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“You’re gonna toast a giant marshmallow?” Doc asked.
“No!” Hayley said. “It’s Baked Alaska! ‘Cause we had crab. I was going for a theme.”
“Ohhh!” said Tex and Hawk, discretely eyeing each other to see if the other had heard of such a thing. They shook their heads at each other. “Is there crab in it?” Hawk asked.
Hayley scoffed at him. “Of course not. It’s….you never heard of Baked Alaska? I mean, I know it’s old fashioned, but I’d have thought you’d at least have heard of it before.” The men continued to shake their heads. “Well, prepare yourselves,” Hayley told them, “for awesomeness.” She picked up the torch and the striker, examining it. “Um, how do I….”
Hawk reached over and tweaked the valve. “Point it at the…giant marshmallow first,” he advised.
“Got it, no problem,” Hayley said and maneuvered the cylinder so the nozzle was aimed at the dessert.
Chris jerked his head, indicating silently that Tex should join him. Tex moved over and leaned in. “Mission Accomplished,” he told his lieutenant. While Hayley and Chris were gathering things from her house, Tex was discretely sent to the garage to retrieve a fire extinguisher.
Hayley lit the torch with the striker and let out a tiny shriek as the gas caught fire. Chris rubbed his face nervously.
“It’s totally fine,” she announced, with fake bravado.
“It’s totally fine,” Tex repeated, trying to reign in his laughter.
Hayley brought the torch down to the white dome….and there was a soft whoosh as she set the fucking thing on fire!
“Oh, shit,” Chris said, lunging forward.
“Is that supposed to happen?” Doc asked, backing away from the flaming cake-thing.
Hawk took the torch from Hayley and shut it off.
“Wow,” said Hayley.
“Tex?!” Chris shouted.
“Um, under the bottom step,” Tex told him, staring at the blue flames.
“What?” Hayley asked and turned to see Chris running down the steps. She saw him bend over and pull the fire extenguisher from underneath the wooden step. Hayley saw red and then she saw red. “No!” she shouted, sprinting toward him. She jumped off the top step and tackled him. Because he was bent over, he was an easy mark and they both tumbled to the ground. Chris dropped the cylinder and grabbed Hayley, twisting to get himself underneath her and cushion her fall. “It’s supposed to be like that!” she yelled.
“Hayley it’s on fire!” Chris protested.
“Because I sprayed it with rum!” she argued, kicking the fire extinguisher as Chris reached for it. “It’s supposed to catch on fire!”
“Actually,” Tex spoke up, “it’s not on fire anymore. The rum must’ve burned itself out,” he guessed.
Doc swiped his finger through the meringue and tasted it. “It’s all gooey and toasted,” he declared. “It’s delicious.”
Hayley gasped and then turned the full force of her glare on Chris. “I can’t believe you!” she shouted.
Chris’s mouth dropped open. “I- Slick- There was fire, and a blowtorch, and-”
She stood up. “You made me miss the big finish!” She stomped off toward her own house.
As Chris watched her go from his position on the ground, the guys began laughing. “I bet women say that to him all the time,” Hawk mused. Chris flipped him off and got to his feet. “With Slick around, you don’t even need cable anymore,” Hawk declared. “This is way more entertaining.”
Chris knocked on Hayley’s sliding glass door and tried to arrange his features to look as apologetic as possible. Hayley came the door and glared at him, debating whether or not to open it. She finally did and he stepped inside her kitchen. “I come in peace,” he told her, setting the plate of dessert down on the island. “And I thought you might want some, considering how hard you worked on it and all.”
She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I did,” she insisted. “I worked hard on it. All day. And then you ruined the ending.”
“Honey, women with flamethrowers is not high on my list of things I’m comfortable with.”
“I had everything under control.”
“I was wrong and I’m sorry. Please accept my humble apologies. And this slice of cake. Which was really good by the way. I don’t know how you got ice cream on top of a cake underneath marshmallow topping that you set on fire, but it’s like magic. The guys loved it.”
Slick continued to scowl at him. “I really am sorry,” he told her.
She sighed. “Alright, fine. Go on.”
“Just so I know? Are you gonna get over being mad at me before lunch on Sunday?”
“Out!” Hayley yelled, pointing at the door.
Chris slunk away in the night, already scheming about how to get back in Slick’s good graces before Sunday.
****************
The next day, just before she had to leave to start the Friday night shift she’d been given at Maria’s, Hayley was doing dishes when there was a knock on the door. She checked the peephole and then opened it to see Chris holding a large stereo box. “Scoot your ass out of the way, Slick. This box is awkward to carry,” he demanded.
