Learning to be Beautiful

Learning to be Beautiful ~20~

Gavin and I stood in front of Callie’s front door, brightly wrapped presents in hand. Because his hands were full, Gav used his forehead to knock on the door’s dark wooden frame.

“Honestly?” I laughed, and he just grinned down at me as the door swung open almost immediately.

“Aislyn, Gavin, you’re here! Fantabulous! Come in, come in!” Callie shooed us indoors, her pixie-hair spiked all around her head in a delightfully spunky fashion. A lacy skirt wrapped around her legs, and a bright red cardigan rested gracefully over a simple white collared shirt.

Once we had stepped into her large foyer, we placed the colorful gifts on a nearby table.

“Thank you so much for coming early, you two. I wouldn’t be able to set up all on my lonesome.”

“It’s no problem, Cal,” Gav smiled widely and walked straight into the kitchen, “We’re happy to help.”

I smiled, and nodded in agreement before following Gavin into the kitchen. A wide array of food covered the countertops, and two cutting boards with scarily large knives rested in the center of it all.

“Okay, I need one of you to help me out with cutting these vegetables,” she swept her arms around the room, “And the other to start blowing up balloons and putting them in the dining room. Who wants which job?”

Without a word, Gavin stepped forward and grasped the handle of one the large knives. Its edge was serrated, and I definitely did not have a good feeling about letting my oaf of a best friend handle it.

“Gav, are you sure you want to—“

“Oh, come on, Aislyn… let me live a little will ya?” One big brown eye winked at me playfully before he snatched up a carrot and started chopping away.

“O..kay.” Grimacing as I left the room and headed towards the dining room, I thought of the many ways that Gavin could potentially injure himself and Callie. Quickly, I shook the thoughts away—he was nineteen, he should be able to handle a knife by now… I hoped.

I had only blown up three of hundreds of balloons when the doorbell rang. Almost immediately, Callie flitted out of the kitchen, knife still in hand, and threw open the door to reveal a very familiar dark-haired, green-eyed Englishman.

“Happy Birthday, Calphurnia,” he smiled, before swooping down quickly and kissing her quickly on the cheek.

I turned away, blushing because I had obviously just witnessed a private moment between lovers.

“Thanks, you big lump,” Callie giggled before her expression turned serious and she shoved him towards where I was seated. “Now help Aislyn blow up the balloons.”

“It’s nice to see you too,” Linc grumbled, though his voice still held a teasing note.