In the Warm and Cozy Pt. 01

Here we are together, dining in the wonder of each other in the Bella Rosa Bakery, oven-warmed, candles flickering, sips of wine mellowing, so that now the table blossoms in conversation. The servers are their own guests, and sparkling eyes glance about, delight in the promise of humor and surprise and sometimes chagrin, of the preposterous and the prim, of what they are together, so strange a fine confection of the human spirit, striving without judgement alive only to its own purpose, as a flower is alive to the sun, nameless in its growth, unaccountable in its beauty.

Roscoe: "Two weeks to go, huh Snook!"

Snooky: "Two weeks of fun..."

Roscoe: "Any acceptance letters yet?"

Snooky: "It's too early--I hope."

Roscoe: "Hmm."

Nellie: "So you're going to go far away and leave your Auntie to put up with Miss Perfectionist, Cookie Queen of the Bakery."

Janie: "Quit--I'm not the cookie queen of anything. And I'm not picky either!"

Amid the laugher that erupts from the table, Snooky puts her arm around her friend and smiles, "You might be..." she hesitates before tickling Janie savagely "...just a little bit picky!"

Irma: "Remember when Janie made me throw out that big batch of dough that Roscoe rescued like a flying trapeze performer catching it before it hit the can?"

Dessie: "For weeks we called him 'the Flying Roscoe' and anybody who is picky the 'Queen Jane.'" Dessie, smiling at Roscoe, strokes Janie's arm, "We think you need a lover--the harmony of the bakery depends on it."

Janie blushing: "Sometimes...sometimes I get a little distracted but that has nothing to do with my sex life."

Laughter and giggles, Nellie: "What sex life, Miss Virgin Lesbian?"

Snooky: "Leave Janie alone, she's being a good example for me.--Isn't that right, Mom?"

Dessie: "Yes, my little snoop. I must say she has tremendous will power."

Roscoe: "It's cool to have best friends with tremendous will power, unlike some people I know." And kisses Dessie.

Dessie: "I have some will power...well at least among friends."

More laughter, Irma: "When was that, a few years ago!"

Nellie, watching Janie laying her head on Snooky's shoulder: "Snooky can always come back to the bakery to keep up her skills, we can't have the Princess of Cookies fail her queen."

Roscoe, suspiciously changing the subject: "This roast is great, the juices and the caramelized skin are a gourmet treat. We've always wanted to expand our menu and serve a first class lunch and dinner."

Dessie, picking up the thread, eyes twinkling: "The store next door is going to be vacant soon, maybe we should expand."

Irma, a co-conspirator: "A Roman arch between the bakery and the bistro."

Nellie: "A B&B, the Bella Rosa Bakery and Bistro."

Irma: "Yum, yum...wonder where we could find the talent for a first class bistro."

Roscoe: "Probably need some culinary training. They'd have to really love to cook. Imagine the twins, putting on a spread like this for paying customers."

Janie and Snooky, alert: "It would be fun for people to have a really great place to eat in town." Janie says, looking at Snooky. "And think of all the neat foods we could work with, and we could still make dreamy deserts."

Roscoe, smiling: "We would need a dedicated chef or chefs..."

Dessie: "Trained chefs."

Snooky: "I guess."

Irma: "Trained chefs are hard to find...especially in little Durbin."

Roscoe: "We could grow our own."

Snooky and Janie, watching Irma and Roscoe smiling and Nellie and Dessie holding hands. They look at each other and decide to risk it: "We could learn!"

Roscoe: "Lots of hard work and dedication, Snooky. You might be tied down to a job when you should be away in college partying and..."

Irma: "Isn't their a culinary school somewhere in this state?"

Dessie: "Lot's of hard work but the training would give someone a skill--what'd they call that the other day on TV, 'a portable skill,' something you could take with you anywhere you went later in life."

Nellie: "Or next door."

Roscoe: "Chefs need to be very picky."

Irma: "Yeah, they could be trained by Janie in the finer points."

Snooky: "Janie is a great teacher."

Janie: "You are my best student...and I hope I haven't been too hard on you--all of you. I'm sorry if I've been hard to get along with lately."

Dessie: "You're going to miss your best friend when she goes to school."

Janie, a tear and a sigh: "Yes."

Roscoe: "In that case, these should come in handy," and takes two envelops from his inside pocket.

Irma: "Two white envelops..."

Nellie: "What's that colorful return address? It looks like a flaming pear.

Dessie: "Isn't that the logo of the Masterson Culinary School in Boston?"

Roscoe: "The big city..." fingering the envelops, watching Snooky and Janie keenly eyeing them, their future suspended in the air, and then they know, as Roscoe finally adds. "...is not a place for my daughter to go alone."

Irma: "She needs a chaperone. I'll volunteer!"

Dessie, laughing: "Right! Good idea!"

Nellie, wanting to prolong the suspense: "Irma would be a good chaperone. She would know exactly what to avoid."

Roscoe: "But a good friend would be better...chefs need to work together!"

Janie and Snooky are holding hands, looking in wonder at the smiling faces that surround them, eager to share their surprise. Dessie tells Roscoe, "Don't keep them in suspense!"

Roscoe, handing an envelop the Snooky and Janie: "You don't know my friend Joe Masterson, but he knows you and has agreed to provide a scholarship to both of you for their two year master chef program. The only stipulation is that you need to teach a cookie baking and decorating segment at the school. Remember the white haired gentleman that talked to you for so long a few months ago?"

Janie: "He was very interested in the cookies so we demonstrated a few techniques for him."

Snooky: "He asked a lot of tough questions. Janie and I were maybe a little too playful with our answers because we liked him and he was so interesting."

Roscoe: "Joe enjoyed your performance. He said it was the highlight of his trip. The scholarship isn't free--you have to teach, he likes the idea of you running a segment together, a course each semester. In return he will give you a room to share in the dorm."

Janie and Snooky, more tears and hugs: "Our own room at the culinary school!"

Dessie: "He'll also keep an eye on you for Roscoe and I."

Irma: "If you misbehave we'll just have to go to Boston..."

Nellie: "...and rescue you."

While this is the end of Part 1, the adventure continues (eventually) for the girls when they leave the bakery for the big city. Will best friends make great lovers or simply good room mates? Will love flourish in the culinary school amid the temptations of lissome chefs, male and female? Will Nellie and Irma rescue the girls or dance with them in the revelry of big city Boston temptations?