"You should go back for now, Elayne," said Mark. "Good work for today."
"Thanks Mark!" I said, as I had prepared my things and decided to quickly leave to go back home and meet my beloved Elena.
"I'll bring you bento tomorrow, and breakfast too, so look forward to that!" I said.
"O-Okay! Thanks a lot…" he said.
I walked back home rather quickly and reached my home in just half an hour of rapid walking, I found a cute black cat in front of the door, Blackie.
"Meow."
"Blackie! You're back to sleep inside as well?" I asked.
"Meow!"
"You're so cute… I wonder who your real owners are… Or are you truly just a stray cat, I wonder?" I wondered, as I petted the adorable Blackie and caressed his soft fur… Cats were my favorite pets. I remembered having several cats over my childhood. Well, the sad thing was that cats usually didn't live more than 10 years, so eventually, as you grew older, you'll end up seeing… seeing them pass away.
"I wonder how old you are, fluffy Blackie…" I said. "Well, maybe we should bring you to the vet to check you out on the weekend, what do you think?"
"Meow!"
Blackie didn't understand anything I said, and he was simply excited to enter the house to eat and be warmer inside. It was very cold today as well and there was even snow outside, oof. A cat had natural fur but no clothes, so I bet it was still very cold.
I quickly opened the door, served Blackie some food, and then went to my room. I dropped almost dead over my bed, and a terrible exhaustion hit me strongly… Ugh, I felt like sleeping right now, but I can't…
I looked into my phone and found some messages from Rita.
[Rita: Hey, dear, I already made up my avatar! You'll die after seeing her! I'll spawn in the forest you said and we can play together! I wanna see that farm you're talking so much about making! Oh, will you carry me so I can level up?]
[Elayne: Sure, I can help you level up if you want, dear, it is not a problem! I am glad you're coming so we can have fun together! You'll love the beautiful place filled with nature!]
[Rita is typing…]
[Rita: Looking forward to it then dearie xoxo]
[Elayne: I'll connect after making dinner for my girl and eat dinner with her, around 6 or 7 PM, can you wait?]
[Rita is typing…]
[Rita: Sure, I also gotta make dinner! So what are you making today? I'm making some pasta with meatballs]
[Elayne: I think I will make a home-made lasagna. I got some premade marinara sauce from the minimarket, the most expensive one! The lovely Mark gave me a discount for it!]
[Rita is typing…]
[Rita: Wow girl, that guy is drooling for you! Give him a chance already!]
[Elayne: Geez! What are you talking about? Why would Mark look at such an old woman like me in such a manner, dummy? Sigh, you and your weird kinky things… You never change, since high school you're kind of a perv…]
[Rita is typing…]
[Rita: Hahahaha! Sorry, sorry! Alright I'll go make dinner, see ya!]
[Elayne: Sure…]
This Rita was always teasing me with weird stuff! Since high school she had always been a kinky girl for some reason… I guess she's just a perv at heart. I was surprised she had kept herself as a faithful wife for so long. I remembered she had like more than ten boyfriends throughout all of her high school years, and she always told me how much each one measured… So she probably had sex with all her boyfriends.
But… she's a good girl though, she even gifted me this headset out of nowhere, and she's always lovely with me. We had always been very close since our younger years, and we used to do pajama parties together as well… She's like my sister at this point and she always protected me from creeps too. She had a sharp tongue and because she was always friends with the worst of the worst at school, whenever someone had a fight with me, she would easily intimidate them…
Ah, sometimes she would ask for some money from them and give me half of it. And when they were incredibly annoying, she and her friends intimidated them until they kneeled on the ground and asked for forgiveness… With such a friend I never had problems nor bullying at school, they were good years, I met my husband back then too…
…Wait a second. Now that I realize, wasn't Rita kind of a bully herself?! She was a delinquent… Yeah, she was a delinquent this entire time?! And I never realized it?! EEEEH?!
S-She extorted people into giving her money… she ridiculed them and did all sorts of other stuff… But because they were always such assholes, I thought it was just what they deserved… Damn, that's wrong, wasn't it?
But… it had been so long ago that I guess I cannot really do much. And it's not like I suddenly feel like I didn't know her or something, I loved her a lot, so I cannot really say I would stop loving my best friend. In fact she married that gang leader and she and her husband have changed a lot, they're now completely mature adults working together to raise their kids.
Ugh, I missed Rita too, I haven't seen her in a while! She hasn't come to visit me for almost a week now… Oh well, she's busy with her own stuff too, we can't just always be stuck to one another like before.
Back then we were always together in almost anything… Or well, I remembered her saying "Geez you're always so clingy, Elayne! Can't live without me, huh?" or other times she would say "Why are you always sticking with me? Don't you see I am dangerous?" but I always knew she was a good girl.
A-Anyways! Time to make some lasagna, it should be a quick recipe. I quickly went to boil the pasta, which were like long sheaths of paper, then I took out the marinara sauce, and decided to prepare some bechamel sauce as well to go with it, the combination of both was always the nicest.
Bechamel sauce is often called "white sauce" too by my grandmother, it was made out of milk, cheese, and flour, or that's how we usually do it. I didn't know how it's done by other people, but that's how my grandma calls her "salsa blanca".
I took out a big piece of cheese I had in my freezer and cut it down into small cubes, then put them inside the pot with some hot milk in there already, and then slowly added some flour over time. It was important to not make crumbs though, so I had to add it slowly and carefully. I also added some other cheese, like parmesan cheese, and then a few cubes of blue cheese, and lastly, small pieces of ham cut into thin slices and a few small cubes of butter.
After a few minutes, it was looking ready, it had a beautiful white color, and smelled delicious, it was creamy as well. I also ended up adding some cream to it. The secret for it to end up being so creamy was letting the milk evaporate over time, which came out beautifully.
And then, I decided to slowly make the lasagna, putting the slices, and covering them in marinara sauce, then adding another slice and adding white sauce, and then marinara sauce, and so on, until the perfect blend.
At the end, I added some cheese slices over the top of the lasagna, alongside some oregano, and then, it went straight to the oven for ten minutes, that's more than enough to warm things up and melt the cheese.
While waiting, I washed the dishes and my daughter finally got home… With visits as well. Anna was to be expected, but she also brought her new friend, Elisa…
"Hmm, what is this so delicious I smell?! Ah, Lady Elayne, will you pleasure our palates with another of your wondrous preparations?!" asked Elisa, jumping towards me and suddenly holding my hands. I felt a bit startled by her flashiness…
"I-I…"
"Uwah~ your beautiful nails are so delicate and transparent, not even an inch of paint on them… So beautiful- No, your entire hand!" she said. "To be expected of the mother of Elena…"
This girl is definitely a weird one, but she's cute though… And she's got some charm to her as well, I think she's a good girl. Although the fact she's rich kind of puts me a bit nervous… But I try to think about it positively.
"Auntie, that smells tasty, you're making lasagna?" asked Anna more relaxedly.
"Y-Yeah… Feel free to join, sit down, it is about to get done actually!" I said. "Elena, come hug mommy!"
"I don't wanna…" said Elena while ignoring me.
"Eh?!"
CRACK!
I felt as if my heart cracked and shattered into pieces… Why?! Was she embarrassed to do it in front of her two friends? But that shouldn't stop her… Ugh…
"E-Elena! You mustn't treat your beloved mother like this, she gave birth to you! Now stand up and greet her like a Lady," said Elisa while smiling proudly.
"Come on, Elena, don't be like that with your mom, she works hard just for you," said Anna while agreeing with Elisa.
Elena suddenly grew redder, the pressure of the two girls forced her to stand up and hug me. I hugged her tightly though, caressing her head and kissing her all over her face.
"Uwaah! My cute little angel! I love you, mama loves you! Mooch! Mooch! Mooch!"
"Uuugh…" Elena groaned a bit overwhelmed by me, but she couldn't escape my embrace anymore, and ended accepting her fate rather quickly.
Elena was finally freed from my embrace after attempting to escape several times. I suppose her mood fluctuates a lot, sometimes she's more open and other times she's grumpy the entire day, so it's hard to know when it is the right time to give her love…
"Hahaha! Your mother really loves you, doesn't she?" asked Anna. "I wish I had a mom like that…!"
"You're fortunate to have such a wonderful goddess as a mother, Elena…" said Elisa. "You must love her and appreciate her."
"S-Shut up…" Sighed Elena, feeling embarrassed.
After that, I served the lasagna, and it was just as tasty as I imagined it. The girls enjoyed it, and even Elisa, who is a rich girl, was praising it a lot for some reason…
"Oooohh, it is so good! I had never eaten a lasagna this good before!" she said.
"Dear, don't you have a cook or something?" I wondered.
"Yeah but they only cook very boring stuff, like those weird foods you find in expensive restaurants. There's no love in them, and the portions are so small, I have to eat many of them. Sometimes their flavors are too strong and they make my tongue go numb… But your cooking… Your cooking is wonderful, lady Elayne! I have only met you for two days but, is it okay if you work for my house? I would pay you better than any job you've ever had, just cook me three meals a day, that's it!"
"Eeeh? I-I… I don't think I can do that… It would feel quite wrong because you're the friend of my daughter…" I sighed. "And what if you two stop being friends one day? Will you fire me? I cannot really do it, sorry… It would be too dependent on your friendship."
"Huh?! Y-You've rejected… it…? Ah, just like her daughter, I suppose not even money can buy their love…" Sighed Elisa, looking as if she was defeated.
"I honestly would really love working at cooking, but I really love my life as it is, even my job right now is pretty okay, and my boss is my best friend too, so I cannot really leave him…" I said.
"I-I see… Is that so…" Sighed Elisa, she seemed very dispirited.
