Page 42 of WASP

Annie got to her feet, stepping towards the kitchen, but not before placing a hand on Max’s shoulder. “Work on your paint-by-numbers; I’ve got things from here.” In a moment of boldness, she caught Max’s eye and winked, giving her shoulder a squeeze, enjoying the slight tinge of redness that flared across her cheeks.

“These waffles better live up to the hype,” Max grumbled, reaching for the paints.

“They will,” Annie sing-songed over her shoulder, retreating to the kitchen and grabbing the ingredients she needed: flour, baking powder, eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla, oil, and her special Annie touch—cinnamon. She mixed her ingredients, dry ones first, whisking them by hand followed by the wet ones in the stand mixer, combining them all. Muscle memory took it from there as she moved through the motions, and fifteen minutes later she set down a plate of steaming, fluffy, perfectly golden brown waffles.

“Now these look like waffles,” Lynn said, her smile broad as she reached for one with her fork.

Max loaded her plate up, Annie watching as she brought a small bite to her parted lips. She chewed thoughtfully, her eyelids fluttering closed in a way that made Annie shift in her seat as she waited for her approval.

“Fuck. Yeah. These are amazing.” Max grinned, taking another bite. “Is that cinnamon I’m tasting?”

“It is, it’s my signature.” Annie’s smile was firmly in place as she dove into her own waffle, enjoying the thrill of Max’s reaction to her cooking.

The three of them ate quietly, each getting lost in their individual crafts. Every now and again, someone would say something that would spark a few minutes of conversation before they settled back into the quiet comfort of working together. Annie, who was unsure whether this would feel awkward, was surprised to find the exact opposite—it felt easy, requiring no effort or performance on her end. She could just quietly be here with Max and Lynn.

“I hate to cut this party short, but I’ve got to get to the stables,” Lynn said a little after twelve thirty, standing and stretching.

“Oh right, horseback riding,” Max said as she popped to her feet to clear the plates. Annie jumped up to join her.

Together they cleaned up, returning Lynn’s kitchen and dining room to their original states, saying goodbye to Lynn as Annie followed Max upstairs to her apartment.

“Any big plans for the rest of the day?” Annie asked, setting the stack of craft kits down on Max’s kitchen island.

Max kicked off her slides, shuffling around the space. She grabbed a water bottle off the opposite counter, taking a swig before responding. “A whole lot of nothing. Might run some errands, but nothing special. You?”

Annie leaned against the counter opposite her. “I’m getting a manicure with my mom and sister later this afternoon, which should be…interesting.” She let her voice trail off.

“Not your idea of fun?”

Annie looked at Max, her head tilted in thought. “It’s not that. I actually love getting my nails done.” She held up her hands, inspecting her fingers as she continued. “It’s just that my mom, sister, and I don’t always bring out the best in each other. And I don’t know if today is going to be fun or stressful, and that’s a lot to walk into.”

“I’ve never been more thankful to be an only child.” Max laughed, and Annie grinned.

“The number of times I wished I was…the boys are pretty low drama. Drew is Drew. You know how he is, quiet and stoic, and keeps to himself. And Austin—you met him at the Christmas party—is too busy running all over the world to care what’s going on in Wellington Point.” She shrugged.

Max took another swig from her water bottle, swallowing, wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand. Annie’s eyes followed her movements, lingering on her lips still glistening with the remnants of the sip she had taken.

“What time are you meeting your mom and sister?”

“Four thirty,” Annie answered, shifting her gaze to meet Max’s.

“It’s probably boring, but want to run some errands with me?” Max looked at her with those impossibly blue eyes, nothing but genuineness in her smile—the one growing wider the longer she thought about Max’s offer, which sounded exactly like how she wanted to spend her Saturday.

“I’m in.”

“Perfect, let me change and then we can go. These booty shorts aren’t meant to be seen in public.” She tossed Annie a flirty smile, disappearing into her bedroom off the kitchen, returning a moment later in a pair of light wash jeans artfully ripped down the front with black leggings underneath and the same oversized sweatshirt. “Let’s go.”

Errands, it turned out, consisted of a handful of stops. First was the post office to beat the afternoon closure so Max could ship a box of vintage bird books to her dad in Maryland. Annie, one hundred percent wanting to show off, had insisted on carrying the package for her and holding it the entire time they waited in line. Then it was off to the craft store to return a paint-by-numbers kit Max ended up changing her mind about, muttering something about the dolphin design feeling a little too child-like. Annie had purposefully taken them down the aisle with the bigger, more elaborate and expensive sets, nonchalantly asking Max if any appealed to her. One did—a lighthouse landscape Annie made a mental note of.

Their last stop of the day was the grocery store, where Annie was shocked at how compatible their shopping habits were, each preferring a split-down-the-middle approach. She took the produce, meat, and dairy items while Max scoured the inner aisles for the prepackaged items she needed. The entire day felt so easy. Like running boring errands together was something they had been doing for ages. A pang in her chest reminded Annie how much she missed this part of being coupled up with someone—having a person to move through the quiet parts of life with.

When they returned to Max’s apartment, Annie insisted on helping unload the groceries—she argued it was only fair after the waffle coup she had staged earlier—which is how they found themselves moving around each other in Max’s tiny kitchen.

“I had a lot of fun today,” Annie commented, removing bananas from the compostable produce bag, the matte green kind with the weird soft texture.

“Promise you weren’t bored? Sorry we couldn’t do anything more fun. I know errands aren’t that sexy, but unfortunately they do need to get done.” Max closed the refrigerator where she had just put away a carton of almond milk.

Annie smiled, handing the bananas to her. “Is this a safe space for a hot take?”