Alexandra steadied the bowl while Alice finished the last few careful rotations, then nodded approvingly once the batter reached a smooth, pourable consistency. "That's good," she said gently. "You can stop there. Any more and we'll just bully it for no reason."
Alice immediately paused, afraid one more turn might ruin everything, then slowly lifted the whisk out. Batter dripped back into the bowl in a lazy ribbon, and she stared at it with open awe, looking as if she'd just completed a difficult spell combination. "I did that," she murmured, half-disbelieving.
"You did," Alexandra confirmed, smiling as she reached for the waffle maker. Her hands hesitated for just a fraction of a second as she lifted it, the figure of ten thousand dollars flashing unhelpfully in her mind. She treated it with the care one might reserve for a priceless relic, setting it down gingerly on the counter and checking its hinges, vents, and plates as if expecting it to object.
