Ramin:
This morning he woke up before the alarm. Jumping out of the bed he let out a yawn and walked out of his bedroom. Today was a very special day and he was being more excited than he used to be. It was the 20th of May which meant that it was Sierra's birthday today. He had bought and fixed her a gift several weeks before to get the exact right thing for her and he was extremely excited to give it to her. The special gift was a photo album with pictures of them doing things together. This was also kind of a 10-year anniversary present for their friendship. He couldn't believe that they had been best friends for 10 whole years. To celebrate this, he was going to surprise her with this gift and a cake he was going to bake by himself. Hoping with all his heart that the cake would be good he started making breakfast for himself.
Even if he wasn't the very best at baking he was proud by the outcome of the cake. Sure, it would be better if he would have bought a cake but now it was too late. Now he just had to take a shower and choose an outfit, and as the fashion lover he was he knew he would have a hard time choosing clothes. He walked into his bedroom and to the closet where he kept all his clothes. What was he supposed to wear? It wasn't a big party he was going to, only to Sierra's home. However, he still wanted to look nice. Why did choosing clothes have to be so hard? Would a button up shirt be too fancy? Well, a button up shirt worked for everything, however, a white button up would maybe be too much, or would it? Would Sierra like if he wore a white button up shirt and a bow tie? She would probably think he was cute. Nonononono, no! Just NO! He did not care whether Sierra thought he was cute or not. The only reason he dressed up was because it was her birthday, not because she would think that he looked good. Or, yeah, sure he wanted her to think that he looked well. Maybe even that he was handsome. He quickly pushed that thought away and focused his mind on clothes. At last he decided to wear the white shirt, the yellow bow tie (because yellow was one of Sierra's favorite colours) and black khakis.
The walk to Sierra's flat was both the longest and the fastest walk he had ever done. The cake laid safely packaged in a box which he carried in a bag. In his other hand he held the gift which he had wrapped in a multicoloured paper, where he had written some quotes from both "The Secret Garden", but also other random quotes that people Sierra liked had said. Even though he was excited to meet Sierra he dreaded for the moment to happen. Was he dressed too fancy? Would she think that it was too much with the bow tie? The worst thing however was that there would probably be other people at her place too because it was her birthday and then it would be more people than just Sierra judging him. Why didn't he just call her? Then he would have avoided all these thoughts and nerves. For each step he took the knot in his stomach became tighter and tighter. He would have just turned around and walked home but he did this for Sierra. She didn't turn 36 every day and neither did they celebrate 10 years of friendship each year.
As he came closer Sierra's apartment he saw that she had put up a big white tent on her backyard. His first thought was to turn around and walk straight home. But now it was Sierra's birthday and he didn't want to ignore her birthday. Instead he kept on walking towards her house and tried to convince himself that he only did it because it was her birthday and nothing more. It was only because it was a special day. If he looked on the bright side, there would be other people who would be dressed up and then he wasn't dressed up too fancy. However, there would be other people and he didn't want to meet anyone else than Sierra. The tent just kept on coming closer. Would people think that he liked Sierra because of his choice of clothes and gift? Because that was certainly NOT the case. Sure, they were best friends but nothing more. And what would people think of his cake? It was in no way the prettiest thing he had ever seen. Actually, after a second thought it was rather ugly. Why did he bake it? Well, it was too late to buy a new one now. He just had to live with it and hope that she would like it anyway.
At last he was standing outside her yard almost right in front of the tent. He took a long, deep breath and walked in. To his surprise there were not extremely much people, only a handful of Broadway people and other friends. Not even her sisters were there. A big relieve spread through his body as he looked around the tent for Sierra. Where was she, she was nowhere to be found? Suddenly he felt two arms wrap around him from behind and a big smile formed on his face. He turned around to face his best friend and with no doubt he hugged her back.
- Happy birthday Sie! he said as they parted and held out the bag which contained the cake, and the gift.
She held out her hands and took the gifts. For a moment she just stood there and looked down to the wrapped things she held in her hands. When she looked up again her cheeks were slightly red, and she smiled from ear to ear.
- Thank you so much! she excitedly said and threw herself into his arms.
- Be careful with the gifts, they are fragile; he smiled and hugged her tightly.
- By the way, you look very good today; she blushed even more, and he felt his own cheeks grow warm.
- Well, I cannot say anything else about you. You look beautiful.
A warm feeling spread through his body and his heart began beating a little faster. He supposed it was because he was excited to see her reaction when she opened the presents. They parted, and he was just about to excuse himself and walk home when Sierra hooked her arm in his and dragged him away to a sofa that stood in the corner.
- Come here, I wanna open them now!
Her eyes sparkled with excitement just like a child's and he couldn't say no, not to his Sie. The couch was made for only one person which meant that they literally sat on each other, or, Ramin sat on the couch and Sierra sat in his knee. Why they sat there he did not know, but he didn't complain. He liked sitting this close to her, they were after all best friends. Automatically he put his arms around her waist and placed his head on her shoulder to see what she was doing.
- Which one should I open first?
His mind directly wandered to the cake and how he not wanted her to see it. However, either way he chose he couldn't get away with it, so he said:
- You choose.
Another moment went by went she just sat there in his knee and thought. Suddenly, all her weight was pressed against his chest and she threw her head back to his shoulder as she exclaimed:
- Stop it Ramin! Just tell me which I should open first! It's too hard, I can't choose.
- I can't help you, it's your choice; he chuckled.
- Fine, then I choose this.
She pointed at the bag with the cake inside. His stomach dropped. Why did she have to choose that one? Why did he even bring it?
- Sure; he said trying to not sound nervous.
Slowly, she put her hand inside the bag and took out the box. She gave it a curious look, glanced over her shoulder to Ramin, and opened the box. A smell of chocolate filled their noses and she quickly took the cake out of the box. Ramin felt his face grow hot as she looked at it. He knew that she eventually would laugh because, now as he looked at it, it looked kind of crappy. The frosting was not evenly laid, nor was it evenly coloured and the cake wasn't perfectly round. To his surprise Sierra once again lent back but this time she put her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on his cheek.
- Thank you!
She sat up straight again blushing and started to unwrap the other gift. The spot where Sierra's lips had touched his cheek burned and tingled and his cheeks were deeply red. His mind raced: why had she kiss him? Sure, it was a friendly kiss, but still. He didn't complain though because it was a kind gesture. Remembering that Sie was still opening her real birthday gift he snapped back to reality and looked to her knee where she was finishing opening the gift. She opened the album and started to thumb through the pages with pictures. When she raised her head and looked into his eyes she was teary-eyed. Turning around a little she embraced him tightly and started sobbing. He already had his arms around her, so he started rubbing one hand up and down her back.
- You're truly amazing Ramin! She whispered. I can't even explain how happy I am right now.
Somehow, he felt the urge to say "I love you" but he quickly pushed that thought aside. He didn't love her in a romantic way, only as a friend but if he would have said it to her she would have taken it wrong. Instead he gave her a light kiss on her cheek and continued rubbing his hand along her spine.
- I'm happy that you like it; he whispered back his smile growing wider.