Try Some--Haria
Hanna stuck the key into the lock on the door to her and Aria’s shared apartment, exhausted after a long day of being ordered around by Claudia. She was pretty sure the woman was insane. And after her experience with Charlotte, insane was not a word Hanna threw around lightly. She groaned, annoyed when the door stuck and wouldn’t open. She gave it a small kick and smiled proudly when it opened.
“Aria, I’m home! Do you want to order a pizza or something? I’m exhausted,” she complained, kicking her shoes off. She paused, realizing that Aria wasn’t in the living room, where she’d expected to find her. She frowned.
“Aria?” she called.
“In the kitchen!” Aria yelled. Hanna’s frown deepened as she walked into the kitchen. It was ridiculous to even call the small space a kitchen. She knew for a fact that Spencer’s bathroom was bigger than this. Neither woman was a fantastic cook, so the only parts of the kitchen used often were the coffee pot, the microwave, and occasionally the oven. To her surprise, Aria was donning an apron and was stirring something on the stove.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Making dinner,” Aria said slowly, as if speaking to a child, thinking it was pretty obvious what she was doing.
“You don’t cook,” Hanna said accusingly. Aria raised an eyebrow.
“No, you don’t cook. I’m a fantastic cook,” she said proudly. Hanna furrowed her eyebrows, trying to remember the last time her girlfriend had made something besides grilled cheese. She failed.
“What are you making?” she asked, deciding not to dwell on things that might lead to a disagreement. She knew she tended to get argumentative after a long day, and she didn’t want to start a fight over something as stupid as whether or not Aria cooked.
“Oh, uh, vegan beef bourguignon,” she said, busily stirring a pot. Hanna grimaced and wondered why her girlfriend couldn’t just stick to something simple, like pasta. Now she remembered the last time Aria had cooked, and why she had forced it out of her memory.
“Okay, I don’t know what bourguignon is, but I’m pretty sure beef isn’t vegan,” she pointed out. Aria rolled her eyes.
“Obviously. I’m substituting a mushroom tofu mixture for the beef. I know Claudia gets stressed out before a show, which leads to her stressing you out, so I wanted to take care of dinner before you got home. It was supposed to be done already, but it’s taking a little bit longer than I expected,” she explained. Hanna shuddered, resisting the urge to say how awful that sounded. She wasn’t even a vegetarian, let alone a vegan, and this was what Aria decided to make?
“Oh, that’s okay. I’m going to go change clothes,” she said. Aria nodded absentmindedly, and Hanna dashed out of the kitchen. Once in the safety of their bedroom, she flopped onto the bed, dreading dinner. It was sweet of Aria to make dinner, and Hanna really did appreciate it. There was a fashion show coming up that weekend, and it was true that Claudia make her life hell in the days before a show. But seriously, why couldn’t Aria just order a pizza or something? Pizza was practically its own food group, as far as Hanna was concerned.
“It’s ready!” Aria called. Hanna groaned and made her way out to the living room. One of the annoyances of their small apartment was the lack of a good place for a kitchen table, which meant most nights they ended up eating on the floor in front of the small coffee table.
“Wow, it looks… great,” Hanna forced herself to say as Aria put two plates down on the table. Aria rolled her eyes.
“I know you don’t mean that. You think it looks awful,” she said, disappearing into the kitchen again. Hanna’s eyes widened.
“What? No… It’s just…. It’s different,” she stuttered. Another eye roll from the brunette as she returned with two glasses of wine. She handed Hanna a fork.
“Try some. Just a bite. If you don’t like it, you can have something else,” she said. Now Hanna rolled her eyes.
“I’m not a little kid,” she grumbled. Aria blushed, realizing that she sounded just like her mother had when she and Mike were kids.
Despite her reluctance, Hanna didn’t want to hurt her girlfriend’s feelings. So, preparing herself, she took a tiny bite of the brown mush. As she had expected, it was terrible. An idea was forming in her mind, though, and she took another hesitant bite, and another. She looked up and found Aria smirking at her.
“What?” she asked, shoveling another bite into her mouth. Aria shook her head, amused.
“Nothing. I take it you like it?” she asked. Hanna shrugged.
“It’s okay,” she lied, amazed that Aria couldn’t read the truth all over her face. Aria grinned.
“I’m glad you like it,” she said smugly.
“You haven’t tried it yet,” Hanna pointed out. Aria frowned.
“I guess I haven’t,” she realized. She took a bite and immediately made a face, resisting the urge to spit it out.
“Oh my god, Hanna, this is disgusting!” she exclaimed. Hanna burst out laughing, pleased that her prank had worked.
“Aria, you are a woman of many talents, but cooking is not one of them,” she said. Aria groaned, realizing that Hanna had been pretending the entire time. She had to admit, she was impressed by the blonde’s acting skills. It wasn’t often her girlfriend could fool her. Taking pity on the brunette, Hanna put an arm around her.
“It’s okay, babe, you know I can’t cook either. I still love you,” she promised. Aria sighed, disappointed by the time she’d put into what had turned out to be a spectacular fail.
“Wanna order a pizza?” she asked. Hanna nodded happily. Aria sighed again, and stood up to go order their dinner. As she stepped into the other room, she heard Hanna call:
“And no mushrooms!”