family friends

15 - bakery party

Just as I'm finishing up frosting the last cake at the bakery, Clay texts me to let me know his family is leaving. I send him the address of the place we're holding the party and drive over there myself. Somehow he beats me there even though I was at least five minutes closer. I decide not to ask him about it.

He greets me with a hug but I'm too stressed to stand still for long, so he just silently helps me carry everything inside. I try to start arranging things right away, but he grabs my hips, stopping me. "What are you doing?" I ask, trying to slip out of his hold. He just laughs and tightens his grip. "Clay, seriously. I need to-"

"Take a breath. You have plenty of time," he interrupts me. I glare at him, but he's right. I still have almost three hours until the party starts and all I have left to do is decorate. And of course get myself ready since I'm still wearing pajamas, but that shouldn't take too long. I try to take deep breaths to calm myself down. "Much better. I think your heart rate is less than 200 bpm now."

"I just want it to be perfect," I mutter, balling up the back of his freshly changed shirt in my hand.

"And it will be." He pulls my hands away, smoothing down his shirt. "Careful, I need to look stunning for your party guests," he says with a smirk.

"Well, Mr. Stunning, you're gonna have to freshen up later because right now I need you to hang all these garlands for me," I say, pointing to the giant box of red, green, and silver garland strands. He sighs and lets go of me, moping over to the box like it's the worst job I could have ever given him. "Unless you'd rather put up the tree in the front foyer and decorate it." His eyes go wide and he shakes his head enthusiastically.

"I'm so excited to hang garland! This is going to be a blast!" he says with mock excitement as he picks up an armful of silver. I nod and head over to the corner where the fake tree needs to be set up. This shouldn't be too hard. Really, all I need to do is connect the different parts and spread out the branches so that it looks full. Easy.

Except that it is not, as it turns out, easy. Even with Clay's help, the tree isn't fully set up for another hour, putting me quite a bit behind schedule. Clay offers to continue decorating while I get ready and, although I hate to make him do my work, it's probably a good idea for me to be ready in case guests start to arrive early.

In the bathroom, I peel off my pajamas and put on a white sweater tucked into a red and black plaid skirt. Samantha wanted me to wear a skintight dress; I wanted to wear a sweater and jeans. We settled on this. It's cute, but more importantly, it's comfortable. I don't put on much makeup, just some mascara and a little bit of blush on my cheeks.

While I was getting ready, Clay decorated the entire tree and finished with all the garlands and lights. He doesn't see me walk back in when I'm done because he's setting up food tables across the room, so I sneak up and hug him from behind. He jumps forward, almost knocking over a three tier cake.

"Jesus, woman! Give me a warning next time," he cries, steadying the table so that nothing falls over.

"Oh, but what fun would that be?" I ask, pulling him away from the table. "Let me finish the rest. Go eat cookies or something."

"Eating cookies? Really? That's all I'm good for?" he asks, holding a hand to his chest as if injured by my words. I roll my eyes and grab a cookie from the table.

"Are you allergic to peanuts?" He shakes his head, so I shove it in his mouth. He chews obediently, scowling the entire. "Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Hmph." I laugh and take over setting up the food tables. Moments later, Samantha bursts through the door looking slightly disheveled and very tipsy. "Uh oh," I hear Clay mumble as he watches the mess that is my best friend stumble across the room toward me, arms open wide for a hug.