Brandy drove the family van up to the middle school pickup area. Her son slid open the passenger's door and hopped into the back seat. She asked him about his day and began the drive home. He buckled up and told her that the school would be holding a bake off fundraiser for their soccer program. Brandy was intrigued by this since baking had been a long time hobby of hers. The van pulled into the driveway and he handed her the flier when they got out.
Later that night, just before dinner, Brandy's son had a friend over from his soccer team. His mom had come along with him to see him off. Brandy had met Claudine briefly before at a few of their kids' soccer matches, but had never spoken much outside of small talk.
Brandy ordered some pizza for the four of them and sent the boys upstairs to play video games together. With them out of the way, they could get in some much needed quiet time. Claudine mentioned the bake off. "I've never been able to do much baking with Tyler around, he's such a little sugar addict," she laughed. "I don't think I'll be joining-"
Brandy waved her hand at her passively. "No way, you know better than anyone how much the soccer team needs the money. Here, I'll help you." She got up from the table and made her way to the kitchen. She opened a cupboard and pulled out her recipe box. Claudine joined her by her side. Brandy thumbed through the index cards in the box searching for the perfect one for Claudine. "Aha, here's an easy one!" She withdrew a card and handed it to her friend. She looked it over and nodded in agreement. "Strawberry shortcake, hm, seems easy enough. You mind if I-?" She asked to borrow the recipe and Brandy agreed.
The two chatted for a little while longer before Claudine said goodbye for the night. They hugged at the door, Claudine squeezing Brandy's arms before breaking off the contact and heading out the door. Even after the door was closed, the feeling of her touch lingered in Brandy's arms and in her heart.
She cleaned up the remnants from their dinner and headed up to her room for bed. She popped in on the boys and reminded them that it was a school night before saying goodnight. When she laid in her bed that night, she couldn't shake the feeling of Claudine's touch on her arms. She put her own hands there and pondered. Maybe she was a little lovesick since leaving her son's father. It had only been a few months, but she had been telling herself that she wasn't ready for someone else just yet. That lingering touch was telling her that she may have been wrong.
The day before the bake off, Brandy found herself in the kitchen preparing her fudge brownies before her phone rang. It was Claudine, and Brandy found her heart began to race at the sound of her voice. "Brandy, thank god! You've gotta help me," she exclaimed frantically, "my oven is fucking broken, can you believe this?" Brandy couldn't believe this. It was a perfect opportunity to see her again. "Don't even sweat it Claudine, just come and use mine," she offered. "Lifesaver!" She hung up right away.
Brandy stood in silence for a while gathering her thoughts. Why was she so excited to see her? She continued her brownies in anticipation of her friend's arrival.
She found Claudine at the door holding her bags of ingredients after she rang the bell. She brushed past her on her way in and her knees nearly buckled from the brief contact. They met again in the kitchen and laid out the shortcake ingredients. Through their friendly banter over the broken oven, Brandy felt a buzzing thrill at the back of her mind. She wanted to touch this woman in any way she could manage.