Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2020 0:08:02 GMT -5
Sylvia Gould gave a light sigh, fishing around the spacious kitchen. Bisquick, eggs, lemon juice, vanilla. Rainbow sprinkles and edible glitter. Strawberry syrup and whipped cream. Everything she needed for her special Unicorn Pancakes. It was a cheery way to start the day- perhaps a little childish, but it was a magical sort of breakfast.
After midnight.
Chuckling a little to herself, she started making the batter. Padding in from the dining room, a slinky black cat loped into the kitchen and wound a figure eight around Silvie’s ankles, mewling plaintively.
“Not for you, Dracula. I’ll give you something when I’m done. Or was the siren call of food enough to drag you away from the other siren call of a new person to lavish attention on you?”
Aside from the guest in the dining room, the cat was the only other person in the large two-story house. Peter and Sanjay Gould were away on a business trip, leaving Silvie with no one else to talk out this predicament with.
She didn’t want to come on too strong. She just wanted to help.
So after midnight, here she was. Making Unicorn Pancakes. It wasn’t a long endeavor, she’d done this a million times, and it wasn’t long before Silvie sashayed out of the kitchen, bearing two plates of pancakes- sparkly, rainbow colored pancakes topped with whipped cream and an artsy drizzle of strawberry syrup.
“As promised. Sugar always helps.”
Adrienne Levi, stripped of all the glitz and glamour from the party, sat nervously at the dining room table. Her hands were shielded in the sleeves of her oversized Baltimore Ravens hoodie and that was a good thing because they were trembling. Hours after the party, after-
Her mind was a muddled mess. Maybe she should have been happy. The good vibes Ax, Silvio, and Zach would have been reassuring if she weren’t so scatterbrained.
But, after the party, Silvie had messaged her.
Apologized.
Asked if she was mad.
It took Ade five minutes to respond that she wasn’t. Following up that it was important to see her. Some way. Any way.
And here she was. On the west coast in the home of a girl that she met off the internet. But to just say she was that - was not the whole story.
Pulling herself out of this labyrinth of thoughts, Ade’s vision fixated on the lively blonde entering the room.
“That looks delicious.”
Rolling back her sleeves, she gave Silvie her best smile.
Silvie smiled back, zipping back into the kitchen and returning in a wink with some coffee, sliding one of the mugs- the one with a pastel rendition of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle on it- over to Ade and miraculously managing not to slosh any over the sides. She stretched- she’d changed into a comfy outfit of her own, heather grey sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt depicting somebody apparently named Jordan Sharpe- and sat down across, fork swishing in the whipped cream idly.
“Thanks. I make it whenever I need cheering up.”
She’d gone for the Unicorn Pancakes quite a lot in the last year.
Almost as if to ease the tension, Dracula clambered up into Adrienne’s lap- one could only guess if his intentions were encouragement or hoping for scraps.
“Oh, hello. You’re friendly.” Adrienne said to the sudden company. It wasn’t hard to be distracted by a fuzzy void with golden eyes.
“That’s Dracula. He loves food and people, in interchangeable order.”
Silvie chuckled softly, cutting into her pancakes and popping a bite into her mouth, thinking of how to begin. After all, Ade had wanted to talk in person and somebody ought to broach the subject of the more serious stuff.
“So… um… about earlier…”
Silvie wasn’t sure how to really start a conversation like this. She’d always been so comfortable and been around people of all stripes who were comfortable with themselves and each other.
Ade, with knife and fork in hand, however had started to inhale the breakfast after dark.
“I’m sorry,” she said between bites, “I hadn’t had a chance for anything other than party appetizers all day.”
Silvie waved a hand.
“No, it’s totally fine.”
The silver utensils started to scrape against the plate as Adrienne had decimated stack in mere moments.
“Gosh, I’m being rude,” Ade said as she dabbed cream off of her lips with a napkin.
“No, seriously, it’s fine. Believe me, half the time I don’t have the manners the good Lord gave a wild boar. It’s just us, I officially absolve you of having to abide by any and all laws of etiquette. … If you’ve got any whipped cream left on your plate, tap it on Drac’s nose. He loves that.”
Adrienne did just that, the black cat hopped off her lap, lapping at his snoot - perhaps incredulously but she was no expert in cat behavior. She had Jimmy for just under a year and he was just an old lump.
The fork and knife clattered on her plate. Adrienne’s gaze averted from Sylvia as the only reason for delay had been promptly consumed.
“So. I’ve never done anything like that.”
“Oh? Gosh. I mean I kind of… I mean I didn’t want to assume… like I said I was a little tipsy, and… gosh. I’m sort of mangling my words here. Sorry.”
She blushed a bit, looking up, her large blue eyes filled with sheepishness.
“...did you like it?”
Adrienne looked down at her hands, mumbling, “I don’t know.”
She hadn’t drank anything at all during her quick meal and her mouth was dry as heck. Sipping at the coffee offered no relief.
Silvie ran one hand through her blonde mane, chewing on her lip a bit, trying to place her words.
“I’ve wanted to do that for a while. ... Oh crap, that probably sounded super creepo... “
Groaning a bit, the blonde buried her face into her hands.
“I mean… what I mean is I’ve sort of had a crush on you for a while. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t know where you stood, but Wine Silvie sort of jumped over that and decided to make a move without my common sense’s permission.”
Ade’s sneaker squeaked against the hardwood floor as her right leg twitched.
“...you like girls?” Ade asked meekly.
“I like people.” Silvie gave a small smile and a shrug. “Girls, boys, it doesn’t matter. I like who I like. I’ve always been that way.”
“Oh.”
Her gaze still avoided Silvie.
“I’m not sure. I was always with Danny.”
Adrienne didn’t want to get into the logistics of that relationship. Their dynamic was readily available through a cursory internet search.
“I … don’t think I liked Danny.”
“I see.” Silvie bobbed her head slightly. “That sort of thing happens.”
The pale girl’s cheeks flushed in response. She had been bashing against a wall that seemed to have no purpose and in one evening, one unexpected moment, the first cracks appeared. Ade finally looked into Silvie’s eyes, steeling herself. Balling up her first, she punched through the barrier with all of her might.
“I liked this kiss.”
“Me too. You’re the first person I’ve wanted to kiss in over a year. … Never got to kiss him though. But I don’t really care anymore.” Silvie said with a little, bell-like giggle, her eyes glittering a bit.
When she withdrew, her knuckles were bloody. A fist shaped dent, and just like that a trickle.
“I haven’t been kissed like that ever.”
Whether it happened or not, Ade wasn’t sure. Every sweet memory of her younger years had been warped and twisted into something nightmarish. Looking downwards once more, she danced around the subject expertly.
“I’m a wreck, Silvie. I feel like I don’t even know who I am.”
That admission filled her with shame, friend or not, this was now the third time she was meeting this woman face to face and no number of late night internet confessions could excuse just venting like this.
“That’s okay. That’s actually good. Because if you don’t know, that means you get to find out. And you won’t be alone. You’ve got all sorts of wonderful friends to help you.”
Standing up, Silvie walked around the table, sitting down again not across, but beside.
“And so will I, if you’ll let me.”
Without really thinking about it, she reached out a hand, resting it on the other woman’s leg to stop it from jittering. Ade sniffled, an attempt to prevent the waterworks. The situation forced eye contact as she turned her head towards the blonde.
Adrienne Levi stepped back from the wall. Left alone, it’d be okay for the moment. The distance between them and the fear of the unknown would make a great patch job and she could move on.
However, there she stood.
“You ever feel like you’re supposed to be something you’re unsure of? Like you’re pre-ordained for one path. And those expectations are so heavy. And none of it. None of it is actually for you.”
“Exactly. But that’s where the best stories come from. Anybody can just bob along and let the stream of fate take them wherever- it takes real gumption to carve your own path. But if it’s harder, it’s also a buttload more fulfilling.” She said, nodded encouragingly, eyes bright.
“I don’t want to do that anymore. I watched you do it. You took every doubt they ever said about you and became a real leader.”
Ade had re-watched Silver Ann Gold’s brief career, especially on the days when Silvie was real busy and couldn’t take a call.
“I’m sorry how it ended. But you did what you said. And that’s what I’m trying to do. Silvie, I left the only home I knew behind. And that was after I quit my job on a whim to work a profession I’m not even sure I belonged in. I was told that enough. I had it beaten into me. But I did it. Just like you did.”
Adrienne’s words, as strong as they were, still quivered with trepidation.
“And I’m pretty good at it. Just like you were. But something’s missing. Not just this but for a long damn time.”
Adrienne stopped herself, shaking her head.
“I’m sorry.”
Silvie blinked inquisitively, but didn’t interrupt.
“But earlier tonight...”
Adrienne’s eyes flashed with determination. Taking a step back, she --
“You just handed me that missing piece.”
--ran full speed ahead, shouldering into an amalgamation of every wrong moment in service of that lie.
She put her hand on top of Silvie’s.
“So, I think I like you, too. And this probably makes no sense but maybe that’s been the case long before we ever knew each other.”
Silvie giggled in response. Not in a flippant way, but the way one laughs when one is completely overjoyed. Squeezing tight, she leaned forward, her forehead lightly thunking against Adrienne’s.
“I’m so happy. For you. For me, too. I haven’t been this happy forever. I wasn’t happy at all, until… until we started talking again.”
Nothing was said except the nervous titter that escaped Adrienne’s mouth. Nobody was watching unless one counted the feline prowling about the table, totally disinterested in the moment.
“Can we do that again?”
Responding with one more bright giggle, Silvie leaned the rest of the way forward, her lips tenderly meeting Adrienne’s. Starting slowly, Silvie kissed her earnestly, sweetly, her hands reaching up, one tucking itself just below the back of the other woman’s neck, the other gently cradling her cheek.
Breaking away just a little, Adrienne whispered, “Yeah.”
“Yeah.”