by C. J. Birch
Lauren opened the door at the end of the hall, and light bombarded them. It was almost like they were on a stage with spotlights aimed at them. As they adjusted to the brightness, the scene changed. They weren’t seeing spotlights but rather several projectors aimed from a balcony above them. Lauren pulled Hayley off the small stage and down a short flight of stairs. The farther away they got, the easier it was to determine what was on the screen. By the time Lauren pulled Hayley up to the balcony, the whole scene fell into place. It was the start screen for Super Mario World. At the railing of the balcony were two controllers nestled on soft cushions.
“What is this?” Hayley asked. They were in a church up in the gallery. Below them the pews had been removed, leaving an empty space where the words Bow to My Power were painted in an elaborate gold script. The lights from the projectors bounced off the stained-glass windows, which had been replaced with new images. Some depicted heroes from popular video games such as Mario, Link, and Lara Croft in glory poses. Others pictured battle scenes from various video games.
“It’s a commentary on the real first-world gods of the twenty-first century. Generation Z and Alpha, even most Millennials, have never known a world not dominated by video games.” A young man, dressed in paint-covered overalls, stepped out from the darkness in the back. “These are our new legends.” He pointed to the stained-glass windows. The closest one to them was a scene from Assassins Creed.
“Wow. This is amazing.” Hayley turned back to the screen.
The man stepped up to them, laughing. “That’s pretty much the only response I’ve gotten so far: Yes, but can I play it?” He picked up one of the controllers and pressed start and handed it to Hayley. “It’s fully functional.” He pointed to a bin beside them. “And there are other games. Go nuts.”
Hayley looked back at Lauren, her expression pure joy. “Awesome. Which game is your favourite?”
“I’ve never played.”
“Never? Not even as an adult?” Hayley handed her the other controller. “Okay, this game is pretty easy, and fun too.” She showed Lauren how to use the four buttons and D-Pad to control her character. “I’ll be Mario, so I’ll go first, and you can watch what I do. You’ll be Luigi.” Hayley entered the first level and grabbed the red shell to fling it at a row of turtles. Lauren watched with rapt attention, knowing she was never going to be able to figure this out. But the joy on Hayley’s face made her total annihilation worth it.
By the time they’d reached the Donut Plains, Lauren had finally determined that if she held the X button down while using the D-pad, she could run faster.
“Thank you,” said Hayley.
“For what?”
“This. You’re really good at dates.”
“Who knew?” Lauren jumped Luigi onto a vertically moving platform and dodged the first Bullet Bill, but she forgot to duck for the second and promptly died.
“When was the last time you went on a date?” Hayley made it through the level without any problems. She was obviously an expert. Her lives count was quadruple what Lauren’s was; in fact, she’d already had to give Lauren some of hers.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been on a real date.”
“What? Oh, come on. You’re what? Early thirties?”
Lauren sighed and put down her controller. “The only person I ever dated knocked me up while I was in university, and we got married. After the divorce I decided not to date for a while.”
“Okay. Back up.” Hayley laid her controller next to Lauren’s. “There’s a lot to unpack there. You have a child?”
“I miscarried.”
“Oh, God. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. I was so not ready to be a parent. But Ben and I had already gotten married and decided to, I don’t know, prove the world wrong, I guess. But by the time we realized how big a mistake we’d both made, eight years had passed. It took another year or two before we called it quits for good. So it’s been…” Lauren gazed up at the ceiling, calculating in her head. “Five years since our divorce was final.” Five years? Where had the time gone?
“Well, it’s a good thing I came along to get you out of this dry spell, huh?” Hayley leaned in and whispered, “Let’s go get some hot chocolate. I know a really good place that puts salted caramel liquor in it.”
* * *
“I told you you’d come back.” A great bear of a man with a hipster moustache and bald head greeted them. He was pointing at Hayley as she and Lauren entered a small cafe. The place was tiny, with only three tables, and packed. On the left side was a small stage taken up fully with a large, glowing Christmas tree.
“There was never any doubt, Abe. I said I would be.”
“But I can always tell. I know potential regulars when I see them.” He placed his giant fists on the counter and leaned over. “What can I get you?”
“Can I get two knocked-up Santas to go, please?”
“You sure can.”
Lauren leaned in. “Knocked-up Santa?”
Hayley shook her head. “I don’t know where he comes up with these names, but it’s fucking good. Just trust me.”
With their steaming drinks in hand, Hayley led them to the top of Trinity Bellwoods Park. At this hour there wasn’t much activity, the odd dog walker and couple strolling along the paths, but as they followed the north path, snow began to fall, carpeting everything in white dust.
“So your one and only major relationship was with a guy…”
“And you’re wondering what exactly that means, right?”
Hayley nodded and sipped her hot chocolate.
“I think part of the problem with Ben and me was that I loved him, but wasn’t in love with him. I loved hanging out with him. We made great friends, but that’s about it. And honestly, it was kind of gut-wrenching when it ended because, at one point, he was in love with me, and I couldn’t be what he needed. So to answer your question more specifically, if there were a guy I could be in love with, it would’ve been Ben.”
“So you like women.”
“I like you.”
It wasn’t exactly the answer Hayley had been hoping for. But as Hannah had pointed out, Lauren was not Violet.
The lampposts dotting the path cast a soft, white glow over everything the light touched. Hayley tilted her head up and let the snow fall over her.
“Have you heard about the white squirrels?” Hayley asked, head still tilted.
“In Trinity? Of course. I’ve never seen one, which tells you how rare they are because I live across the street from the park.”
“My friend Dunne says the one and only time he’s seen one was the day he met his wife. They were together fifteen years, and then she died of cancer, which is why he’s an alcoholic now, I think. He says they’re good-luck love omens.”
Lauren cut through some grass leading to one of the prettier paths in the park. “I guess that’s why I’ve never spotted one. As far as I know I haven’t met my…I don’t want to be cheesy and say soul mate, but I guess it sounds better than person I plan to be with until I die.”
“Hmm. My sister calls it your forever person. She’s about as down to Earth as I can imagine, so I like to go with that term.”
“How is your sister, by the way?”
“And her litter of gargantuan children? She’s well. Even though she’s about to explode if she doesn’t find out what the sex of her baby is.”
“When is she due?”
“In January. I was hoping for a Christmas baby so I would only have to make the trip home once. But alas, yet again, she refused to make things easy for me.”
“It must be fun, though, having a sibling. I used to wish I had a little brother because it would make dealing with my dad easier.” A bell behind them signalled a bike was approaching, and they moved to the right of the path.
“Still not eating your food?”
Lauren lifted the lid of her hot chocolate. “Nope. I went over last week and found four—FOUR—different Popeye’s co
ntainers in the garbage. Foodora is the worst thing to ever have been invented. He wasn’t as bad when pizza was the only thing you could get delivered.”
“Have you tried sprucing up the food a bit? Making it less bland?”
“Bland?”
“Some would argue boiled chicken is the worst thing to ever be invented.”
“But it’s healthy.”
“You can still eat good-tasting food and be healthy. My uncle has type 2 diabetes, and my aunt found this great site with all sorts of good recipes on it. If you’d like, I could make a few things for him, see if he likes them?”
“Really? That would be amazing. Thank you.”
They’d stopped at a fork in the path. One would sweep back around and take them north, and the other would lead to the south gates and, across the street, home.
Hayley dropped her empty mug into the garbage and looked expectantly at Lauren. “Home, Jeeves? Or once more around the park?”
Hayley leaned in close and lightly brushed her lips against Lauren’s. Maybe it was the romantic setting or, more likely, the booze Hayley had consumed, but there was a ball of fire in the pit of her stomach keeping her warm.
“Once more around the park, please.”
* * *
Lauren couldn’t remember the last time they’d all gone out. It was rare to have everyone together, at least almost everyone. Lily and Luna couldn’t make it because they’d had other plans, and Ezra never joined them for these types of things. When Pete was around, they’d gone out more, before Lauren became manager. Or maybe they’d stopped inviting her when she got promoted.
The brewpub was jammed with people talking over each other. Ramiro had snagged a table for the group because he’d gone to school with the brewmaster.
Lauren raised her cinnamon-bun stout to her lips just as their server came by and pointed to the back. Lauren nodded and looked expectantly toward Hayley. It was her birthday today. Lauren had spent the week setting this up. Behind Hayley, a large cake was making its way toward the table. It was a 3D sculpture of Lemmy Koopa. The base was a chocolate-fudge cake, shaped and decorated to look like a rubber ball. The figure of Lemmy Koopa, which was balanced on one foot, was a Madagascar bourbon vanilla, and the tiny purple bomb in his hand was red velvet cake. From afar, it looked as if it were an actual statue; the details were unbelievable. The rubber ball was decorated with tiny stars, Lemmy’s mohawk sprang from his head in a rainbow of colours, and the bomb in his hand sported a fuse that was lit.
As the cake weaved its way through the crowd, people stopped to look and point at the marvel passing by.
It had taken several days, mostly because Lauren lived with the person she was surprising. The end result, however, had been spectacular. And the look of surprise and sheer joy on Hayley’s face when it was set in front of her made it all worth it.
After a quick and off-key rendition of “Happy Birthday,” Hayley turning pinker by the second, and then a quick toast to the birthday girl, Hayley stood up and blew out the flame on the fuse.
“Lauren, this is amazing. How did you even know it was my birthday?”
“Hannah called me. She wanted to make sure you didn’t spend it alone.”
“Is this thing even edible?” asked Theo. He was poking at some of the fondant on the ball.
“Of course it’s edible. What would be the point of making a cake you can’t eat?”
Their server handed Lauren a knife, and she began dissecting the cake, a job almost as intricate as baking the cake itself.
“How long did it take you to make this?” Hayley accepted a piece of red velvet from Lauren.
“About four days. The tricky part was getting it to balance properly because it has a lot of weight. The bottom ball cake is made with a really dense sponge so that it would hold. And then I used PVC piping with a base to partially support Lemmy’s body. For the top sections I used a really airy sponge, which helped it stay up.”
“Well, honey, you outdid yourself this year.” Vic pushed her beer out of the way to make room for a slice of the red velvet.
“What’s the excuse this year?” asked Ramiro, holding up a slice of the bourbon vanilla.
Hayley scooped a large piece into her mouth. “Excuse for what?”
“Bake or Die. It’s a baking competition that happens every year. And every year someone else wins because Lauren refuses to enter.”
“Was this the competition you were talking about around Halloween?”
“Oh, so you haven’t forgotten it exists?” Ramiro pointed his fork at her.
“The fee is a thousand dollars. I don’t have a thousand dollars to throw away on a lesson in humility.”
“She’s saying she won’t win, but I’ve seen her stuff over the years. You can do as well as any of the winners have.”
“I’ve never baked a gravity-free cake.”
“But you could.”
“Last year over three hundred people signed up. That means, in order to win a hundred grand, you have to beat out hundreds of people. Do you know what the odds of that are? Every single person who enters is an idiot.”
“What does second place get?”
“There is no second-place winner. That’s the point.”
By now, other patrons had begun to congregate around their table. “You guys sharing?”
Everyone looked to Hayley, whose cake it ultimately was, for a response. “Hell fucking no.” She licked the back of her spoon. “This is too good to share.”
Chapter Twenty-three
Hayley and Lauren walked south on the rail path toward Dundas. They had the trail to themselves at this time of night. Even the trains had stilled. Far off they could hear the hint of traffic, but currently they were cocooned in nature. Their boots squelched in the new snow, braiding a path with their treads.
“I love this.” Lauren sniffed the air. “It even smells like nature. Like you could forget we were so close to so many major streets.”
“I’m surprised you even like this. I thought all city dwellers were nature haters.”
Lauren was carrying the leftover cake in a box with an improvised string handle. The beer and atmosphere from the brewpub had given her a slight buzz and warm feeling. It was good to see Hayley so happy and have everyone come out and celebrate her birthday. “Of course I like nature. I live across from a park.”
“That’s not nature.”
“Then what is it?” Lauren stopped next to Hayley, who almost collided with her. They stood under the soft warm glow of the lamppost. Lauren exhaled, her breath vapour in the cold air. She’d thought about this moment, often enough that the idea of leaning in warmed her better than her mittens or winter jacket ever could.
Hayley guided Lauren backward, pressing her against the streetlight post. It felt cold and sturdy, which was good. Lauren wasn’t sure if she’d be able to stand on her own much longer.
The kiss started soft, almost a request, but soon turned urgent, decadent, indecent. Lauren dropped the cake at their feet and reached up, pulling Hayley closer, warming them until they drew apart, out of breath.
“Not here,” Lauren panted.
Hayley nodded, picked up the cake, and grabbed Lauren’s hand, pulling her down the path toward home.
Once home, Lauren pushed Hayley into her room. But once there, Lauren was uncertain how to move things forward. She had ideas, many ideas, but wasn’t sure how to initiate them.
Hayley took a step toward her and pulled her hair out of its ponytail. It fell in soft waves around her shoulders. “I love your hair down like this.” Hayley ran her fingers through Lauren’s black locks, tugging when she reached the ends.
Lauren closed her eyes. Already she was more aroused than she’d ever been with Ben. She let Hayley undress her, taking in the different sensations. The way the air hit her skin as Hayley pulled her sweater over her head. The featherlight touch of Hayley’s fingertips as she peeled the straps of her tank top off her shoulders. The tickle of her breath as H
ayley bent to kiss her neck. Lauren’s skin tingled as she let her clothes pool at her feet. She was now standing in nothing but her underwear.
More than anything she wanted to touch, to explore, something she’d fantasized about almost nonstop since she saw Hayley in that dress. Tentatively she placed her hands on Hayley’s hips and backed her into the bed. She inched up Hayley’s T-shirt, running her hands over the warm, smooth skin of her back. Her fingertips danced up Hayley’s spine, eliciting a gasp. She felt empowered.
“Take it off,” she whispered in Hayley’s ear, wondering where this boldness came from.
Hayley held her gaze as she reached down and pulled the hem of her shirt up and over her head. Her breasts practically spilled out of the top of her purple lace bra. Lauren’s heart nearly stopped.
“The bra too.”
Hayley smirked. “I like you when you’re bossy.” She reached around and unhooked the clasp, slipping it forward and running it down her arms until it dropped to the floor next to Lauren’s sweater.
Lauren had never seen anything so sexy before. She ran her fingertips over the tops, caressing the soft skin underneath. Hayley moaned softly, and that was all the encouragement Lauren needed to take one of Hayley’s nipples into her mouth.
“Jesus.”
Lauren glanced up at Hayley, who had her eyes closed and her head tilted back slightly, obviously enjoying this. She moved to the next nipple while reaching down to undo Hayley’s button on her jeans. She pushed them down Hayley’s legs and smiled when she noticed the Wonder Woman underwear.
“If I’d known my day was going to end like this, I would have planned my wardrobe differently,” whispered Hayley.
“Why? They’re cute.”
“I’m not going for cute right now.”
“I happen to like cute.” Lauren planted a kiss right above the waistband, thrilled by the play of muscles in front of her. She kissed her again, this time lower, running a finger up and down the logo. Wetness greeted this move, and Lauren was dying to pull the panties right off. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to prolong this moment or rush ahead.