It was finally time for the party. I had told some of Keith’s friends to tell him that they were going to a really special place and to tell him to dress his best.
It was already seven in the evening so he must be here any minute now. I had worn a simple dark blue dress and wanted to ensure everything was perfect in the garden so I came a few minutes before seven o’clock.
His family had already arrived as quietly as could be managed. We had successfully kept Keith from knowing that we were planning something. I interacted with his family for a bit, playing for some time with the little children. The cake was ready and so was his present from me.
Now we all just awaited Keith’s entrance.
“You did a nice job with the preparations.” Said a voice next to my ear. I was startled for a second at the unexpected voice and turned around only to see Ethan.
“Thanks. What’re you doing here?”
“I’m here to attend the party.”
“I don’t think you got an invitation.”
“I don’t need one.”
I rolled my eyes. “Is it because I scolded you a little last night? You don’t have to be here if you don’t want to. I just wanted you to not hate Keith so openly. I get that you hate Keith and I can’t change that. I just don’t want you to show it because it can be hurtful. I wasn’t forcing you to like anyone.”
“And yet my heart is forcing my mind to like you.” He said, leaving me speechless for a minute.
“Don’t say things like that.”
“It is what it is. It was like that even before. Saying it out loud doesn’t change anything.”
“Your mind is indecisive. A few days ago you were running away from me and now you’re all about accepting things and feelings. Get a grip on your thoughts, Ethan. You shouldn’t be like this. Have you forgotten that you have a girlfriend who’s my best friend?” I looked at him accusingly.
His face changed as if he just realized it now.
“You’re right. I shouldn’t be like this.” He straightened his posture as if he just changed the way he felt.
“Seriously though, get over these? feelings.? The longer it lingers, the more unfair it is to Heather.”
He didn’t answer.
A few moments later, we spotted Keith, led by his friends into the garden, blindfolded. It wasn’t a part of the plan but it made it better.
The moment his blindfold was taken off, we all shouted “SURPRISE!”
He was clearly not expecting it as he jumped and looked a little dazed as if it was taking him longer than it should to grasp the situation.
“What is happening here?” He asked confusedly.
“Belated happy birthday!” We all said in unison to his question.
Keith looked incredibly embarrassed after he understood what exactly was going on here.
His little nieces and nephews ran towards him, hugging his legs as he tried to maintain balance. His whole family crowded around him, apologizing for forgetting his birthday and telling him how proud they were of him.
I smiled at Keith’s happy face as he interacted with them. It was obvious that he had missed his family very much. He had taken all his nephews and nieces in his arms, with one boy even sitting on his shoulders. It was an adorable sight to see him surrounded with kids and how he was so comfortable around so many of them.
He was even near to tears just by seeing his family. I wondered when was the last time he saw them.
“I’m so glad you guys are here,” he said to his brothers and sisters and their respective wives and husbands. “I missed you all so much. But why are you all here? How were you allowed in?”
Everyone pointed to me. “That lovely girl over there arranged for everything and invited us. I’m so glad you have such good friends,” a woman said. I wasn’t sure if she was his sister or his brother’s wife but nonetheless I was happy to hear it from his family.
“Juliet?” Keith had finally noticed me after his reunion with his family. “You did all this for me?”
I nodded. “I’m so sorry I didn’t wish you on your actual birthday. I wanted to make it up to you for it. This isn’t much but it’s all I could do.”
“Are you kidding? This is everything I would’ve wished for on my birthday. Just getting my family here was enough. Thank you so much.”
Keith kept staring at me as if we were the only two in the garden right now. We were smiling at each other but his gaze seemed a little different now. A little intense than what I was usually accustomed to seeing in him.
And then the view of his pretty eyes disappeared when a broad back stepped in between, blocking our eye contact.
Ethan stood in front of me. “Well aren’t you going to cut the cake?” He asked Keith, his voice a little too cheerful and nice which I knew was just him overdoing being nice to Keith.
“There’s a cake?” He asked as if he couldn’t believe his ears.
“Yeah,” I said, all of us gathering around him as a few maids rolled out a table with a humongous cake on it.
He was handed a knife.
“I feel like a little kid,” he blushed. “Juliet,? would you mind cutting the cake with me? I mean you did all this for me, I think it’s only fair that you get to cut it too.”
“Oh, no, no. I didn’t do much. Besides it was your birthday.”
“Please?”
I didn’t want to refuse him a second time so I opened my mouth to say yes but Ethan beat me to it.
“She apparently doesn’t want to but don’t worry, Kit-Kat. I’ll cut it with you.”
“Kit-Kat?”
Ethan nodded. “That’s my new nickname for you because I feel like you’re a sweet guy who everyone just seems to love.” He then directed his gaze at me, almost accusingly. I rolled my eyes at him. I wasn’t in love with Keith.
This was probably the most awkward cake cutting I had ever seen. Keith and Ethan both looked uncomfortable as they held onto the same knife. Ethan move their hands to cut the cake into triangular pieces but Keith stopped him.
“A cake is not supposed to be cut this way. We have to cut it in the middle, like a strip so that when it’s removed, the other two parts will form another circle, this time a smaller one.” Keith said, cutting the cake the way he described.
“Why does in matter? It’s just a cake. And I’ve always cut it in triangles.”
“Then you should probably change that. When you cut it in the middle, the other two parts remain fresh and taste better even if you eat it after a few days. Also, the strip that is cut makes it easier for distributing pieces of cake to people.”
Sensing that Ethan was about to argue further and possibly ruin Keith’s day, I interrupted before he said anything else. “Ethan, Keith’s a chef so I’m pretty sure he knows what he’s talking about.”
“Fine,” he said sullenly.
Everyone took turns to feed some cake to Keith. By the time everyone was done, Keith’s face was full of cake that he didn’t even have the space to chew. I suppressed my amusement at his state. He was also immediately flooded with gifts from his family and friends that I didn’t even get the time to give him his present until the very last.
“Okay, this is a lot. I’m going to go through them later.” He said.
I hoped be would like my gift.
We spent the next half an hour interacting with everyone present there. I got to know his family better and his little nieces and nephews were too adorable, reminding me of Rebecca. It had been a lot of time since I last saw her.
After some time the other cooks and kitchen staff retired to their rooms for the day and I took it as my cue to leave as well. I had arranged to safely drop off Keith’s family after they were done. I figured I should give them a little privacy, after all it had been a long time since Keith saw a any if them. So after bidding goodnight to Keith and the rest of his family, I made my way out of the garden.
Ethan had immediately left after the cake cutting, telling that he had business to attend to and told others to enjoy.
“Juliet,” a voice stopped me from taking further steps. I turned around to see it was Keith.
He reached me and smiled down at me. “I wanted to say thank you for doing what you did. I think this was the best birthday I had in many years.”
“I wanted to make you happy and show that people are there for you and care about you. I hope I did that.”
“You made me more than happy. You did so much more for me.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Now go back and spend some time with your family.” I nudged him in the opposite direction.
Keith stepped closer, a lot closer and looked at me intensely. “Can I… overstep my boundaries a little for tonight?”
“What?”
He didn’t answer but instead wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a hug. I was surprised but hugged him back. He was tall so my head only just reached his chest where I could hear his heart beating loud and fast, like how mine did when Ethan and I were close like this that one time in the hallway.
Getting this same reaction out of Keith was unsettling.
I pulled out from the hug but didn’t let anything show on my face. I smiled and said goodbye before going up to my room.
What I was thinking… was it true? I might just be linking two completely different situations together to conclude something that was far from the truth and yet there was a possibility that it was actually the truth.