Who: Izzy and Billy When: Backdated to 11th October Where: Local store What: New friendships and cooking Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Completed gdoc
Billy loved to bake. He was good at it, and he had been doing it since his parents were still around, six and a half years ago. He still missed them, but he used the talents they had passed on, and that he had perfected, to good use today. He was the baker at the earliest and busiest bakery in town and he was determined to make it a good one.
So every morning, earlier than most people would dream of getting up, and earlier than some people went to bed, he headed for the bakery.,
He cooked up a storm, and eventually emerged, a bag bulging with choice bits of baked goods, smiling, to look out at the early afternoon world. Time to grab a bite, then head home for a nap.
With a smile, he started walking along toward the closest food store, past a local park, and smiling warmly at the world.
***
Izzy had found in the last few days that her appetite had increased, whether it was due to the baby or not she wasn’t sure but she still tried to watch what she ate. She knew her body would change as the baby grew but there was no need to help it along too much. Today however the cravings would not go away, so she’d decided to head for the store to grab something to take the edge off.
She reached the door just at the same time as another person who was smiling brightly and looked very happy, she couldn’t help smile back and said a ‘thank you’ when he held the door open for her, “You look really happy today” she couldn’t stop herself from saying as they entered.
***
“Off work, and I have the rest of the day to myself. It’s a beautiful day, and now a beautiful stranger has crossed my path. I feel fantastic.” He grinned at her, not meaning to hit on her but purely enthusiastic about life.
“How are you this morning?”
***
Laughing Izzy grinned herself, “Well after that compliment now so do I” she replied, “Every girl likes to be called beautiful. I’m good thanks, just craving some kind of food that wasn’t in my cupboard so here I am”
***
Billy grinned wider. He was always glad to make someone smile. “Good, because you are, and you should be told so… I think, as long as that is good.” he sometimes wondered if he was too bouncy in people’s faces, but so far so good!
He grinned warmly at her.
“Yeah. I wanted something I hadn’t made myself. Something nice and hot, you know?” He waved her ahead of him as they headed toward the food aisles.
***
He was very bouncy but Izzy kind of liked it, it was nice to see someone so happy. You couldn’t help but be happy too. “It’s good, trust me” she assured him.
“That sounds good. I might just follow you around the store and copy you” she teased him with a smirk, “Because now I’m here there is too much choice to narrow down this food craving”
***
“Good. I’m not really good at always telling. So thank you.” He honestly hated bothering people, but was glad to make them smile. He grinned wider.
“A beautiful woman following me around? I might splotz.” He grinned at her, cheeks heated up a little. Then he glanced around and sort of picked a direction.
“Well… I am thinking for now some of their buttery chicken pot pies might be good, with the side salad. And for later, I suddenly have the urge to throw a bunch of stuff in the crockpot. Maybe make a roast potato thing.” He grinned at her again. “How’s that sound?”
***
“You’re welcome” Izzy said easily, she didn’t find him a bother at all. He was kind of sweet, obviously he had a kind nature.
She laughed, he was funny too, “Ooo chicken pot pie sounds great though you’re on your own with the crockpot thing, that sounds far too much like actual cooking to me. And my kitchen deserves better than my attempts to burn it down” she grinned.
***
“Pshaw. Crockpots are made for people who don’t like to cook. Look.” he led the way to the veggies. “Grab some potatoes and carrots. The pre-cut kind.” which he did, and tossed some in his cart.
“Then you need a sauce, and thankfully, a lot of places like this know that this is a need see.” he pointed to a nearby endcap and nabbed two containers of chicken broth, flavored with garlic.
“Then all you need is the chicken,”
And he led the way to the meat section, and nabbed refrigerated, not frozen, packs of chicken. “You can drop all of this in a crockpot, plug it in, put it on high and set a timer for four hours. When it’s done, you have dinner.”
He bounced at her.
***
“That sounds pretty easy” Izzy had to admit, “And there’s no way I could burn down the kitchen with this thing right? I mean if it has a timer it can’t burn or explode I guess” It was sounding kind of appealing if she was honest. And an easy way not to live on takeaway.
“If I did that I could tell my boyfriend I actually cooked, he’d have a heart attack” she grinned at the idea. Two birds and one stone.
***
“Nope. And if we get you a crockpot that turns off or down to warm after it hits the timed limit, then you can’t even ruin the dinner.” Billy grins. He loves cooking and he loves helping others.
“See, could be fun!” he nodded as he led the way toward the kitchen section, where he pointed out the kind of crockpot he had.
***
“Okay you have me convinced, I am going to give this a go” she put all the ingredients in her trolley that he had and then followed him to the crockpots. How did she never know about this before? It seemed too good to be true.
“Thanks for this” she told him with a smile, “I appreciate your help” Because it wasn’t every day a stranger would let you follow him around a store and give you cooking tips.
***
“Anytime. What are friends for?” He smiled at her. “Now, before you go cooking, we better fuel up. Those pot pies sound even better now.” He grinned as he walked with her.
“I love cooking.”
***
Izzy smiled at that, “You are definitely one of my favourite new friends” she said before nodding, “Mmm pot pie would be amazing now”
She laughed, “I’m terrible at it. But I do like the crockpot idea, one day of home cooked meals might be nice among the days of takeaway”
***
“Yesh!” He chuckled. “I’m glad to be your friend.”
Then he blinked. “Oh this is more than a one day thing. You can make all kinds of easy stuff like this. Barbecue ribs, chili, spaghetti, and more. “
He clapped her shoulder for a moment and did a terrible Bogey impression. “Stick with me kid, and this’ll be the start of a beautiful friendship.” He winked.