Charles smiled and nodded a little tiredly, “First thing on my ‘to do’ list, buddy.” He turned and quickly walked off in the direction that Tara had gone.
“I’m not your buddy, guy!” William called after him.
“I’m not your guy, friend!” Charles called over his shoulder.
“I’m not your friend, buddy!” William yelled laughing.
“Will you two shut up?!” Katherine’s voice yelled at them from around the corner.
Charles and William both burst out laughing. Charles shook his head and waved as he disappeared. William turned back around and looked at the barrel of batter. He dipped his spatula in the tub of butter and getting a good dallop on the spatula, he spread it on the nicely heated griddle. He grabbed the ladle that Tara had left in the barrel and spooned up a serving of batter which he expertly divided into perfectly sized disks. The batter sat there for a little while before bubbles started spouting up through the batter. He knew from the time it had taken that the pancakes would be cooked perfectly. He shoved the spatula under the nearest pancake and flipped it over. He was rewarded by seeing a perfectly colored golden brown pancake. Smiling, he flipped over the other pancakes all with the same perfect color.
With timing that couldn’t have been planned more perfectly, Katherine walked up and dropped several square tubs onto a rolling cart that she positioned behind William. She walked up to him and looked over his shoulder. “Not bad Mr. Food Network. I didn’t know you knew how to cook.” She said jabbing him playfully in the shoulder.
William smiled as he shrunk from the impact. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye as he reached back for one of the tubs. “I’m sorry you never knew about me and cooking, I guess it just never came up.” He scooped up three pancakes and dropped them neatly into the pan. “As for the Food Network; I’m tip top alright but not nearly as good as some of those people are.”
Katherine smiled at him, “I wonder what other talents you have hidden in that brain and body of yours that we just don’t know about.”
The smile slid from William’s face as he scooped up the remaining pancakes and dropped them in the pan. He set them on the table behind them and coughed roughly into his sleeve, turning his head away from the food. He was suddenly a little uncomfortable.
Katherine sensed this and blushed deeply. The sudden coloration of her cheeks contrasted so dramatically from her eyes that they seemed to glow neon green for a moment. She looked down, studying her feet, letting her brown hair cover her face. “I’m sorry I…I didn’t mean it like that, Will. I’m sorry” She walked off before he could think to say anything to stop her.
For the next hour or two he was cooking nonstop. At some point someone brought him more pancake batter. Sausage patties were brought out to be cooked and then more were brought. He had to fry hash browns and potatoes. Every once in a while, he got some spare room on the griddle to put together an omelet. He never got any orders for one he just made them, sometimes with everything on it. One or two of them just had ham and cheese. He had never been so busy cooking before but he had to admit that he loved every minute that he was in front of that griddle.
After a while Charles came up and clapped him on the shoulder. “I think you’re done, Will.”
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William looked up from the still cooking pancakes and sausages that were still on the stove. Wiping the sweat from his brow with his sleeve he heaved a sigh. “Is that it then?” He turned around and flipped the patties and the pancakes.
“Yup, everyone has been fed as far as I know. We didn’t have a lot of leftovers, which is good. Shut down the stove and clean up a little then get something to eat.”
Charles started to walk off but William was able to grab him. “I’ve been waiting all morning to make us some omelets, you ready?”
Charles smiled and nodded his head. Will grabbed the eggs and cracked four of them in a bowl. He whisked them and spread out the yellow mixture on the stove and spread the toppings on them. “Go get some plates, so we can eat.”
Moments later the stove was clean and turned off. The extra food had been wrapped in plastic wrap and stored for tomorrow and William and Charles stood at the table eating.
“I had a feeling I would find the two of you here, goofing off.” Katherine said as she walked around the corner. She looked at the two men as they ate. “So, I guess you forgot.”
William hurriedly swallowed his bite of egg and tomatoes and cheese, shaking his head. “Not at all Kat, in fact,” he reached for a plate that was half hidden by his body. The plate had a still steaming perfectly wrapped omelet on it. It looked close to a restaurant menu photo. William smiled as he handed it to her. “I just made that one especially for you with everything on it just like you asked for.”
Katherine took the plate looking dubiously at the wrapped yellow of the eggs on the plate as if she expected it at any moment to reach up and bite her.
“That was delicious, Will.” Charles commented as he scraped his fork along the clean plate.
“Thanks Charles, but the real test is what Kat thinks about them.” He turned back toward the sage, “Well? How is it?”
Katherine took up her fork and sliced into the thing. The cheese was warm and oozed out of the puncture. A perfect blend of mushrooms and bacon and tomatoes could be seen with the slight green of peppers mixed in. Katherine stabbed the piece of egg and bit into it. Her face was a mask of uncertainty, then slowly it changed to contemplative. She swallowed and took another bite… and another… and another. Soon the plate was clean and Kat was wiping her mouth with her hand.
William folded his arms across his chest, leaning back against the stove, looking very proud of himself. He smiled and asked again, “So, how was it?”
Katherine looked up as if she had forgotten there was anybody else in the room with her. She smiled shyly and put the plate down on the cart. “It was really good.”
“HA! So, you were wrong about omelets being gross?! Admit it, confess, confess!” William was openly laughing now.
Katherine joined in, “You are insane! YES! I was wrong about omelets being gross! I’m sorry I offended your culinary ability.”
“What in the hell is going on in here?” Tara asked as she quickly walked in from the corridor leading to the freezer. “All I here is YES! And HA, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say there was some kind of…you know, going on in here.”
The three of the pack mates looked at the dark-skinned woman with wide eyed innocence and naiveté. William answered, “I have no idea what you’re talking about Tara. Charles, do you know what she is talking about?”
Charles shook his head. “Kat?” Barely hiding a smile she shook her head too.
William turned back to the dark skinned woman, “Sorry, Tara we have no idea what you mean about yelling and noises.”
Tara looked around at the three friends shaking her head. “Uh huh, ok. I’ll just go start getting prepped for lunch then. It’s already past mid-morning, it’ll be noon before you know it.” She took one last look at the group and walked off back the way she had come in. The three friends burst out laughing as soon as she was gone.
William looked up at the ceiling as he wiped at his sweaty fore head. He then looked at his pack mates. “She’s right you know. We should probably get ready for lunch.”
Charles and Katherine nodded in agreement “Yes, a lot of work still to do today.” Charles said as he turned to leave.
Kat smiled at William, “Thanks for breakfast, Will.” She followed Charles out and around the corner.
William turned back toward the stove. Cleaning was always the worst part.