Kitchen Conversations (Work/Afternoon)

Kendra was focused for once, the bursts of energy she normally suffered from gone as she looked at the pan she had on the stove. The eggs she had in the pan would look fine to anybody else, but to Kendra they looked like they needed a few more minutes, though she couldn't be certain. She just felt like they needed to be perfect, because Nadia had helped her find this position and if she messed up she was embarrassing Nadia by extent, right? And that would be the worst thing possible.

"You know you don't have to be so exact." The gentle voice snapped Kendra's attention away from the eggs, though she managed to keep a single eye on them. His posture reminded Kendra of those worried old mothers you saw in television programs and movies. "You've already gotten them to look perfect. And from what I can tell, you've fully cooked them. Don't push yourself too hard on something like eggs." He was like a doting mother, really, which is probably why Kendra didn't mind him trying to tell her to be less exact.

She picked up a spatula, her other hand lifting the pan up, and began to carefully transport the sunny-side up eggs onto the plate, Aaron careful not to move and disrupt her concentration. "Better if they're perfect though. And I don't want to make Nadia look bad." She couldn't stop some irritation from entering her voice, though Aaron didn't seem to react negatively, nodding his head in understanding.

"I get it. You're scared of messing up and making her look bad. I'd be too if I was in your shoes." Scared? Kendra wasn't scared. She was concerned for her friend, which was normal. Every character in every book Kendra had read had been concerned for a friend at least once, and every character in every movie Kendra had ever seen had been concerned for a friend at least once. But scared? Kendra was not scared.

"I'm not scared!" She saw some of the others in the kitchen turn to eye her when she had her sudden outburst, but Aaron didn't seem to react. He never seemed to react to any of her outbursts, now that Kendra thought about it. At most, he just moved to cover his ears a little in advance.

"I get it. Not scared. You're concerned. You think you have to make sure everything's perfect, right? I don't think you should do that. You're just going to stress yourself out." He seemed to be waiting for her to react, as though he wanted her to yell at him. Kendra quietly stared at him for a few moments. I probably spoke out of place. My bad, sorry. I'll get back to work, since it seems like I may be bugging you a little bit too much, Kendra."

"No!" She had to be quick, otherwise he'd wander away somewhere else in the kitchen and she wouldn't be able to get to him without making it obvious she was talking instead of working. "You made a good point. I'm stressed out from trying to mentally count milliseconds in my head. It'll get better once I don't have to work with eggs. There's nothing really that great about eggs like there is about making everything and anything else." She was smiling a little, laughing a little bit.

"I'm glad you're calming down." Aaron didn't seem to react, however, smiling his motherly sort of smile still. "I do need to get back to work though. or at least be where I'm supposed to be when waiting for more food to be ordered. Don't push yourself too much, Kendra, alright?" He seemed to almost glide away, face never showing anything other than that motherly concern. Kendra stared after him for a few moments, blinking and unsure of what else to do. She wanted to make another friend, because Bridgett couldn't be the only person she talked to while working if she didn't always show up, but Kendra was unsure of what to do.

The kitchen seemed to speed up a little bit, though Kendra didn't notice at first. The moment she did notice, however, she jumped straight back into tending the stove area, knowing she was going to do a job well done no matter what.

719 words.

2157 + 600 = 2757 VC. Approved.