Chapter 4: Gardenia
When Mabel and Labelle arrived at Club 101, Dr. Shrunk and the legendary K.K. Slider were having a discussion for the festivities on Valentine's Day.
"Oh! Able sisters, what a surprise!" Dr. Shrunk greeted Mabel and Labelle, "what brings you two here?"
Dr. Shrunk was surprised by the extra company. He thought he locked the front door before he spoke with K.K. Slider.
"Ah Mister Shrunk, we need your help," Mabel began.
She started off with having a hard time convincing Sable to go to the dance, from wanting Tom Nook to go and possibly dancing with Sable, to finally revealing a small part of their romantic history. Dr. Shrunk and K.K. listened very carefully and felt interested in helping the pair come together.
"This certainly changes our original plans," K.K. mentioned as he looked at Dr. Shrunk for any suggestions.
"It certainly does! Mabel and Labelle, I would be happy to help you two out in inviting Sable and Tom Nook to the dance. On top of that! We can dedicate part of the festivities to them. Hopefully that will get them to talking to each other," Dr. Shrunk explained with a glisten in his eye.
"It also inspires me to write a new song too, "K.K. added in with a nod.
Mabel gave a gasp, "A new song you say?!"
"That's right, I'm diggin' this new romantic vibe," K.K. replied as he took out his notepad and began writing the first few notes.
"By the way girls, when I arrive at the store tomorrow I'll pretend we didn't have this conversation. A little bit of unawareness on our part should help convince Sable to go to the dance," Dr. Shrunk explained with a wink.
"Sounds good to us," Labelle replied, "We should start heading back to our house. Sable might be looking for us."
Mabel and Labelle thanked Dr. Shrunk and K.K. for their consideration and exited out the door. It certainly felt like everything was falling into place for the Valentine's Day dance.
It was the day before Valentine's Day and the Able Sisters were doing their usual business. As one of their customers exited the store, Dr. Shrunk walked right in.
"Hello Able Sisters!" he greeted, "Did you all receive an invitation for the Valentine's Day dance tomorrow evening?"
"We certainly did Mister Shrunk!" Mabel answered happily as she adjusted the dress on a mannequin.
"Glad to hear that!" Dr. Shrunk replied with a huge grin on his face. He looked over to Sable who didn't seem to be listening.
"Ahem, Sable?" Dr. Shrunk greeted over into her direction, "Will you be going to the dance tomorrow evening?"
Sable looked up and stopped sewing, "Hm? No I can't unfortunately. I have work," she replied politely turning down the offer.
"The dance will start after the shops close at 5pm. I heard your sisters are going for sure. You wouldn't want to be the only animal in the village working now would you?"
Sable felt pressured a little. She looked towards Mable, who only gave her a smile. She turned back to Dr. Shrunk.
"Ah umm," Sable hesitated, "I suppose not…"
"Great! We'll be seeing you tomorrow evening!" Dr. Shrunk replied immediately. He quickly turned around and with a small skip in his step he was out the door.
Sable gave a sigh as soon as the door closed.
"Sable cheer up! It's better to go to a dance than work!" Mabel insisted as she saw the disappointed look across Sable's face.
"Well it's not like I'll be doing anything at that dance. I might as well stay at home," Sable sighed as she adjusted the fabric underneath the sewing machine.
"There's more to life than just sewing sis," Mabel said in defense as she adjusted a shirt on another mannequin, "one day you're going to let your sewing consume you so much, you won't realize that Labelle and I have already moved on with our lives. It's time to open your eyes Sable."
Sable stopped adjusting the fabric and realized Mabel's words. She looked over at Mable, who didn't look into her direction as she was fixated adjusting the mannequin. Sable kept the rest of her opinions to herself. She couldn't help shake off Mabel's comment, she was right after all.
Work the next day went by rather quickly, as all the animals in the village were excited that it was nearly time for the Valentine's Day dance. The Able Sisters went home right after work to figure out their dresses. Labelle dressed quickly in hers. Her dress was adorned with pink lace and pretty bows, whereas Mabel had a simplistic red plaid dress. Sable was taking her time in the bathroom getting ready.
"Sable, are you okay in there?" Mabel asked as she knocked on the bathroom door.
"Yes, it's just, I feel rather silly in mine," Sable admitted as she looked at herself in the mirror.
"It is your first dance," Mabel shrugged, "it can't be that bad. I'm sure you picked something very nice."
"Well what do you think?"
When Sable stepped out of the bathroom, Labelle and Mabel stood there awestruck. Her dress was made out of silk and had a style of elegance.
"My my! You look stunning Sable!" Mabel complimented as the heat rose to her cheeks. She felt flustered just looking at Sable.
"Oh stop," Sable commented avoiding eye contact.
"No really, you do look stunning," Labelle chimed in, "there's no doubt about that. You'll be the talk of the town for sure!"
Sable continued to avoid eye contact, but she was speechless.
"Thank you," she said finally looking up.
The Able Sisters didn't waste any more time, they arrived at the dance nearly the same time as the village did. Almost everyone was dancing on the floor with K.K. Slider, now transformed to DJ K.K., playing some upbeat club music. Sable stood shyly on the side as she watched Mabel and Labelle dance. She was approached by a few of the villagers who also complimented her fashion sense.
"Ahem! Welcome everyone to the Valentine's Day Dance!" Dr. Shrunk announced over the mic as the music turned down, "Tonight's focus is all about love in the air and I wanted to honor two villagers tonight. These two have had quite an interesting history together and I feel tonight is the time to make their dreams come true."
There was a murmur in the air as some of the villagers were curious as to who Dr. Shrunk would be talking about. Mabel heard someone behind her wonder if it was Pete and Pelly. She instantly gave a slight giggle.
"If the two villagers could please join in the center of the dance floor," Dr. Shrunk began, "Tom Nook and Sable Able!"
The crowd cheered and were very surprised, everyone began talking at once. Sable felt her legs go stiff as she kept her place near the wall. Tom Nook took his time getting to the center of the dance floor.
"Come on Sable!" Mable commented as she walked over to Sable and pulled her arm along, "this will be exciting!" Labelle joined along pulling Sable's other arm.
"Was this your idea Mable and Labelle?!" Sable asked as she was being dragged by the both of them.
"I will neither confirm nor deny!" Mabel laughed.
Before Sable could run away, she was already facing Tom Nook and they were in the middle of the dance floor. Everyone still continued talking all at once.
"Here to play a special song for the both of them is the original K.K. Slider!" Dr. Shrunk announced as he revealed K.K. on the stage with his guitar.
Dr. Shrunk quickly left the stage allowing K.K. to sit in the middle of it.
"How's it going everybody? I've been inspired of the story between Tom Nook and Sable to create this very special song. I dedicate this song to both of you, 'Stale Cupcakes'," K.K. announced.
Sable felt her heart fly a little. She recalled the last time she spent with Tom at the shoreline underneath the stars. She looked over to Tom beside her, who reached out his paw out to her.
"How about we dance a little?" Tom offered shyly with a slight tint of red going across his face.
Sable hesitated; she looked towards the crowd as they all watched carefully wondering what she will do next. As she looked into Tom's eyes, she realized how different they've become, yet so familiar. They weren't the eyes of a greedy businessman, but rather someone who daydreamed and waited for this special day. She gladly accepted. As she placed her paw into Tom's paw, everything fell into place. Suddenly they were gliding across the dance floor slow dancing to Stale Cupcakes. Sable and Tom continued looking into each other eyes and they made their careful steps. The whole crowd was silent now, with only K.K. singing, everyone was in trance.
Tom smiled a little and decided to break the small silence between them, "Sable I'm sorry for my actions years ago. I should have said something before I focused on opening my business here," he apologized.
"Oh Tom," Sable began sensing Tom's guilt, "You don't have to apologize. We both had very busy lives. It's only natural we'd lose contact."
"But I do owe an apology!" Tom cut in, "I was so caught up in my selfish actions I forgot the hedgehog I cared about the most."
Sable felt her cheeks grow warm as the tint of red streaked across her freckles.
"Sable, do you forgive me? Will you give me another chance to make things right?" Tom asked, "I'm sorry if I sound pushy, but I just want to make up for all the lost time."
Sable took a deep breath and began recalling the time when Labelle apologized for running away from home. It was better to forgive rather than hold onto anger. She then thought about the situation between her and Tom. She could feel deep within her heart, how much she truly missed him. She missed their conversations, their walks together under the starlight, and the silly moments when Tom failed at being romantic. The answer was clear. She looked up back into Tom's eyes and gave a nod.
"I forgive you and I would love to give you another chance," she said with a smile.
Tom's face beamed and to everyone's surprise, he gave Sable a tight embrace. The villagers cheered and K.K. smiled as he sang the last note of the song. Tom and Sable released each other from their embrace and looked into each other's eyes once more. Their hearts truly felt rekindled in a new spark.
The sun was beaming outside and it was a good day at work. Sable was doing her usual sewing, but she held a smile on her face as she did it. Mabel was decorating the store with a few flowers to welcome in the season of Spring. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
"I'll get it!" Mabel announced as she hurriedly ran over to the door. When she opened it, standing in front of her was Pete, who was holding a package.
"Delivery for Sable!" Pete announced as he handed over the package.
"Thank you!" Mabel replied as she grabbed the package. When Pete had flown away, Mabel carefully closed the door.
"I wonder what's in it?" Mabel asked as she placed the package in front of Sable.
Sable stopped sewing and looked at the label on the package. She noticed Tom's name scribbled across it.
"Oh! It's from Tom," Sable happily replied as she took out a pair of scissors and removed the tape. There was a bunch of tissue paper stuffed inside. Mabel helped in tossing out the tissue paper into the trash. When it was clear of tissue paper, sitting at the bottom of the box was a Gardenia flower with a small card.
"What does it say?!" Mabel excitedly asked as she tried to peek at the message.
"It says, 'I hope your day is going well'," Sable replied as she folded the card back together.
Mabel giggled and nudged Sable on the shoulder, "That's sweet of him to think of you," she said with a wink.
Sable blushed, "Yes, yes he is," she said softly while picking up the flower and observing its bright white petals.
The End