Finding Lika

Jean & Katherine

Chris Kingsley let out a throaty guffaw upon reading the online tabloid about his famous little brother and his personal assistant. Lika rolled her eyes, pouting as the man clearly enjoyed seeing her picture being snapped while being absolutely looking horrendously hangover.

"I knew it. I felt it in my bones that they're so going to publish Henry's picture with me as the browless background," Lika complained, pointing at one of the pictures in the article, "Look at that. Even me at the time was giving the photographer the stink eye because I knew they were going to really do that. They can't even spell my last name correctly."

"Denail," read Morgan, the eldest of the Kingsley brothers. The tall, buff man with buzzed haircut chuckled along his brother as he muttered the word De nail to himself.

"I'm glad I amuse you. I feel your tremendous sympathy," Lika chirped, shaking her head, yet couldn't contain her own amused smile. Chris wrapped an arm around Lika's shoulders, laughing still. She nudged him. "Can you two at least help me here with these sushi arrangement before the birthday wife comes home?" she asked as she used a tong to move the sushi individually from the take out box to the platter.

"Ooh ya, my lovely wife," Chris mumbled as he looked at his watch, "Henry's going to be here with her and the kids in fifteen minutes. Where's our parents?" he wondered, looking at Morgan.

"They're still picking up the birthday cake with Kate."

"Should've let me arranged this birthday, Chris," commented Lika, seeing just how last minute everything was.

Chris shook his head at Lika, the woman that had been considered a member within the entire Kingsley family for over eight years. "No no, our little brother have worked you out so much already. This is your week off, you shouldn't be doing any planning."

"I'd be happy to, you know. Besides, at this rate the birthday wife is going to arrive sooner than the birthday cake itself."

"You know, being in the military has given me much wisdom and experience to know that anything can be a makeshift birthday cake," Morgan offered as he stole a salmon maki and ate it whole, "What about we just pile these sushi together and put a candle on them?"

"You can't be serious," commented Chris with a roll of his eyes. "Romance is dead if we do my wife a sushi cake birthday."

Lika pursed her lips, imagining the said sushi cake birthday before commenting decidedly, "It's not a bad idea. I mean, I wouldn't be feeling bad if someone made me a sushi cake birthday."

Morgan clicked his fingers and pointed at Lika with agreement. "Exactly. If anything it is a good backup plan for if the real birthday cake don't get here in time."

As the three fumbled with the sushi arrangement, David and Mel Kingsley, Henry's parents, came in carrying a three level birthday cake decorated with white and blue flowers icing. The size of the cake almost drown Henry's petite figured mother. Being a gentleman, just as the default of all Kingsley boys, Morgan took the cake from his mom and gave her a kiss on the cheek before Chris came to her in the same fashion. When the older lady's baby blue eyes that matched Henry's landed on Lika, she beamed and hugged her son's best friend and assistant.

"Oh my days," Mel exclaimed, embracing Lika tightly. Lika chuckled, returning her hugs with as much fervor. "Eliska, you are more beautiful than ever!" she cupped her face lightly, looking at her with motherly love in her eyes, "How are you, sweetie? I missed you so much."