Panties and Boots

Happy Birthday!

"Happy Birthday!"

One phrase started it all, my friends thought it'd be cute to surprise me at work and take me out to a surprise party at a pub near downtown. Now, do not get me wrong, I was touched they cared so much, but when my boss is glaring them down and slicing his finger across his throat, (meaning I'll be terminated if they cause anymore disturbances,) is not how I want to be surprised.

"Shush, Krystal Stars & Jennifer Louis, if you do not stop your nonsense and get me fired; I am going to skin you alive." I pulled at their shirts to try and quieten them, "What do you guys want anyway, I have a late night tonight. Ryker just made a huge deal and I have to type the paperwork by tomorrow." Now a complete lie, the papers were due tomorrow, but it has been finished for weeks. I just didn't want to go out tonight.

"We're going out to party and you have no say in this." Jennifer sat me down and pulled my chair away from the computer, forcing its shutdown, and started to push me down the hallway. I obviously had no say, there was no way I'm getting out of this, so there's no way I'm even trying. Krystal had grabbed my purse and was rummaging through it to look for my keys, what a futile attempt. I walked to work today.

"You're not going to find my keys, they're at the house, and I walked to work today." Their faces went from excited to exasperated, my condo is about 15 blocks from here. I drive probably the nicest car in the lot, a BMW, my father had bought it for me as a 'graduation gift', and really I caught him and his accountant in his office. That's a story for another time.

"Seriously, Caelian why in the world do you want to walk? It's a 15 block walk! That's dumb," Meg complained, she can complain all she wants it's not going to magically poof my car here. I smiled smugly as she stepped off the curb to hail a cab. I turned left from the building and started my walk home, they could follow me or they could not; their choice.

"Wait, Caelian! Come on, just get in the cab and we'll drive there." I heard Jen call after me, but I shook my head and turned around the block. Walking was the part of my day where I could think and they are not screwing up my schedule because of my birthday.

The walk was something I did at least three times a week. I stop by Maria's Bakery to get a sweet pastry for dessert, I also get a new medium sized bouquet from Raquel to spruce up the place. Though sometimes my bitty is sitting on her steps and I chat with her a small while. Bitty is one of my neighbors, she insists on me calling her Bitty because that's what she had always wanted to be called as a grandma; her daughter moved to France and there was no money to visit. Such a sad thing to see a family broken up for work purposes.

I walked into Maria's Bakery with an exhausted Kyrs and Jen behind me. They would never walk this long without merit, what do they have planned?

"Caelian! Good evening, beautiful, same as usual?" Marco, a tall and dark drink of Colombian coffee, said behind the counter while extravagantly pouring a cup of coffee and plating an assorted pastry. He was Maria's nephew and had worked here since he was 16, now approaching a strapping 25 he's an expert in people and coffee. I'd only known him 3 of those years, but he has changed a lot over them. "How about a birthday treat?" He stopped pouring and gave me a sly smile.

"I knew you'd remember. You're too amazing, but that won't be necessary, Marc. I know Maria is exasperated over how many freebies you give away. I hardly ever pay for coffee anymore!" I said to him in an upbeat tone, I probably had the biggest crush on this man. He was three years older than me and I'm into it.

"No one pays on their birthday, not when I'm the barista! You, especially, will not be paying. You come in at least twice a day, sometimes three! I think we can afford you $2 coffee and $1 pastry. I do not understand how you gurgle down this dry things." He slid a plated blackberry scone and a medium iced coffee towards me not coming to the register and avoiding me afterwards. I admired him as his back was turned, you could still see his muscles protruding out of his tight shirt. Yum.