared in horror, wincing.

“What did I just hear- Adelia, what happened?” Rodney asked, concerned.

“Nothing… I just… spilled the egg.” she mumbled, embarrassed.

“I told you, don’t use too much force.” he reminded her.

“Yeah, well that wasn’t working!” she protested, grabbing another egg. “I have a better idea.” she decided, grabbing a knife. She placed the egg in a small bowl, then drove the knife into the shell, breaking it. Grinning victoriously, she poured the egg into the bigger bowl, ignoring the small shards of shell that were mixed into the egg white.

“I did it. We can move on.” Adelia dictated, placing her hands on her hips. Rodney wondered exactly what was going on, and wished he’d suggested they use Skype for this affair.

“Okay… well, put in a tablespoon of vanilla extract. This will make the cake sweeter, but it’s strong, so only use a bit.” he instructed her, though she’d already poured a quarter of the bottle into the bowl.

“....got it.” she called back to him, staring at her growing concoction. This banter continued, and soon, the batter was complete. It was a curious color and smelled of artificial sweetness, but seemed more or less okay.

“Alright, now, did you remember to preheat the oven? I should have reminded you- set it to three hundred and fifty degrees and it will cook for thirty-five minutes.” he told her. Adelia looked at the oven- how long did it even take to preheat? She sighed, kneeling down and looking at it. Thirty-five minutes seemed far too long… she didn’t have time for that. She wanted to give the cake to him when he got off work, which was in a few short hours. Plus, she still had other errands to run. Electing to save time, she set the oven to seven hundred degrees, sticking in the cake before waiting for the oven to preheat.

“Alright, so that’s it?” Adelia verified.

“For now, yes. You can frost the cake after it cools- give it about three hours when it comes out, okay?” he told her.

“....sure.” she agreed after a slight pause. “I think I’ve got it from here, Rodney. Thanks for the help, though. I think it turned out pretty good.” she said, and actually was impressed that she didn’t burn down her apartment in the process.

“Send me pics when it’s done! Oh, and tell me how he likes it. You can take all the credit, though. Don’t kill the magic.” Rodney laughed. Adelia chatted with him for a few more minutes before hanging up.

She went to go brush her hair, when the smoke alarm went off. “What?” she gasped. It had only been a little over ten minutes since she turned on the oven. She scurried over, seeing thick smoke billowing out of the oven. Wincing, she quickly opened the appliance, reaching in to grab the pan. In an instant, the intense heat burned her hands, and she drew back, yelping in pain. She quickly realized her error, grabbing a towel and using that to remove the cake. Although the pain seared in her hands, she managed to get the burnt cake onto the counter and turn off the oven, slamming it closed.

Wincing in pain, she scrambled to grab a first aid kit. “This wasn’t supposed to happen- how am I going to give this to him? This is abysmal….” she mumbled with worry, treating her burned hands. They were red, and already were blistering. She quickly taped them up after putting ointment on them, and looked back at the cake. It was charred on the edges, and smelled of burnt sugar.

“This is just…. goodness gracious.” she groaned, just in time for her phone to ring. With aching hands, she picked up the phone quickly, wedging it between her ear and her shoulder. “Yes, hello?” she asked, trying to sound composed.

“Is this a bad time, Adelia?” Jinta asked. Great- of all the people to call, it was him. She shook her head even though he wasn’t there to see it.

“No, no. What makes you think that?” she asked curiously.

“You sound a bit- what’s that beeping in the background?” he asked suddenly, rather irritated by the noise. It then dawned on Adelia that the smoke detector was still going off.

“I’ll call you back.” she promised, then hastily hang up, chucking the phone onto her bed before plopping down beside it.

“Why is this so hard?” she groaned into the sheets, laying on her stomach. With her hands throbbing in pain, she simply wanted to sleep it all away. However, she needed to take care of the smoke detector. While tending to the matter, he phone rang several times- all of which being Jinta. She was so frazzled that she didn’t bother to call him back.

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