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Marlene hovered her hand over the door knocker. One arm held a pie tin, and the other empty. She stood in her band’s t-shirt hoping she wasn’t dressed too casual. Mary would be wearing an autumnal dress; Marlene could predict exactly which one she would wear. She had spent enough time with Mary to understand her outfit formula. The way she matched her socks to her headband. The way she would only wear t-shirts with a denim skirt. Somehow she would always dress perfectly, at least in Marlene’s opinion.
As she moved her hand forward to grab the knocker, the door opened. Mary’s smile greeted her, warm and familiar. Marlene was right. Mary was wearing a red dress covered in dark red, velvet flowers. Her tights were sheer black with dark polka dots. Mary wasn’t wearing any socks, so Marlene could see her toenails painted red. They’d done that together last week. Marlene often painted her nails, so she thought she could kill two birds with one stone by hanging out with Mary and painting her nails. They killed a third bird by watching a film together. She recalled how Mary placed her head on her shoulder, her curls brushed up against Marlene’s cheek as she lay on the top of her head.
“Hey.”
“Hey there Mary Macdonald,” Marlene grinned. Mary smirked back.
“You brought a tin, perfect! Let’s get started.” Mary took the pie tin from under Marlene’s arm and walked down the corridor. Marlene followed. They walked down a short corridor and into the kitchen. Ingredients had been laid out on the island along with measuring scales and a bowl. The oven was on at 180 degrees celsius. Mary had already started to open a drawer and grab baking paper. Music quietly played from the radio in the corner of the kitchen. It propped up a stack of brightly coloured cook books.
“Would you like an apron?” Mary asked.
“Would I like an apron? Do you even know me?” Marlene laughed.
“I’ll take that as a no then. I’m going to wear one, can you help me tie mine up?”
“Can you not tie a bow yourself?” Marlene teased. Mary rolled her eyes while putting her checkered apron around her neck. She walked over to where Marlene stood and turned away from her. Marlene gently held the ends of the apron, lightly brushing Mary’s lower back. She felt herself moving closer to Mary’s body as she tied a bow slowly, admiring the soft curves of her hips.
“Done,” Marlene said, taking a step away. Mary turned around. She walked back over to the island and stood in front of the sink. Using a scrunchie from around her wrist, she began to pull back her curls. Marlene watched as she smoothed the hair behind her ears. Marlene loved Mary’s hair. She wished she could twist her dark curls around her finger and brush her hand against her cheek.
After tying her hair up, she washed her hands.
“I’ve already made the pastry so we can put that in the oven now. Do you want to help roll it out?” Mary asked.
“If you don’t want to, I can, but I don’t want to deprive you of such an exciting task!” Marlene smirked.
“It’s no problem Marl, this will be the perfect activity for you,” Mary said. “Come here and I can show you. While you do this, I can get started on the filling.”
She walked over to the fridge and took out a beige lump covered in cling film. Her fridge was covered in polaroids held up by magnets. Each polaroid was dated, and Marlene knew that on the back were the names of the people in the photos. Mary hoped to stay in touch with all the people in the photos, but she wanted to keep them there just in case she forgot them.
Marlene hadn’t noticed the rolling pin that was on the counter. It was almost a classic wooden rolling pin, except the sides were enveloped in a pink floral pattern. Mary placed the pastry on the counter and put her hand into a bag of flour. She looked at Marlene’s confused face and laughed. She proceeded to sprinkle it onto the surface. Then, she unwrapped the cling film, smooshed the dough between her hands for a few moments before putting it onto the dusted counter top.
“I said come here,” Mary smirked. Marlene obeyed.
“Stand in front of the dough and pick up the rolling pin.”
Marlene fumbled around with the rolling pin for a few moments before finally working out the correct way to hold it. She began to flatten out the dough onto the surface. Whilst doing so, Mary grabbed a bowl filled with orange chunks. She mixed ingredients into the bowl to create a smooth mixture.
It was nice that they were able to do this. Marlene wished they could hang out more; She didn’t wish to seem needy. She just craved Mary’s presence. Her face, her eyes, her lips.
Time flew by. Mary finished the pie mixture in no time, and Marlene had easily rolled and baked the pastry. It was quarter past five as they sat, watching the timer tick and waiting until they could try their creation. They sat on the floor of the kitchen, enjoying each other's presence. Mary subtly weaved her hand onto Marlene’s upper thigh. For a moment, they sat like that. Then, Marlene glanced at Mary, trying to catch her eye. They locked eyes while Marlene moved her hand to cup Mary’s beautiful face.
“Can I kiss you?” She whispered. Mary nodded and gave a permissive smile.
1 hour later
“How did we manage to burn it? I swear we were ready to take it out at the right time,” Mary sighed.
“I guess we must have got distracted,” Marlene giggled. “I’m sure the bakery will have an amazing pie ready for us.”