Apple-y Ever After - Chapter 7
While Saskia was in the shower, Milo finished up party preparations. He arranged the crisps on the table, tastefully covered with a gingham tablecloth, each oriented so its apple variety tags was visible. He stacked the ballots he’d made for partygoers to cast their votes next to a cup of pens and a makeshift ballot box fashioned from a shoebox. He was just setting out the plates when Saskia emerged and wished him a happy birthday.
He bobbled the stack of plates but narrowly kept them from crashing to the ground. So far, he’d only seen her dressed in her artsy hippie farm-girl style. In this clingy dress, she was pure abundance, decadence, sensuality. His hands longed to grip her by the hips and pull her to him.
“You’re beautiful,” he replied. “A birthday wish come true.”
“You wished for me to come to your party in a nice dress?”
“I didn’t specify the dress, but it’s a bonus. Otherwise I’m not supposed to tell you the details of the wish, or it won’t come true.”
“Hmmm,” she hummed suggestively.
A buzzer sounded, announcing the first of the evening’s guests.
Within a half hour, the apartment was packed with an assortment of Milo’s favorite people. A few were accountant friends from college, and the rest were people working in other capacities on Broadway, usually more interesting than accounting.
His friend Brooke, who’d been the understudy for the celebrity stunt-cast for the role of Ellie Sattler in Jurassic Park: Life Finds a Way! the Musical, wriggled through the crowd to get to him.
“Where did this girl Saskia come from, Milo?” she asked.
“I met her at the farmers market. Her family’s orchard provided all the apples for the crisps.”
“Are you together?”
“Not yet.”
She poked him in the chest to punctuate each word she spoke. “Shoot. Your. Shot. She’s. A. Gem.”
“I’ll do my best,” he promised.
Miguel, one of the velociraptor puppeteers for JP:LFaW!tM, and Cameron, an admin in Milo’s office, shared similar sentiments. For every verse of “she’s so fun” came the chorus “please date her.” These votes of confidence had him walking on air.
When the apartment lights dimmed suddenly, the room hushed. A single candle, stuck into a small ramekin of apple crisp, enveloped the room in a faint glow. Saskia, holding the ramekin, glowed a little brighter than everyone else in the room. Brooke began to sing “Happy Birthday,” and everyone joined in. Given the musical chops in the room, it was an impressive rendition with at least a six-part harmony by the end.
“Make a wish!” someone cried as he blew out the candle.
He wished Saskia would kiss him right here, in front of everyone.
Saskia leaned toward him, speaking low. “If it were my birthday, I’d wish for you to kiss me.”
“Then let’s pretend it is,” he said.
She handed the apple crisp to the nearest person at the same time as he stepped to her and covered her lips with his.