Apple-y Ever After - chapter 20
Saskia accepted Milo’s offer of a ride back to the city. She wanted to brighten the shadow left by the corn maze debacle. The silence of that drive needed to be drowned out with joyful noise. She plugged her phone into the aux and blasted the cast recording of Jurassic Park: Life Finds a Way! the Musical. They sang the whole way home.
Instead of returning the car to his friend, Milo found parking in his own neighborhood. “Can I invite you up?” he asked.
“You definitely can,” she answered.
They were both huffing and puffing by the time they got up to Milo’s apartment, laden as they were with three apple peelers, two gallons of cider, and enough jewelry to open the world’s tackiest boutique.
“That route you planned for us today was hot,” Saskia said, beginning to unbutton Milo’s shirt as soon as her bags had been dropped on the floor.
“The bargain you drove for the third apple peeler? Even hotter,” Milo said as he began pulling up the hem of her dress.
“I love how good you are at directing my energy,” Saskia said, lifting the dress over her head.
“I love how contagious your energy is,” he said, shrugging out of his shirt. He skimmed his hand over her breast. “I can talk all night about the things I love about you.”
“All night, you say.”
“I can never get enough of the Clemens Climax,” he teased.
***
Two weeks later
The busy season at Clemens Orchard was winding down, but Saskia’s presence was still helpful. So was Milo’s. People loved his demonstrations of antique apple peelers in the barn, and he easily sold all of his stock.
After the orchard closed to customers for the day, the two walked through the rows of trees hand in hand, sharing stories from their bustling days.
“What would you like to have for dinner?” Milo asked.
“Ugh, I don’t know,” Saskia said. “I hate having to decide what to eat. I wish it was like back in elementary school, when I got a calendar for the month and didn’t have to think about it.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes,” Saskia said.
Milo pulled out his phone and showed Saskia his calendar. Every day of the month had an appointment at 7:00 p.m. that read something like TACOS, PASTA, BIG SALAD, etc.
As she looked at his phone, a text came through.
“Miguel got the role,” she told Milo.
“Wow, that calls for celebration,” Milo said. “He’s going to be in the Flowers in the Attic musical!”
She looked at today’s calendar entry. “Let’s see if he wants to get sushi with us.”
“Miguel loves sushi,” Milo said earnestly. “He’s going to be thrilled.”
Before Saskia committed to a plan, she always wanted to be sure she was spending her time optimally. She never would have guessed that eating sushi with an accountant and his puppeteer friend would be her preferred way to spend an evening. But she was falling in love with that accountant, and love cared nothing for optimization.
She looked at the apple trees surrounding them, bearing so much fruit that plenty had dropped to the ground before they could be picked. That wasn’t exactly optimal either. With both love and apples, abundance was the point.