December, 9th

Lara Conrad

by Lara Conrad

Story
USA

“What on earth are you doing there?,” I asked, almost reproachingly, after we’d worked and chatted for a while. I was looking at Adrian’s… creative endeavors in shock. Whatever he was doing, even I knew that Santa would take offense while looking at them. There was one with green icing which I supposed was meant to be a Christmas tree, but it was all crooked and uneven. It kind of resembled a slime ball straight out of Minecraft.

Adrian lifted his eyes from the cookie in front of him, looking just as offended as I felt. “I’m making Christmas-themed cookies.” He stole a glance at my creations. “Which is more than you can say for yourself.”

He was right, I had made a point to use the decorations at hand for everything but Christmas motives. Which wasn’t all that easy, considering that the colors were limited to green, red, white and black. But I had succeeded in creating little flowers, hearts and even a multicolored unicorn.

I shrugged my shoulders. “At least you can tell what they’re supposed to be.”

“Excuse me!” He put a hand on his chest in a dramatic gesture, acting hurt. I had to chuckle at his pout. “Are you questioning my artistry?”

“Seeing those sad cookies in front of you… yes. Yes, I am.”

He scoffed. “I couldn’t have known I’d bring a baking pro to this Christmas activity.”

“Well, just because I don’t like Christmas, doesn’t mean I don’t like certain activities that are common during the holidays either.” I shrugged.

“Oh! What was that?” Adrian cupped one hand over his ear, grinning smugly. I gave him a confused look. “You just talked about Christmas without using the word ‘hate‘. That’s progress we’re making already.”

I rolled my eyes. “If you count that as progress, you’re going to stay stuck in the same place till Christmas Eve. But enough of that. Now I’ll teach you how to properly decorate cookies. Watch what I’m doing.”

I grabbed a new cookie and started drawing small green ornaments with my piping bag. Then, after letting it harden for a couple of minutes, I added little red dots between the green lines, then finished them off with small black details. Rose vines.

With a satisfied smile, I looked at Adrian, who had watched me very intently. He raised his eyebrows in silent praise. “Now you.”

With a deep, concentrated breath, he took a piping bag into his hands, carefully placing it on his cookie. He tried drawing a straight line, but it became all wobbly along the way. I chuckled again, which earned me a rather exasperated look. “It’s not as easy as it looks.”

“Yes, because your movements are far too rough. Slow it down a bit.” Without thinking, I scooted closer to him, taking hold of Adrian’s hands, which were holding the piping bag.

© Lara Conrad 2024-12-09

Genres
Novels & Stories
Moods
Adventurous, Inspiring, Lighthearted, Funny
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