Short Story: [Emberfate] Romantic Dinner

Hey everyone!

This is the last short story in this cooking series~ After this, we'll be starting a new series of short stories for the Emberfate love interests — if anyone has suggestions, feel free to post down below in comments! 

For now, I hope you all enjoy this story! As usual, this is written by Nic W and edited by me.

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The sunset floods in from the window down the apartment building's hall, painting everything in orange flames. You take a moment to admire the striking colors and let out a soft hum of contentment, glad to be almost home — more importantly, glad to almost be home to Khanyisa.

Your smile grows automatically at the thought. Part of you can still hardly believe it’s already been two months since you and your girlfriend moved in together, and things have been going swimmingly well since.

“Honey, I’m —” Before the cheesy greeting can leave your mouth as you open the front door, you’re hit with the uncharacteristic sound of Khanyisa’s swearing, her voice strained and higher-pitched than usual.

“Khanyisa?” Not even bothering to kick off your shoes, you immediately barrel past the living room and barge into the kitchen.

The inside is pure chaos. Vegetables are rolling about on the floor, the counters are covered in paper towels and unknown spilled liquid, and right as you step inside, your smoke detector begins to shrilly go off about whatever is causing smoke to billow from the oven.

Despite all the catastrophes going on at once, your eyes immediately focus on the central figure of your girlfriend and, more importantly, the blood that drips steadily down her wrist. Her expression twists with pained surprise as she catches sight of you.

"Welcome home," she whispers weakly.

***

The plastic chairs in the urgent care room are hard and uncomfortable, but you are too busy worrying over your girlfriend to care. At your fussing, Khanyisa shoots you a quick, embarrassed smile.

"I'm fine, really. You don't need to look at me like that," she says, "it's just a nick." You frown, disagreeing with her assessment, and you shift closer to her to better examine the finger she is holding aloft.

"It's more than that," you murmur. "You're going to need at least a couple of stitches; you split it right down the side." You sigh, replaying the scene you had walked into an hour ago in your mind. "I really thought you'd lost the tip of your finger there for a second — it was practically fountaining blood." Khanyisa blanches but quickly shakes away the violent description, returning your gaze morosely.

"I guess I should've known it was a bad idea," she sighs. "Cooking has never been one of my talents." She shrugs, smiling at you ruefully.

“That’s okay. You have many other talents already, like keeping track of our budget and finances every month. You can’t be a god at everything, you know, or you’ll make me feel like I’m useless in this household.” You joke, leaning forward and placing a swift kiss on her cheek. You’re pleased to see her cheeks darken slightly, a tell-tale sign of a blush.

Still, she doesn't seem as cheered up as you expected her to be, and you pull back from her, brows pinched in concentration as you examine her expression. "What's wrong? Is it still hurting a lot? Should I try and wrangle a doctor down now?"

She shakes her head immediately. "No, don't. Some of these people were here before us and have worse injuries. I'm fine, really." She hesitates as if mulling over what she wants to say next.

"It's just… I finally had a rare day where I could get off work early, so I thought it was the perfect time to… Well, I was just trying to be romantic and have a home-cooked meal ready for you when you walked in the door. Just like you’ve done for me before. I’m sorry."

You stare at her in surprise, cheeks warming as you take in her embarrassed sincerity. "Oh, Khanyisa. That is so thoughtful and sweet. How did I get so lucky as to find you?"

She laughs."I ask myself that about you all the time."

The bustling of the urgent care fades away behind you, and you lean forward to cup her cheek, careful not to jostle the arm with the injured finger and press your lips against hers in a sweet but chaste kiss, which she reciprocates happily.

However, the bubble of happiness is popped by an unexpected throat clearing from someone standing off to the side. You both jolt back, expressions sheepish but still affectionate as you turn to face the person waiting for your attention.

It's a short, stout man with curly hair, likely early middle-aged, dressed in scrubs and holding a clipboard. He looks tired, but even so, he manages a friendly smile. "Khanyisa Sanford?" He asks, looking between the two of you. Khanyisa smiles somewhat shyly and weakly waves her uninjured hand. "That's me," she confirms.

"Perfect! Thank you so much for your patience and waiting." He casts a quick critical look around the still full urgent care office. "It's been unexpectedly busy tonight, as you can tell, but we are ready for you now to come on back."

He looks towards you. "You're welcome to come along too if Khanyisa would prefer that." Your girlfriend nods immediately, and you're grateful that you didn't even have to ask.

***

The air is significantly cooler by the time you two leave the building with Khanyisa’s finger all stitched and bandaged up. You wrap your arm around Khanyisa's waist and press a gentle kiss on her cheek. "Feeling better now?"

She nods slightly, her pained expression easing thanks to the minor painkillers she’s been administered. Then she lets out a long sigh, turning her gaze towards yours.

"I'm really sorry," she says dejectedly. "I really didn't plan for tonight to go like this. You're always making me feel so loved and special, and I wanted to make you feel like that too, but I guess cooking wasn't the way to go about it." She lets out a soft laugh and tries to shrug the melancholy off, but you stop in your tracks, moving to face her directly so you can look her in the eyes.

"Khanyisa, I always feel loved and special when I'm around you, even when we're doing the most mundane activities. I've never met anyone as thoughtful, genuine, and kind as you, and while I never want to see you hurt, I can still say with utter confidence that I'd rather spend a night like tonight with you than at some fancy five-star restaurant with anyone else."

Her cheeks darken, and she quickly averts her eyes from yours but seems unable to keep them from slowly drifting back. "Really?"

You nod in the affirmative. "Really." Your lips quirk upward, and your voice becomes teasing. "Though if cooking is something that genuinely interests you, I would certainly be happy to be your teacher. I'll have you serving souffle in no time!"

Khanyisa smiles at you, pushing a curl of hair back as a hint of shyness comes over her. "I'd like that," she says softly, "though that might be an activity best suited for another night. I think my stomach is far past being able to wait through another attempt."

You nod. Your stomach has been demanding attention for some time as well. "Agreed. What do you say we pick up a pizza on the way back then?"

"Pizza as a romantic date night dinner food — I suppose it does come from Italy." She hums softly, squeezing your arm with affection. "Thanks, love, for everything."

"Of course," you smile, "everything and anything for you."