Notes from the Single Life

f i v e - comfort food and coconut cake

FIVE: comfort food and coconut cake

"The most dangerous food is a wedding cake." -James Thurber

"What you're telling me is that there aren't going to be any eligble bachelor's at this wedding? Girl, I find that hard to believe," Niko told me over a half-gallon of cookie crunch ice cream. We were sitting on my couch watching reruns of Friends, and I was attempting to gain any sort of sympathy from him.

"Have you ever been to a wedding by yourself?" I retorted, dipping my spoon back into the half-empty container. Niko gave me a pointed look.

"No," he said quietly, accepting that I made a good point. "But every wedding's different," he continued, still trying to convince me. "And besides, you may find 'the one.'" I chuckled.

"I'm starting to think that 'the one' doesn't even exist." Niko brought his hand up to his mouth in shock.

"How could 'the one' not exist?" he whispered to me.

"Have you found 'the one,'" I asked, making a face at him.

"Darling, I've been with the same guy for seven years. I think it's safe to say that he's 'the one.' But, Desta, on a serious note, I care about you, and I want you to be happy. You've been alone for far too long."

I sighed and turned my attention back to Friends. We had started watching it earlier that night, and we were already on to season two. We were watching the episode where Ross' ex-wife decided to get married to her partner. I flipped off the TV before the wedding could even get started. I couldn't bear to think about weddings anymore. Niko groaned in protest, but made no move to turn it back on. We sat in silence for a few minutes, savoring our ice cream and basking in each other's friendly company.

"Am I ugly?" I aksed Niko, finally breaking the silence. He responded by laughing. "Niko, I'm being serious. Why do you think I'm alone? Its cause I'm ugly, isn't it?"

"You are not ugly, and you have a nice body," he told me, grinning from ear to ear. I punched his arm lightly. "But then again, your personality's not too hot," he added, causing up both to burst into fits of giggles.

"I hate you," I muttered, clutching my stomach.

"Love you too, darling," he said, causing me to laugh even harder. Eventually, we both wound up on the floor, laughing, leaving the empty, discarded ice cream container on the couch. Niko pulled me into his chest, and we lay for awhile, not saying anything. I examined a crack on my ceiling and traced it over and over again with my eyes.

"Sometimes I wish you weren't gay," I said, sitting up. Niko propped up on his elbows and gave me a funny look. "I mean, this is comfortable, and I really like that," I told him, trying to explain. "I could see us together. If you weren't gay, I mean."

"Love isn't comfortable, Desta. Unless it's mad, passionate, and extraordinary, it's a waste of your time. And I am gay, so no luck there," he said, winking at me. "Don't worry. You'll find 'the one.' I'm sure of it," he said, standing up and grabbing the dirty spoons and empty ice cream carton. He walked into the kitchen with them, depositing the spoons into the sink and crushing the carton into my already full trash can. "But, you better go to that wedding, because you're not doing a very good job of finding someone on your own," he called to me from the kitchen. I chuckled.

"You're an asshole," I yelled back.

"But you love me." That I did, and if it wasn't for Niko, I probably would have found another way to get out of the wedding and avoid Brooke, but instead, I decided to be a supportive friend and go to the cake taste test appointment the next day that my mother had been hounding me about for the past week. I also wanted free cake.

Chocolate with mocha buttercream. Vanilla with lime buttercream. Chocolate with peanut butter buttercream. Vanilla with raspberry ganache and chocolate buttercream. Chocolate almond-cake and raspberries. I began to drool. Coconut cake with vanilla buttercream. Devil's foodcake and raspberries. Chocolate devil's food cake with vanilla buttercream and strawberries. Red velvet cake. I had to look away in fear that I was salivating over the trays of cake they brought out. I glanced over at my mom. She had the largest grin on her face, and I know that she was just as excited as I was.

A tall, slim man walked out into the room, shaking my mother's hand and then mine before sitting down. "So, you must be the lovely bride," he said, pointing to me. At that point, I felt the sudden urge to get up and run out of that room as fast as possible, even with the cake samples sitting so close.

"No, no, no. We're waiting for the bride and her mother," my mom interjected, saving me, somewhat, from a life of embarassment. "They should be here any minute." The odd man nodded his head, and I could feel my cheeks turning pink from embarassment. Luckily, Brooke and her mom showed up before the crickets started to chirp.

I had always imagined that my reunion with my childhood friend would be filled with music and butterflies and we would skip off, arm in arm, into the sunset, but our encounter was painfully awkward. I, along with my mother, stood up when they walked in. I thought that Brooke would give me a hug or at least say hi, but she simply gave me a small wave from across the room. I sat back down with a lump in my throat. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

An hour and a half later I was stuffed full of more cake than I had eaten in an entire year, and  Brooke still hadn't decided what kind she wanted. 

"How about you sleep on it, and come in tomorrow with the groom. You can decide later, if that would be better," the tall man, whose name I found out was Raj, suggested. Brooke nodded vehemently.

"That sounds like such a good idea," she gushed, standing up and shaking Raj's hand. "We'll be back tomorrow. Thank you so much."

"My pleasure. I hope you all enjoyed the cake," Raj told us, smiling, as we left the room. I tried to return his smile, but my mind was too focused on the fact that I needed to throw up. As soon as we left Sylvia Weinstock Cakes and stepped onto the bustling Church Street, all of my sickness dissapaited. I wasn't sure if it was the crisp, fall, New York air, or the continuous movement, but it calmed my stomach and my fears.

"Thank you guys so much for coming," Brooke said, touching my arm lightly. "Sorry I'm so indecisive." We all forced a chuckle, but nothing could mask how awkward the entire situation was.

"Darling, you are fine. Thanks for inviting us. We stuffed ourselves silly," my mom told Brooke. I rolled my eyes and tried to keep from grimacing. She was a handful. "I can't wait to meet the photographer tomorrow. Call me, alright?" My mother gushed. Brooke and her mother simply nodded, and, as I drug my mother away from them, I could have sworn that they looked disappointed—not in my mother, but in me.

Author's Note:

This chapter was kind of a pain to write. I had like, half of it written for a week, and I just didn't know how to finish it up. I may go back through and completely change this chapter, but I guess it's kind of more lighthearted than the previous chapters with Desta's dad. You also get to meet some new characters, so I would love to know what you think of them or how you think I should develop them. Also, is this becoming too stereotypical? I'm trying to keep it away from that, but I think this chapter was just a filler chapter. It really didn't have much of Desta's thoughts (which is really what the book is centered around), but just a crap load of sucky dialogue. Alright..I guess I'll upload this now, but I will certainly, be coming back to it. Sorry for the long A/N. Thanks for reading. Don't forget to comment, vote, share, and add to your many reading lists! Thanks again! ALSO: DO NOT FORGET ABOUT THE CONTEST. THIS CHAPTER IS NOT PART OF THE CONTEST, BUT I'M JUST REMINDING YOU. :D