The cake cutting happened soon enough and again I was embarrassed as the people sang the birthday song like I was a freaking kid.
After that, we had a scrumptious dinner with the guests. I was really happy the way the day had gone. I thought my real birthday would not be celebrated at all but it was such a coincidence that Juliet and I shared the same birth date.
It was well until midnight when we finally reached home. I was extremely tired, my cheeks hurt from all the smiling that I had been doing all evening, my feet ached because of dancing for the majority of the evening in heels. At least the dress fit me perfectly, it was so comfortable. Ethan chose the right size for me. I didn’t get a chance to thank him for all the gifts or even talk to him for a proper five minutes for that matter. I decided to thank him tomorrow when I’d be feeling less like death.
“Juliet,” a quiet voice in the empty mansion scared me out of my wits. I turned towards the source and saw Keith standing at the doorway.
“Keith! You scared me.”
He chuckled softly. “Sorry.”
“What’re you doing here this late? Why aren’t you at home?”
“I waited for you. I didn’t get a chance to wish you on your birthday.” He took a few steps towards me until he was right in front of me.
My shoulders sagged in guilt. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey, why are you apologizing? Happy birthday.” He gave me a charming smile which I couldn’t help but return.
“Thank you.”
“Can I… have a dance with you?”
“Of course! Just a minute,” I said and bent down to take off the killer heels. I wiggled my toes, feeling nice. “Ah, that feels amazing.”
Keith extended a hand to me and I took it. He pulled me close and I rested my hands on his shoulders, with his lightly resting on my waist.
“You look beautiful,” he whispered.
“Thanks. I love this dress. It’s Ethan’s birthday gift for me.”
“I wasn’t talking about the dress. I was talking about you.”
My cheeks reddened, not expecting that reply. “Thank you.”
We danced for a while until he finally stopped. “I’ve made something for you. I hope you like it.”
“What is it?” I asked, excited.
Keith presented a plate before me with the cutest red velvet cupcake I’d ever seen. On it, in tiny letter was written.
Happy? birthday,? my sous? chef
I grinned at his cuteness. “This is so good, oh my God. This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
“I’m glad you like it.” He sounded relieved.
“I love it.”
“Go on, eat it.”
I ended up sharing the cupcake with Keith. It was the most delicious cupcake I had ever eaten in my life.
Giving him a kiss on the cheek, I skipped up the stairs, catching sight of Ethan in the hallway where our rooms were. He was making his way to his room.
“Ethan,” I called out. He stopped in his tracks for a second before continuing on more furiously.
“Hey! Wait up.”
But he ignored me and entered his room, shutting his door with a loud bang.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I asked, pounding at his door.
“What do you want?” He asked, his reply sounding muffled.
“Come out. I want to tell you something.”
“Go away.”
“What happened to being friendly with me? It’s my birthday today!”
I didn’t get a reply. I huffed and entered my own room, shoving Ethan’s moody behavior out of my mind.
But what had happened to him? We were fine at my birthday party.
***
Ethan seemed a little distant from me since we returned from the party yesterday.
I finally decided on a name for my adorable dog. Plowy.
“Plowy!” I picked the dog up and set it on my lap. “Plowy, you like your new name?” I asked him, scratching his neck. He barked in approval.
After playing with him for some time, I decided to show it to Olivia.
She had just finished taking her shower when I walked into her room. When she saw Plowy in my arms, she squealed and reached for him.
“He’s so cute. Where did you get him?” She asked, grinning down at him.
“Ethan gave him to me for my birthday.”
“Wow. He’s really adorable. What’s his name?”
“Plowy.”
Olivia chuckled and I frowned at her. “What? That’s a cute name for a cute pug.”
“Yes it is. Did you tell Ethan what you named him?”
“I wanted to, but I guess he wasn’t in the mood to talk.” I frowned. Was his good behavior all these days only because my birthday was in a few days and now he was going to revert back to his old self? I didn’t like that thought.
“What do you mean?” Olivia asked, confused. “Don’t tell me you two started a fight again.”
“What? No! We aren’t fighting. I don’t know why he’s so moody. He seemed a little off and not in the mood to talk since yesterday after we came back from the party.”
“Did you do something upon returning that he might be possibly mad about?”
“I didn’t do anything. I literally just danced with Keith, shared the cupcake he made for me and when I noticed Ethan in the hallway I went to talk to him but he ignored me completely and locked himself up in his room.”
Olivia narrowed her eyes at Plowy in concentration. It looked like she was trying to scare him and I thought I saw Plowy get a little uncomfortable in her arms, so I gently took Plowy back and he seemed glad to be with me again.
“No way…” Olivia whispered and I looked up to see a small hint of a smile playing on the corners of her lips.
“What?”
“Could it be… I know it might sound crazy and I can be horribly wrong, but could it be that Ethan saw you with Keith and didn’t like what he saw?”
“What do you mean?”
“Could it be that he didn’t like seeing Keith with you? Could it be that he was… jealous?” Her eyes twinkled with mischief.
As soon as those words left her lips, I couldn’t control the fits of laughter her ridiculous words triggered in me.
“Are you alright up there in your head, Olivia? Ethan being jealous of seeing Keith with me? I mean why the hell would he be jealous? He hates me, remember? Well, at least he’s trying to hate me less now but what you said was absolute rubbish. Ethan can’t be jealous of seeing a man with me.”
Olivia shrugged. “It’s not impossible and it was just a thought.”
“I can’t believe you thought of something like that.” I chided. There was no way he was upset about that.
“Whatever. I think it might just be something at work that had him in a bad mood.” She shrugged.
“Now that’s a logical explanation.” I approved. “Now come on, breakfast time for you.”
“Did you have breakfast already?”
“Yes, your majesty. Not everyone is a sleeping bitch like you.”
Olivia gasped. “I think you mispronounced beauty!”
“I’m pretty sure I didn’t.”
“Rude!” Olivia threw a pillow at me. “Get out. I’ll be right out for breakfast.”
“Okay!”
I exited the room with Plowy, whilst chuckling about her ridiculous thought process. “Ethan is jealous,” I mocked, chuckling at how hilarious that sounded out loud.