Tiffany's reflexes will always impress me. Right before Quincey pounces on her, she escapes, like a smart deer trying to outrun a lion. Unfortunately, as we know, the deer rarely gets to escape the claws of the lion. It's only a matter of time till he catches her.
"Please! Please!" I hear her from upstairs where they have moved their battle to. "Calm down, I can explain!"
I shake my head, wondering how I ever believed there was anything more than a platonic relationship between them.
"How childish," I mutter as I bend to pick up Quincey's coat and bag.
"Stop right there!" Quincey's loud voice reaches me as if he's beside me. "Once I get my hands on you you're done for!"
"Just make sure not to break anything!" I yell at the two toddlers as I settle Quincey's things in the living room. "And don't wound yourselves!"
"Aaagh!" I hear Tiffany scream. "Wait! Wait!"
"Quincey! Be nice!"
The chase lasts long enough for me to prepare a cup of tea for myself and two glasses of cold drinks for them, as I consider it more appropriate for them after their physical effort. Juice for Tiffany and a soda for Quincey.
Tiffany comes back into the living room limping, and Quincey seems to have lost two buttons on his dark brown shirt. It's a shame, I like that shirt on him.
"Are you guys done?" I say after I take a sip of my tea.
They look at each other huffing and puffing, but none of them respond.
"I guess you are," the tone of my voice makes them turn to me. "Since you're done, sit down and behave yourselves, no more nonsense."
"He's the one who started-"
"No no," I cut Tiffany off with a hand gesture. "I don't want to hear it. Just sit."
They obey without complaint. I'm on the other sofa further away, but I keep my eyes on them. I barely look away to put my cup of tea down, that I hear Tiffany.
"Ouch!" She whines. "He pinched me!"
"Titi, please."
"But-"
"That's enough."
She grumbles but doesn't say anymore. I notice Quincey's guilty smirk, however I decide not to point it out as that would only lead to another scuffle I don't have the patience for.
"I'm guessing you guys still haven't told Orson?" He says after gulping down his drink.
"Well, I had a great idea while Titi and I were talking yesterday."
"Making it a surprise for his birthday tomorrow?"
"Great minds think alike," I wink at him.
"Shasha!" Tiffany gasps. "We were supposed to call Lady and Cindy."
"Oh right! I completely forgot. By the way babe, have you picked up Orson's present?"
"I was going to, but I wanted to stop by first, since I didn't hear from you today."
"Hurry," I glance at the clock on the wall above them. "The store is going to close soon. I've transferred my share to your account."
"Got it," he gets up and puts on his coat. "James, Kenneth and I will set everything at Lorenzo's tomorrow morning."
"Before you go," Tiffany stands up as well and gestures for me to join them. "There's something I've been wanting to do for years, and now I finally can." Her eyes move from Quincey to me, then out of the blue she pulls us into a group hug. "I love you guys."
"Hands off!" Quincey pushes her away, barely giving her the time to take in this historical moment. "I've not forgotten what you did Tiff. Immediately you came back, you should have told us." He glares at Tiffany, then turns to me. "See you tomorrow babe," he kisses my forehead.
"Here's an idea," she says once he's gone. "How about we don't tell Quincey that I actually came back four weeks ago."
"Agreed. And since we're on the topic of not telling Quincey stuff, I was thinking it'd be best if we keep my fake crush on Orson to ourselves."
"Of course," she replies as we shake on it. "To think you were the one I was afraid of seeing again when I returned."
"Heh, I know right."
After deciding to have our sleepover at Tiffany's house, so as to allow my dad to have some peace and quiet, we decide to call the girls. Lady and Cindy react exactly as we expected, their screaming almost made us go deaf. We invite them for the sleepover and they scream even more once they get to the house, then cover Tiffany's face with a thousand kisses. Louise welcomes all of us when we see her, and apologizes to us for keeping Tiffany's return a secret.
"This guy's too much!" Lady scoffs pointing a finger at the television.
With four mattresses stuck together on the floor, we have transformed Tiffany's living room into our spot for the night. We enjoy the show sitting on a mattress with our backs resting on the couch, munching on caramel coated popcorn.
"I don't care what anyone says," Tiffany adds, "Kwang-Soo is the most adorable human being on planet earth."
With a lot of stomach pain from laughing too much, we finish two episodes of Running Man.
"It's hair time my beauties," Cindy chants as she finds the courage to get up and gather the products. "The most important is you Tiffany, we have to make you extra extra gorgeous for your big day tomorrow."
"I wonder how Orson will react," Lady says.
"He's probably going to cry a lot," I reply. "He seems like the type that would."
"How did Quincey react?" Cindy asks as she comes back to us with the necessities.
"Not well," Tiffany answers, then she folds her legs and wrapping her arms around them, she rests her chin on her knees. "To be honest, I'm not too sure Orson is going to welcome me with open arms either."
"What are you saying?" I elbow her. "He's been dying to see you. Quincey was a bit upset, but you know how he is, it's because he was really worried, that's all."
"You think?"
"Orson and Quincey can't be compared," Lady intervenes. "Orson will jump to the ceiling and dance on it once he gets a glimpse of you."
"He might actually faint," Cindy says with a little chuckle. "I can't wait to see it."
"I don't know guys. I've been gone for so long. Like they say, out of sight out of mind. He might see me and think "Oh well, I guess I'm over her after all". You remember Olivia and Drew? They were all over each other last year, then they didn't see each other during break, next thing you know he broke up with her."
"First of all," I move to crouch in front of her, "Drew is a scumbag."
"She's right," Cindy sits on the couch and Tiffany lays her head on her lap. "He has dated half of the girls in school."
"And Olivia wasn't really a catch," Lady points out. "The girl has no personality whatsoever, the only thing she has going for her is her pretty face."
"Exactly. Secondly, Orson is crazy about you Titi," the girls nod in agreement. "None of us really had to witness your summer love to figure that out. Since you've been gone, he hasn't been the same, which I totally understand taking into account all the things you've been telling me about your interactions."
"Hmm... Yeah."
"Oh come on! Don't you remember? You caught his eye..."
"No! Don't do that," Tiffany chuckles trying to cover my mouth.
"As he walked on by," I pull away from her and stand up.
"Shasha," she rolls her eyes but can't stop smiling.
"You could see from his face that he was..."
"OK I get it."
"What's all that about?" Lady asks
"Nothing," I reply as Tiffany and I exchange a knowing look. "Just an illustration of the mastermind of seduction in action."
Once Tiffany's doubts and fears are out of the way, we get down to business. Cindy takes care of styling her hair with loose curls, while Lady and I do her nails.
We go to bed once Tiffany's hair is set with big hair rollers under a sleeping cap, and her nails manicured. About thirty minutes later, when I'm sure everyone is asleep, I go under the covers and take out my phone, to take a look at the e-mail I received yesterday, the one I've been dreading to read. I saw it before I called Orson in front of Tiffany but decided to ignore it, though it has been at the back of my mind since.
From: Mum
Subject: I'm sorry.
Sweetheart, first and foremost I want you to know how sorry I am for leaving without seeing you. The truth is, I really couldn't handle being in that house anymore. I couldn't spend another second near your father as the weight of guilt has become unbearable, and I wouldn't have been able to leave if I saw you.
As I feel a tear roll across the bridge of my nose, I put my phone away, unable to read the rest of the mail. I close my eyes, and make sure to focus my thoughts, not on myself, but on my best friend sleeping next to me. I think about how wonderful tomorrow is going to be, how happy everybody is going to be and before I know it I fall asleep.
We wake up in the morning as excited as we were last night. Quincey has called about six times already to confirm details about the cake and decorations. We said we would take care of it, but the guys insisted they wanted to do it, I just hope they don't mess it up.
"Shannon!" Lady whines letting herself fall on Tiffany's bed without minding all the clothes that have been thrown on it. "Where's your red top? That's what I was planning to wear."
It's now around two o'clock, we're supposed to be at Lorenzo's in forty five minutes. "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi is playing loudly on the speakers as we hurry to get ready. Tiffany, looking her very best, is in front of the full length mirror trying to decide on the jewelry that would fit her outfit best. Cindy is yet to decide between wearing her high heels or flats, as for me I made some space for myself on the bed and I'm trying to finish up my makeup with the table mirror.
"Which top are you talking about?" I ask putting down the mirror on my lap as I turn to Lady.
"Your red lace top with the criss-cross in front," she sits up. "It fits perfectly with my leather skirt, but I can't find it anywhere."
"That's because it's not here, it's in my room."
"Oh right," she chuckles. "I forgot we were at Tiffany's place."
"My keys are in my bag downstairs."
"OK thanks!" She rushes to go out but bumps into Louise who seems to have been standing at the door for some time. "Sorry," she apologizes as she walks out briskly.
"Maman?" Tiffany waves at her. "Qu'est-ce que tu fais là? (What are you doing here?)"
"Rien, (nothing)," Louise replies. "Just looking at you girls. I missed having all of you around."
She joined us, to help Cindy and Tiffany with their choices, before leaving for an appointment. Five minutes later Lady gets back with the top and ten minutes after that we are all ready to go. Cindy puts off the music and Lady tries to tidy up a bit, but I tell her to just leave things as they are.
"We're going to be late," I say gesturing for all of us to head out.
"You're right," Cindy replies. "Let's go, Sam is waiting downstairs."
We barely take a step out before we turn back, noticing that Tiffany isn't following. She stands still in front of the full-length mirror looking at herself like she is not satisfied with what she's seeing.
"Tiffany, what's wrong?" Lady asks as we come back in.
She doesn't answer, not that she has nothing to say, it's more like she didn't hear.
"You guys go ahead," I tell them as I walk up to her.
They look at Tiffany again, now playing with the tip of her long wavy hair.
"We'll wait downstairs," Lady says before they leave.
I stand behind Tiffany and look at her in the mirror. She's still lost in thought, but after a moment our eyes meet.
"Titi," I give her a back hug and place my chin on her shoulder, "you look beautiful."
"Thank you," she answers resting her head on mine.
"He's going to be happy to see you."
A little sad smile appears on her face. She unravels my arms, turning around to face me.
"I've heard what you guys told me. So I'm trying to believe it's true. I'm trying to believe he's not fed up of waiting, but the more I think about it... I can't."
"Even if he is over you," I reply barely giving her time to finish, "which he really isn't, there's no way he wouldn't fall for you all over again. Nobody can resist your charms, and that's a fact. A fact I'm sure we can scientifically prove."
She laughs and I can see that's she's more relaxed. She finally accepts to come out of the room, only under the condition that I hold her hand all the way.
"Fiore!" Lorenzo picks Tiffany up as soon as she walks through the door. "Oh my little flower," he puts her down as she giggles.
He takes a good look at her almost like he's trying to verify her identity.
"It's so good to see you Lorenzo," she greets him with a kiss on his cheek.
He doesn't get the chance to keep her to himself for long as some of our other friends who came early rush to her, and she greets everyone warmly.
Cindy, Lady and I look around and notice the guys did a really good job decorating. The "Happy Birthday" banner is well set above the bar so it can be seen as soon as Orson enters. Though I would have put it more to the left.
Quincey, Kenneth, James and the others followed our instructions in detail, right to the color of the ribbons used to decorate the white pillars. Even the stage is set, with James's drums, two microphones, and a stool.
"I had my doubts," Lady says as we make our way in. "But they did well."
"Where are they?" I ask Lorenzo.
"Still taking care of a few things in the store, principessa."
"Let's go through the plan again," Cindy suggests once we're seated on our usual sofa.
"OK, Orson should be here in the next fifteen minutes," I reply as if I'm an experienced wedding planner. "Tiffany is going to hide in the storage room, so instead of coming through the front door, she'll come through the back to really amplify the surprise."
"I'm so excited!" Lady chants.
"It's going to be epic," Cindy adds. "All this happens after Orson receives his gift right?"
"Of course," I answer. "He comes in, we sing for him, give him the present, then convince him to sing a song..."
"And during the song Tiffany reveals herself like, voilà!" Lady completes my sentence.
As soon as the guys join us, and Tiffany greets them, especially James, she goes to the storage room where she waits patiently for Orson to arrive. Fortunately, we don't wait long before he steps in.
"Happy birthday to you," we sing immediately he opens the door. "Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Orson! Happy birthday to yooouuu!"
Loud hoorays and applause are heard for a few seconds before we allow the celebrant to express himself.
"Waouh...," Orson chuckles baffled by all he sees. "You guys... Oh, even James is here?" He points at his brother. "This is amazing. Thank you."
The crowd that assembled in front of him make way for Quincey and I as we carry Orson's present towards him.
"Seriously?" He takes a step back.
"Happy birthday," Quincey and I say.
"No way," Orson looks at the wood colored guitar we hand to him and the chatter grows a little louder as our friends see the touched expression on his face.
"Everybody contributed," Quincey explains. "Even Lorenzo, so take good care of it."
"This is really too much..."
"Just take it," I frown at him and he reaches out to accept his gift.
"Thank you. I don't know what else to say."
"Well," Lorenzo takes a few steps towards us, "instead of talking, why don't you do some singing Bambino?"