Work Text:
She heard her phone ring, it was buzzing on her kitchen counter, the screen illuminated with a picture of her new girlfriend as well as ‘incoming call’. She knew this, but she was in no position to answer the phone. She was balancing a bowl of batter in her arms as she tried to turn the burner of a pot off that was slowly starting to overflow.
Her kitchen was a mess, the small room felt like the oven was left wide open, Cordelia was sweating. It was, overall, a huge dilemma. She set the batter down for a moment when she finished stopping the peas from boiling over, and decided to take a much needed break from the stove. She was beginning to sweat from the heat.
She grabbed her phone, feeling a huge sense of dread wash over her when she realized it was warm to the touch. Setting that fact aside, she dialed her girlfriend back. The other line answered immediately. "Charlotte, hi! Sorry I was busy in the kitchen."
Her girlfriend responded that it was no problem, and then they settled into conversation. "I'm really looking forward to coming over to dinner later. I've never had your cooking before. We're still on right?"
Cordelia was about to respond 'yes' when the familiar smell of burning food settled in the room, "Shit!" She swore, "Um, please hold."
She set the phone on the couch, rushing into the kitchen muttering a fair amount of other curses as she threw on a kitchen mitten and opened the oven. Resting on the center rack were her knishes, blackened and inedible.
"No, no, no!" She shouted.
This was the first time she had tried to make traditional Jewish food, and she had failed big time.
She wasn't Jewish, but she was hoping to surprise her girlfriend. This, of course, probably wasn't going to happen now. She set them firmly on the counter, not caring whether she burnt the shitty apartment linoleum counter tops or not. She took a step back, holding her forehead in regret, thinking about what she could do now.
She could run to the store, seeing that she had exhausted her ingredient supply, of course, and spend at least another three hours cooking.She could cancel on Charlotte. She could fake a mental breakdown, one that she probably wasn't that far from having honestly. She knew her options, but they all filled her with dread.
She turned off the oven and the burners, left the kitchen, and took her phone outside. She needed some fresh air.
"Ok I'm back, sorry." Cordelia spoke in a tone that probably gave away the fact that her spirit had been crushed moments before.
"Are you ok? You had me worrying for a second there."
"Yeah, I'm ok." She said, forcing herself to sound as such.
"What happened? Are we still on for tonight?" Charlotte asked.
"Umm.." Cordelia couldn't help filling the momentary silence, trying to buy herself some time before she decided what she was going to do. "I don't know if I'll be able to finish cooking for tonight. I'm feeling super nauseous and my limbs are so achy. I think I'm coming down with something."
It was a lie, she was lying to her new girlfriend, her new doctor girlfriend. One who would know immediately that she was lying. "That sucks, hon, should I still come over after work to check on you? I can bring you soup."
"No!" She shouted, a little too quickly, in response. "I'll be fine I'm sure. I think I just need some rest."
Charlotte was quiet for a minute, shit, she probably already saw through it. "I'm sorry you feel bad. I'll text you after my shift ends to check up. Really though, if you want me to stop by Benny's and pick you up a large cup of chicken soup I'd do it gladly."
"It's ok. I don't want you to get what I have, you work around enough sickness as it is I'd hate for you to pass germs onto your patients."
"Ok, I'll text you. My break just ended. Get some sleep."
"Ok, goodbye!" Cordelia said, suddenly wishing she actually had the flu. She was not an avid liar at all. She almost never lied because she had to be a top contender for the world's worst liar. Every single lie she told always crashed and burned in a fit of stutters and strings of apologies.
Entering her apartment once again, she sighed deeply, deciding to clean up her kitchen. Washing dishes, trying to fix the discoloration on the linoleum from the hot pan, throwing out the burnt knishes, and putting unused batter in the fridge seemed to take hours. All the while, her stomach felt a bit nauseous from the anxiety her thoughts were causing. If she didn’t despise her kitchen in that moment she would break out the emergency flour and stress bake a cake, which was an unhealthy habit of hers.
She thought about how badly starting their relationship out on a lie was, and how deeply she felt for Charlotte.
When she finished cleaning, she decided to drown out her sorrows with a lime ice pop and a horrible soap opera she set her dvr to record because she had lost control in her life.
Hours later, after the ice pop was finished and she fell asleep, her phone screen lit up again. It was Charlotte, though she wasn't woken up by it. Charlotte had called her three times in a row, but Cordelia was such a deep sleeper that she slept right through it.
What did wake her up, though, was the knocks on her door at 11 pm. They caused her to basically leap out of her dreams, darting upright to the door to check through the peephole.
The frightened feeling in her gut subsided when she saw her beautiful girlfriend, still in her work scrubs, standing on the other side. She was holding a large brown bag, as well as two plastic CVS bags in her arms. "Just a second!" Cordelia shouted in her hoarse, newly-awoken voice.
She knew immediately that she had to make herself look sick if she was going to pass even a little bit, as ill. She grabbed a small trash can from her bathroom that was connected to her room, and then she returned to her couch bunching up a few tissues and littering them around where she was resting, and as a final touch, she threw a bunch of pillows and small blankets from her bedroom on the couch. When it looked good enough, she opened the door.
"Charlotte! I wasn't expecting you." She said, throwing out a fake cough.
"I called you three times to tell you I was on my way. I know you said you didn't want me to come over but I missed you. I hope you don't mind." Charlotte entered the room, rushing to the kitchen counter to relieve herself of the bags in her hand. "You look pretty good, how are you feeling?"
Cordelia shut the door, "A little better now, sorry I didn't hear my phone go off."
Charlotte began to unpack the bags, soups, powerades, tissue boxes, and sorbet. Cordelia suddenly realized how much she had hit the jackpot with Charlotte, if she was sick this would be really sweet. It was sweet now, of course, but it only made her feel guilty.
She grew nervous, suddenly, that Charlotte, the doctor she was, would give her a mini check up and expose her lies. She became even more anxious.
"I brought some stuff, I'm not sure exactly what you like yet so I got some of my personal favorites. Plus some orange sorbet, I know I'm a doctor and shouldn't be suggesting sugar, but this stuff is delightful." She spun around to face her. "I'm sorry you're not feeling good." She said with eyes that made Cordelia melt.
"Thank you so much for everything," Cordelia said, looking down. She considered throwing in a fake cough, but didn't.
"Can you eat? I got tomato soup and chicken soup, I figured I would let you pick which one you wanted and I'd eat the other." She smiled, and Cordelia picked the chicken soup. She felt that she could use some soul healing right now anyways.
The two women moved into the living room, Charlotte brushed the tissues into the trash can, setting the pillows up so Cordelia could sit up and eat. They both sat close to one another on the couch, which Cordelia thought may not be the best decision if she were actually sick, but who cared for now.
They turned on a movie and ate soup. The room was quiet for a while, which Cordelia appreciated because she didn't want to say something and seem well. She looked over at Charlotte a good thirty minutes after they finished their soup, and she saw her passed out beside her. Cordelia felt a warm feeling in her stomach, and smiled lovingly.
Eventually she herself passed out and they both slept until morning. Cordelia woke up to the sound of Charlotte picking up their abandoned soup containers and throwing them away. "G'morning" she said, stretching.
"Good morning, how are you feeling?" was Charlotte's response.
Oh right, she wasn't supposed to be feeling good. "I'm...."
Maybe it was the fact that it was early in the morning, or the fact that she had felt guilt all night, but she decided to come clean. "I'm feeling fine. I've been feeling fine for a while. I wasn't sick in the first place." Charlotte looked at her suspiciously, waiting for her to go on.
"Ok, yesterday I tried to cook a huge meal for you. I wanted to impress you so bad, I tried to make knishes and everything. I was exhausted. When you called, I smelled them burning. The meal was ruined, and I didn't want to let you down so I lied. I didn't want you to think I was a failure or anything so i decided to make you think I was sick instead, which I feel horrible about, by the way. It was silly and dumb but I didn't want to disappoint you."
Charlotte's features didn't give any emotion away for a brief second. "You showed up last night with a huge bag of stuff and I felt guilty all night. I really don't want you to think I'm a compulsive liar." At that, her girlfriend smiled.
"You cared that much about what I think about your food?" Charlotte asked, Cordelia covered her face in embarrassment as she nodded. "Sorry I put you through so much stress." The two kissed.
When they separated after a moment, Cordelia smiled, “I'm sorry I lied."
They mutually agreed, after that, that the french toast at a diner a block away sounded amazing, and they left together
...
Two months later before another dinner date, Charlotte called her girlfriend once again to check and see if their were still on. Cordelia picked up the phone, coughing. "Charlotte, I'm sorry but I don't think I can cook tonight."
Charlotte grinned a bit, here we go again, "What's wrong?"
"I'm coughing up a storm, my sinuses are all stuffed up, my throat is killing me-"
Charlotte playfully rolled her eyes to herself, "Hon, it's ok to just say you don't feel like cooking. I've tasted how good your cooking is, you don't have to worry about what I'll think. We can get Thai food or something instead."
"I'm serious this time, I swear. I think it's karma for last time." Cordelia said, and Charlotte noted that her voice did sound slightly different. "I feel awful, I think I have strep."
"Alright then, I hope you feel better. I'll call you after my shift ends." Charlotte said.
"I love you!" Cordelia spoke on the other line. It was a new phrase for them, one that still made Charlotte feel warm and love sick whenever she heard it.
"I love you too, feel better.”
Charlotte showed up at Cordelia's door at around 12 am. It was later than last time because she was slowly becoming more valuable at the hospital than usual (she’s always been valuable, of course, but her fellow doctors were just starting to realize it). She saved a few lives, and found herself in use more often, which she loved. She had once again got the two of them soup, both chicken noodle this time. She knocked and Cordelia answered moments later.
"Thank you for coming," she said, and immediately she noticed the bags under her girlfriend's eyes and how hoarse her voice sounded. She let her in, and then spoke.
"You can see now that I'm telling the truth." She said gesturing to her pajama pants, messy hair, and house that was currently filled with empty glasses, tissues, and blankets.
Charlotte leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek, which was probably not the best idea, she knew, but it was a habit she had recently developed. "I brought soup."
"You're the best." Cordelia said, then coughing loudly, it sounded painful and was followed by a little yelp.
Charlotte told her to sit down, and then fixed soup and a cold glass of water for her. Cordelia closed her eyes in waiting, and Charlotte glanced at her with a warm smile on her face. Her girlfriend was so beautiful, sick or not sick.
After hearing Cordelia practically hack up a lung a few times, Charlotte decided that sleeping over was not a wise decision. She stayed until Cordelia finished her soup, then helping her into her bed and tucking her in before leaving.
"I love you," Charlotte whispered before turning off the bedroom light, "I'll call you in the morning."
Cordelia, in a comfortable but sick haze, whispered "I love you too," right before she fell asleep. Charlotte heard her snore seconds before shutting the door.
She left the apartment grinning, then texting her co worker asking them to schedule an appointment for Cordelia the next afternoon. She needed to be on antibiotics so they could have one simple dinner date that they had been waiting for for months.