The Mirror Maze

Chapter 10 - coffee, fresh pastries and bazookas

So my coffee 'date' with Aaron had started five minutes ago. I was late. Well, duh.

With the whole bombshell "you'll lose your brother forever" thing I kind of was gonna let myself off on this one. As my Grandma always said; you've gotta keep em on their toes. 

Aaron was waiting in the entrance hall/ reception room of the palace. We weren't exiting through the weird rock elevator I had entered in, but instead through the main entrance. 

I wondered what was stopping me walking out of the gates and running away. Oh yeah, the whole my brother dies if you don't save the world thing. I frowned. Was that true? Could he die from 'magic withdrawal'? I needed to do a bit of research. 

I was still frowning when I met Aaron. 

"You alright?" He asked.

"Yeah." I said. 'I'm fine." 

As much as I hated to admit it Aaron looked quite nice in his plain blue jeans and tee. 

"Shall we go?" Aaron said.

"Yes we shall," I said grandly and sailed past him.

It struck me as we left that this was the first time I'd left the palace in about two days. We were walking down a small path that wove through the gorgeous gardens. The heady scent of flowers made me dizzy. 

The air here was fresh and clear and I took in great sniffs of it as we walked. Funny how you could grow to miss pollution and the familiar honk and blare of traffic. 

I felt nostalgic. My brother was probably out of his mind with worry. My parents wouldn't care. I'd ran away before. 

Aaron and I made idle conversation about the weather as we descended. I didn't usually do small talk.

"A flower?" Aaron stooped and picked a pretty flower. It was really just a weed, but he tucked it behind my ear and I giggled feeling not at all like my usual self. 

Once we got down to the town I stared, trying to memorise everything in case I needed to escape later. 

The town wasn't the silent graveyard it had been when I drove through it on that first fatal day I had been kidnapped. 

Aaron led me to a town square with little shops lining it. 

It was a sunny day and we sat down outside a coffee shop, by a little round table under a red and white striped umbrella. 

"For you?" Aaron said. 

'Latte, thanks." I gazed around the square. It was quite a quaint scene. Little kids were flying their kites in the centre and adults strolled around, going about their daily life. It was a very relaxed place, I thought. The city was always so rushed and busy, here everything took its time. 

We sipped our coffee and I enjoyed the zip of caffeine. Suddenly there was a huge explosion and i stood up so fast that I knocked the coffee, both coffees in fact, and the table over.

"What the hell was that?" I said. 

Aaron didn't answer, but instead put the table the right way up and tried to wipe it down with a napkin.

"Hello?" I said.

"Bazookas." Said Aaron. 

"What?" I said. 

He pointed. I turned around and saw several teenagers with mini bazookas entering the square. They fired one into the sky and I jumped at the bang. Something exploded colourfully in the sky and a rain of sweets fell. I picked one up and put it in my pocket.

"Interesting culture you have here." I said to Aaron. 

He laughed. "It's indépendance day - they're just testing the bazookas for tonight."

"What's tonight?"

"A huge festival." He smiled, "Best time of the year."

"Right." I said. "Sounds like fun." 

"Will you be attending?" Aaron said.

"Didn't know I was invited." I said coyly. 

He chuckled. "How about we ditch the coffee for the bakery?" he said, gesturing to our coffee soaked table and empty cups. 

I shrugged, "Sounds good to me."

We walked over to the bakery which was full with the wonderful smells of things baking. I stared at the glass beneath the counter, my mouth watering. 

"I'll have, um, I'll have the apple danish please." I said. 

Apple danish's were my absolute favourite pastry. My brother and I used to eat them whenever Mum and Dad argued too much. We'd sneak out the window down to the small bakery and buy one, to share. Then we'd run to the playground and swing on the swings, sit down and share the pastry and then silently creep back home. 

"I'll have a jam doughnut please," said Aaron. He dug in his pocket for his wallet. The woman handed me a white paper bag with my danish in it. I opened the bag up with awe. The round buttery pastry, the apple filling in the middle, the drizzled icing. This was like apple danish deluxe!

When Aaron had paid and gotten his doughnut we walked outside to eat them. The danish was delicious. More than delicious. I was reminded of how much I missed my brother. I hated that stupid ice queen. Choking down tears I took another bite.

There was another sound of a bazooka going off. A particularly hard lolly hit me on the head. 

That. Was. It.

"Will these stupid bazookas stop going off?" I yelled, "Where I'm from they don't interrupt people by exploding stuff in the sky!"

A few people looked at me in shock and Aaron stood up. When I looked at him I was surprised to see that his face was contorted with anger. 

"Do you take everything for granted? Do you even try to respect our culture? I've taken you out, bought you coffee, a pastry, and you haven't even said thank you!"

"Well that's what the guy does on a date!" I said, in the heat of the moment.

Aaron laughed. Actually laughed. I stood there, clueless.

"You think this was a date? I am not interested in you. I thought since you're a buzzer not many people would want to hang around with you, so I thought to hell with the stereotypes I'll try and make friends with her. But you know what? You have proved every single stereotype right."

With a last contemptuous look, Aaron walked away. 

Leaving me standing there, a pastry in my hands, a flower in my hair, and a terrible weight in my heart.