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 Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 1:29 pm
In some cultures, a girl's fifteen birthday represented her transition from childhood into womanhood.
Lydia Sfakianos was not from any of those cultures, but she was well-read in regards to them. When her father asked her what kind of celebration she wanted for her birthday, her mind went immediately to the idea of a quinceañera. Not a proper one, since she wouldn't have Mass before hers, and it would be a family and close friends-only affair, but there were parts of the fiesta de quince that appealed to her. The waltzing, of course, since Lydia would never pass up an excuse to have dancing at her party. Formal attire was always fun. And the Tree of Life ceremony had struck her as being quite moving and symbolic.
While preparations for her celebration were going on at home, Lydia was shooed out of the house. This didn't bother her, since she had a reservation at Maize Maizier, for a special lunch with a special guest. And a special present for her special guest. And then they would go home for her special party. Suffice to say, Lydia wanted her special day to be as special as possible, and had made arrangements accordingly.
The lunch had been everything she had hoped for, with the restaurant making all of her favorite foods, dressing in costume, and singing her Happy Birthday in three different languages. As she blew out the candles on the tiny chocolate gateau in front of her, she shut her eyes and made a wish.
The restaurant staff applauded politely, and moved away to attend their other patrons, some of whom had joined in the singing. Lydia opened her eyes, sighed happily, and picked up a fork. "You thought the food was good, just try their dessert!" She winked at her guest, motioning for her to take a fork as well. "Come on, try some. It's delicious!"
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 1:51 pm
"...Kay..."
The girl on the other side of the small table was bright red. She felt rather out of place in such a nice little restaurant. And having a group of waiters singing around them also didn't help. Sure, it was for Lyddie, but at the same time, Yvette had also indirectly been put into the spotlight for that moment. In a nearly clumsy fashion, the elder of the pair reached for one of the forks that had been brought out along with the gateau. With the fork, she overly delicately took a small bit up on her fork. It was Lyddie's birthday treat, so Yvette wasn't going to try and take too much. It was for Lyddie to enjoy, not for Yvette. She had a birthday a while back.
Before she could put the small bit of dessert in her mouth, she mentioned "I can't believe I get to see Uncle Iosif and Auntie Anya... it's been so long." She hadn't seen either of them since before that whole Organ Ring scandal. With that, she popped her mouth open and put the bit of gateau in her mouth.
Heaven
As a child, Yvette had always had a sweet tooth, and it had continued on as an adult. However, as a young adult, she definitely did not spoil that tooth very often. "I wish this sort of stuff was cheaper..."
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 2:07 pm
The bite of cake that Lydia took was on the small side as well, but in her case, it wasn't out of forced politeness. She had already stuffed herself with bouillabaisse and paella and dumplings and Maize Maizier's delicious bread. While the cake was as delicious as she'd expected, she knew she would have room for only a few bites. Which would leave the rest for Yvette, who, of the two of them, was more fond of sweets.
Taking another dainty bite, Lydia swallowed. "They're looking forward to it too! Mana wanted to come to lunch with us, actually, but she said she had to finish something for work. But honestly, I'm kind of glad that we could do something like this, just the two of us." Not that Lydia didn't want her mother there, but there was time for her whole family later. Now, she wanted to catch up with Yvette. Again.
"If you come during the week, Maize Maizier has some really good deals on lunch." Such things were less important for Lydia, whose dining was entirely funded by her parents, but she had noticed these things on her many, many prior visits. "Dinner is a little more pricey, though, and everybody comes out on the weekends, so they do their special stuff then. But my favorite time to come is for a late lunch after school, really." There was no better way to rewind from class than at a nice restaurant, with good food, unusual music, and fascinating sights all around her.
Lydia took one more bite, then set her fork down. "You know, I'm not sure I can eat another crumb, I'm so full!" It was only a half-lie; while she was definitely stuffed, she probably could have forced another few bites. But Yvette would enjoy them so much more, and got to treat herself so much less.
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 2:27 pm
Yvette had set her fork down upon her napkin after she had finished her first (and what she suspected to be her only) bite. It was Lyddie's treat, so she didn't dare make another attempt at tasting the dessert. She nodded her head when her cousin confessed that she was glad for it being just the two of them. "I agree! It's nice to have some girl-time. I'm just glad I could get some time off of work to come!"
Even with what seemed like permission, the elder girl didn't seem to make any motion towards the dessert. "To be honest... I probably won't make a habit of coming here too often. Maybe some time I can see if Topher wants to come with me here..." There was a slight pause. "...for a date..."
Yvette was still trying to figure out where she stood with Topher. The last "official" date they had tried had her being shipped off to the hospital thanks to an allergic reaction. It had somewhat spooked the both of them away from trying to do another date. Or at least giving it the official title of being a date. Lyddie would probably easily notice how red her cousin's cheeks had gotten quite quickly, or even notice how all of a sudden Yvette's eyes were now looking at the table more than to the other girl.
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 3:37 pm
"I am too! How is work treating you? I hope they're not making you work too hard." Lydia had heard horror stories about evil bosses and nightmarish customers. While she didn't think anyone would dare treat Yvette that way, it would make her feel better if she heard directly from the source.
It would also make her feel better if Yvette actually ate some of the gateau. "I don't think I can finish," she said, patting her stomach lightly. "But it would be such a shame to let the rest of this cake go to waste." If that didn't make Yvette take up her fork again, Lydia wasn't sure what would.
Yvette's voice lowered then, and Lydia had to strain to hear. She was talking about a name she'd heard before, and... what was that? "A date?" she squealed, leaning forward suddenly. "You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend, Yvette! What's he like? Is it that boy you mentioned last time? Details, I want details!"
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 6:56 pm
The squealing. OH GOD the SQUEALING. All of the blood was rushing to her head thanks to all of the blushing now. Maybe it was the wrong thing to do to share that specific detail.
"Uh... work..." she managed to cough out slightly in an effort to maybe, maybe change the subject. "It isn't too hard... it's just embarrassing to be in that setting." Being around lingerie all day was not something that Yvette was truly meant to do. It didn't matter how often Mrs. Ortiga told her it got easier with time. It would always be embarrassing.
Sadly, this subject wasn't doing her any good in regards to making her cheeks return to their normal colors. Apparently Lyddie had a talent for making Yvette blush. Even though it really wasn't all that much of a talent, considering how easily the elder one got flustered.
"Well... Topher... well... he'ssortakindamyboyfriend... but... well... um... we've kindasorta been avoiding dating lately because... um..." It felt as if a lump had built up in her throat, and for a moment, her voice disappeared. Yet, the young adult didn't want to leave a lump in her throat, so she swallowed that drop of air down and continued in an ashamed tone.
"...I had to go to the hospital after our first date..." She wanted to say more, but the shame really made her want to hide. She wanted to hide from Lyddie, but at the same time, it was cousin Lyddie, and Yvette couldn't hide from her.
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 8:48 pm
As Yvette spoke about working, Lydia remembered where her cousin was employed. That would be a difficult setting to deal with. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to handle it well either... well, no, of course she could. But it would still be tough, and it had to be tougher still for Yvette, who had all the forcefulness of a dandelion seed.
Still, that was a totally boring subject compared to the bombshell Yvette had dropped on her. A boyfriend, even a sorta-kinda-boyfriend, was big news! Lydia wasn't sure she was ready for one yet, but that didn't stop her from being the type of girl who ate up that sort of thing when hearing it from others. "Avoiding him? Did he do something wrong?" If this Topher was hurting Yvette in any way, Lydia was going to have to teach him a lesson.
"Wait, the hospital!?" This was more serious than she thought! At least, until Lydia remembered that she'd talked to Yvette in the hospital. "Wasn't that an allergic reaction? Unless he slipped strawberries into your drink, then it wasn't his fault. Or was he mean afterwards? You can always set Theios Alan on him, if you want him to leave you alone." That was a foolproof way to get rid of a guy, Lydia imagined. Her father was much the same in that regard.
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 9:17 pm
"He didn't do anything wrong!" She knew it and Topher knew it. However, Yvette still had it somewhere in her mind that it had in fact been her own fault.
"He didn't do anything wrong..." she repeated before moving on a bit in the conversation "We went to a smoothie place... and I asked for my smoothie to have no strawberries... but I guess I didn't speak loud enough and sheputstrawberriesinmydrinkandIdidn'thavemyepipen..." The girl shifted slightly before momentarily bringing a quivering finger up to her eyes to rub slightly. There were no tears, but she did seem to be getting a bit upset by the subject at hand.
"I scared him... Ididn'tmeanto... but I scared him... I don't want to see him look at me like that again." Awkwardly, she looked up to her cousin, face still red and now her eyes a bit more watery than before. Despite all of the signs of sadness, there was a small smile upon her tiny lips. "I don't want him to leave me alone. He's the nicest boy... I want Daddy to know this too... someday."
She rubbed at her eyes again. "I'm sorry..."
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 9:33 pm
It seemed, as Yvette explained the situation properly, that Lydia had definitely jumped to the wrong conclusion. She just couldn't imagine someone like Yvette doing anything wrong, so if there were problems, they had to be the guy's fault. Unless it was just a freak accident and it was nobody's fault. Accidents happened. So why was Yvette blaming herself for this one?
"If it was an accident, then you shouldn't worry about it," Lydia said comfortingly. "If this Topher is as nice as you say he is, then I'm sure he understands. And if he's not, he's not worth your time anyway. But it it sounds like you believe in him, and- wait." She stopped and counted on her fingers for a moment. "Did you say you haven't seen him since your birthday? That was four months ago, Yvette! Please say you've talked to him since then! Otherwise the poor guy's going to think it's all his fault."
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 10:18 pm
It was so hard to explain the whole thing properly. It wasn't exactly a super easy thing to explain. "I didn't say I didn't see him since then. We just haven't been on an actual date-date..." Her smile still remained on her lips, and her eyes seemed to dry up a little. "He's one of my friends first..."
She closed her eyes and nodded her head slowly. She and Topher had decided that maybe they just weren't all that lucky. If their first date was such a disaster, the next one would probably include some sorts of explosions. They wanted to try it again eventually, but they were both scared.
"Um... bytheway... um... I don't think you will be seeing Daddy all that soon... but if you do... um... canyoukeepthisonthedownlow..." Her eyes opened again and were back on her cousin's matching eyes. "Daddydoesn'tknowyetandIknowhe'doverreact..."
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 9:23 pm
"Oh, thank goodness." Lydia sat back in her seat and breathed for a moment, as if it was her boyfriend that had been all but abandoned. As if she had a boyfriend in the first place. As if her father would let her have a boyfriend, ever. The whole situation was annoying, but Lydia hadn't met anyone that made her particularly care. It was way more fun to talk about Yvette's boyfriend anyway.
"Still, you shouldn't let one bad date keep you from having fun! Don't be scared. Now that he's seen you at..." Lydia hesitated. "Well, he's seen you looking bad. And he still likes you. So what's there to be scared of now?" If this was some kind of test, surely he'd passed.
She couldn't help but smile a little as Yvette mentioned her father. For all that they argued whenever they were in the same room, they had a lot of the same ideas, especially when it came to their daughters. "You're probably right. So, I won't say a word- on one condition."
Lydia paused dramatically, and leaned over the table to make sure Yvette heard her.
"You have to finish the cake."
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 11:35 pm
If only Yvette knew the things that Topher had encountered when it came to her. If only she remembered she had essentially been a zombie at one point and had tried to eat his finger. If only she had an argument to say that Topher seeing her during an allergy attack and not being scared away was not reason enough to be scared of trying another official date. However, Yvette had nothing.
Nothing but cake apparently.
"Y-you drive a hard bargain..." Shyly, her fingers pulled her fork into the proper position. "...fine... I'll do it!" In an overly cautious manner, she then pulled the plate closer and began to peck at it with the fork. Sadly, it would still be a lengthy process, since she was such a miserably slow eater.
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 11:53 pm
It had taken blackmail, but Lydia had finally managed to get Yvette to eat more than a bite of the cake. She leaned back again, quite pleased with herself. "Sometimes you have to drive a hard bargain," she told her cousin seriously. "Otherwise, they think you're kidding. Or don't notice you at all." With Lydia, it was usually the former. With Yvette, she suspected it was the latter.
"So, where do you want to go when we're done?" Lydia checked her phone, which was sitting on the edge of the table. "We've still got some time before we're supposed to be back home for the party. Is there anything you wanted to do before we head there?" While she was the birthday girl, and had a few ideas of her own, Yvette probably got to do things like this a lot less. Lydia was happy to share her special day if it meant making Yvette feel special too.
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Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 12:01 am
The girl chewed and chewed and chewed on what seemed like a tiny wad of cake in her mouth. Lyddie had asked her that question mid-chew, and with her fork-free hand, the elder of the duo waggled a finger in an effort to say without words Give me a moment please.
With what almost seemed like an exaggerated swallow, the girl first sipped up a small amount of water through a nearby straw. Now that her mouth was empty and not dry, she had an answer.
"I don't really mind... whatever you want, Lyddie! As long as we get to hang out, that's all that matters." She smiled sweetly as her cheeks flushed before she made certain to shut her mouth again by stuffing a bit more of the cake in there.
She couldn't talk if she was chewing. Right?
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 9:24 am
"Oops! Sorry." Lydia giggled and waited for Yvette to finish chewing, even though she had a sneaking suspicion that she already knew the answer. Still, Yvette was going into overtime, chewing and swallowing and- there! Now that she was finished...
... the answer was exactly what she thought it would be. Lydia sighed inwardly. Someday she would get Yvette to be more upfront with her feelings. But having just won the battle for the cake, she didn't feel comfortable being too forceful right then. This was supposed to be fun, not war.
"Okay then," she said instead. If she was at all disappointed, her expression and tone didn't show it. It was Lydia's birthday, after all, and that meant that she got to do whatever she wanted! "Let's go shopping! I've already got my dress for tonight, but maybe something new for my hair... oh, and there's a great little boutique nearby that has accessories made in different countries, mostly by women trying to raise their families. It's a really great spot, I can't wait to show it to you!"
Lydia paused, glanced at the cake, then back at Yvette. "Well, I can wait until you finish," she amended with a grin.
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