Adria sighed and sat down in the shade of a tree with her paper plate. She had tiramisu on her plate. She looked around at all the people there. She hardly knew anyone. They were all people Charlotte had invited.
Charlotte had picked her up as promised but she had done all the hard work carrying everything down to Charlotte's car, and then at the park emptying the car again. Charlotte had been on her phone most of the time. Now all Charlotte's friends had arrived, and Charlotte was acting as if she was the one throwing the party. Technically she was. It was just Adria paying for everything.
"Happy birthday," Seth said.
Adria looked up and saw him standing there with a smile on his face. She couldn't help but smile back. He squatted down and handed her an envelope.
"I didn't know what you want and you didn't give me your number so I could ask, so this is the best I could come up with," he said.
"You bought me a present?" She asked.
"Of course," he chuckled. "Birthday people get birthday presents. I'm pretty sure that's how it works."
She blushed and turned her eyes down to the envelope. She hadn't thought for one second she would get anything from him. This whole party had nothing to do with her. No one had bought her any presents. She was sure no one even knew it was her birthday. She opened the envelope and pulled out a 50 dollars gift card for the coffee shop. She couldn't help but chuckle when she saw it.
"It's amazing. Thank you so much," she said.
She hugged him and felt him stiffen in her arms. She quickly broke the hug again. She had been stupid.
"Sorry," she said.
"Don't be. It's just that no one's hugged me for so long. No one's touched me since Becky. I wasn't prepared for it," he said.
"I should have asked first," she said.
"No, you did nothing wrong. I'm in the wrong. Let's try this again. I'm ready this time," he said.
"Are you sure?" She asked.
He nodded and leaned in for a hug. She tried being as gentle as possible.
"It feels good being back into the world," he broke the hug. "See. I'm good. Nothing wrong here. Thank you for being my first hug back."
She giggled at how sweet he was. She looked over at Charlotte who was nodding and smiling that sinister smile that she hated. Of course Charlotte approved of the hug that just took place.
"I heard there were doughnuts," Seth said.
"Right," Adria looked at him again. "They should be on the table if there's still any left. I didn't know some people could eat cake that fast."
He chuckled and walked over to the table. He came back shortly after with a paper plate with two doughnuts on it. He sat down in front of her and smiled.
"I snatched the last two," he said. "Is your cake bad? You haven't touched it."
"No, I just got overwhelmed with everything," she said.
She picked up her fork and tried it. At least the tiramisu was amazing. It had to be with all the money she had spent on everything.
"I wish I had the time to bake everything myself but I needed too much," she said.
"Maybe one day you can bake for me," he said.
"Is that your weird way of asking me out?" She asked.
"That depends on your answer," he said.
"If I'm the one baking for you, shouldn't I be the one asking you out?" She asked.
"Are you asking me out?" He asked.
They stared at each other for a second in silence and then they both started laughing.
"Are you even ready to date again?" She asked.
"I don't know," he answered truthfully. "I'll be honest with you. I have no idea what I'm ready for or what I want. I just know that I like being around you."
"How about we hang out as friends then? Friends bake cakes for each other," she said.
"You're on," he said.
He found his phone and handed it to her.
"Put your number in my phone. I'll contact you to schedule something when I figure out everything with my work. I'm still catching up on everything I dropped when Becky died," he said.
His eyes got wet but no tears fell. She reached over and patted his knee.
"It's okay," she said.
"It's still hard," he said.
"It's always gonna be hard. You shared a life together. Once you're ready to be in a relationship again, find someone who understands that Becky will always have a part of your heart," she said.
"Do people like that exist?" He asked.
"Of course they do," she answered.
She put her number in his phone and handed the phone back to him. He looked at her number and started smiling.
"I'll contact you," he said.
"No rush," she said.
He picked up his doughnut again and continued eating. He liked that she was so easy going and not desperate to control everything. He needed to take things at his own pace.
"You're so unlike your sister," he said.
"I get that a lot," she said.
"She's always so bossy. Everything has to be done on her time, and she doesn't take no for an answer," he said.
"Tell me about it," she sighed.
"Of course you know how she is," he chuckled. "No more talk about your sister. Let's talk about you. What else did you get for your birthday?"
She felt stupid. He was looking at her with such sweet eyes.
"Nothing," she whispered.
"Nothing? What did Charlotte give you?" He asked.
"Nothing," she answered.
He furrowed his brows. She looked over at Charlotte who was watching them with hawk eyes. She looked back at Seth and smiled.
"I'm sure she'll give it to me after the party. You know her. She wants your full attention. With all these people here, she knows I can't focus on her alone. She'll wait until she has me one on one," she said.
"That makes sense," he said.
He took another bite of his doughnut and hummed satisfyingly.
"This is one of the best doughnuts I've ever had," he said.
"Same with the tiramisu. It pays out when you go to a good bakery," she said.
"It must have cost you a fortune," he said.
"It wasn't cheap," she said.
"It's your birthday. You're allowed to spend all the money you want on cake," he said.
She took another bite of her tiramisu and smiled at him. She wasn't going to argue with him or tell him the truth. She never wanted to be there in the first place. She never wanted to be around all these people and spend all this money on so much cake. Somehow he made it all tolerable. He made her smile and enjoy her own birthday.