Cupcake Read online

  ‘We made eye contact and both of us immediately smiled.’

  ‘It was her smile and her eyes that did it for me, I mean she’s gorgeous, anyone can see that, but when she smiled something went off inside me like a firework - this overwhelming feeling that I had to hold on to this girl somehow.’

  ‘His first word to me was Coffee? I don’t think I actually responded, I just nodded.’

  ‘That’s so sweet,’ said Elsie, melting.

  ‘I was late to work, he was late to his meeting but it somehow just didn’t matter. The only problem was that Tom lived in Oxford and I lived in Queens.’

  ‘What did you do?’

  ‘For a little while we lived in New York together - Tom asked to relocate, then I got made redundant and around the same time he got transferred back to Oxford and by that time we were engaged and wanted to start a family anyway so it all just made sense.’

  ‘Serendipity,’ smiled Cole.

  ‘We nearly called Marlie that,’ laughed Tom.

  ‘Seren for short,’ said Anna.

  ‘Maybe the next one?’ he suggested, that quick charm that Elsie found so attractive making her heart beat faster in her chest.

  Anna’s eyes went round. ‘How many do you want?’

  He grinned.

  The more Elsie talked to them, the more she was afraid she was making a mistake. They had such a beautiful relationship, and such a wonderful past, she didn’t want to be the destructive force that ruined their future. She really liked them too, they were fun, and interesting and she felt comfortable around them both, and that didn’t happen often at her age. New friends were hard to come by the older you got.

  But there was more going on here than just two couples getting to know one another and enjoying some dinner together.

  She could sense it. They were both sending signals, the kind of signs of interest people give out on a first date.

  And Anna’s stockings... she had worn those beneath a pair of thick woollen tights. She’d said herself that pragmatism came before narcissism, and yet her choice of underwear screamed otherwise.

  What else was she hiding under there? Elsie wanted to know, piece by piece. It was time to step this up a gear.

  ‘Shall we have a little break?’ she said. ‘Then have some pudding?’

  ‘Oh my goodness, pudding? I’m so full,’ said Anna, touching her little round tummy delicately, then she whispered. ‘I could do with a quick wee though.’

  *

  As Anna sat back down adjusting her dress - Elsie doing her best to peak - Cole returned with a selection of puddings on a large wooden tray.

  ‘We have raspberry meringue, with a choice of chocolate sauce and a small selection of cheese and biscuits,’ he said as he placed it all down in front of them and began handing out the bowls.

  ‘This is incredible,’ said Anna. ’Did you make all of this yourself?’

  ‘Cole loves to cook,’ said Elsie, beaming with pride. ‘I sometimes wonder if he should’ve been a chef.’

  ‘He can be my chef whenever he likes,’ said Anna, glowing as she sampled the meringue.

  ‘Try the chocolate sauce,’ said Elsie, dipping a spoon into the bowl and proferring it towards Anna’s lips. Ever so delicately she leaned forward, sliding the spoon between her lips. A moment later her eyes went wide and she blushed. ‘Oh my, I think I just fell in love.’

  Elsie laughed, watching as Anna dabbed her lip and then licked her finger, adjusting her thighs beneath the table and then shivering with delight.

  She took a deep breath and then bit her lip, bursting into laughter as her whole body flushed with embarrassment. ‘Oh my goodness.’

  ‘That good?’

  She nodded, unable to look Cole or her husband in the eye. Beneath the table her foot brushed against Elsie’s, and stayed there.

  ‘Whose turn is it?’ said Cole, scooping up a spoonful of raspberry.

  ‘It’s my go,’ said Elsie, bouncing up and down with excitement. ‘Never have I ever…had a one night stand.’

  Anna’s eyes went wide and she gasped. ‘Naughty. You said this wasn’t going to get rude.’

  ‘I lied,’ Elsie clapped with excitement and looked around as the other’s hesitated with their drinks.

  ‘Oh, wait,’ she said suddenly and picked hers up, knocking it back and grinning before slamming it back down.

  ‘Elsie, I am disappointed in you,’ said Anna, then she winked and did the same as the two men burst into laughter. ‘You drank first, you spill first. You can cover your ears if you want boys.’

  Cole shook his head grinning. ’Not much surprises me these days, Anna.’

  ‘Ouch,’ she laughed shocked at his candid response.

  ‘It’s a fair comment,’ grinned Elsie. ‘Ok, I’ll go first.’

  She paused for a moment gathering her thoughts when Anna interrupted, grinning and whispering as she leaned forward. ‘Are you trying to settle on just one?’

  ‘Bitch,’ she hissed, laughing through bright red cheeks as she raised her middle finger. ‘But yes, I am. I’m just trying to decide if I go with the PG-13 or the R-Rated version.’

  ‘Despite what I said earlier, this is the first time in two years we’ve been out without the kids for an evening,’ said Anna with a straight face. ‘I want the hardcore version.’

  Elsie giggled and hid her face as she composed herself, taking a deep breath and smiling at the change of attitude. ‘Ok, but I apologise in advance to my husband. In fact, I’m just not going to look at you.’

  ‘Go ahead,’ he laughed.

  ‘Oh fuck, this backfired,’ she laughed before finally composing herself. ‘Ok, so this happened a year before I met Cole. My sister had just started University in Scotland and she’d been asking me to come and visit her for ages. I wasn’t keen as it was a long journey - something like six and half hours on the train - and I’d have to stay overnight in some dirty dorm room, but after the first term she was desperate and practically begging, so I agreed. I bought a ticket, slept and read most of the way there and met her at the station. She was bouncing with energy when I saw her, it was lovely and honestly pretty infectious. When she and I get together we always have a lot of fun, but I was struggling to stay motivated after such a long journey, not to mention stiff and hungry. Anyway, it’s like eight at night already so we head to this pizza place and then she suggest’s meeting up with some friends of hers at a nightclub they all liked.’

  ‘So far, so PG,’ nodded Anna, her attention rapt.

  ‘We get there, find her friends - they were all really nice - and we’re queueing up and it starts to rain. This isn’t abnormal in Scotland, obviously, but on this occasion it really starts to hammer down and a few minutes later we start to hear the rumble of thunder too. The queue isn’t moving at all, and I’m thinking this isn’t worth waiting for. Then this cute guy in front of us turns around and smiles at me. He’s a bit older than some of the other kids in the queue, but still younger than me, and so I smile back. We start to talk - he’s Norwegian looking with a slight accent - and he says why don’t we all come back to his place and have a few drinks?’

  ‘Things are heating up,’ smiled Anna, rubbing her hands together as Cole shook his head.

  ‘Standing out in the rain for goodness knows how long versus hanging out at this guys place? It was a pretty easy choice. When we get there, he’s got this amazing studio loft apartment - of course - it’s covered in crazy modernist art work. It’s exactly as you imagine the stereotype. Mid twenties, freelance artist, hipster, socialite, bachelor, living in the city. He ticked every box. He even had one of those topknot hairstyles before they became fashionable. This guy was way ahead of his time, and he is muscle bound - I’m not kidding, this guy could’ve bench pressed a car by the look of him. The storm at this point, by the way, is absolutely raging. He has one of those orangeries that looks out over the city and it looks like someone is just running a hose over it.’

  Anna grinned excite
dly and then looked at Cole. ‘I think we’re reaching the part where you cover your ears.’

  Elsie laughed and looked sheepishly at her husband before continuing. ‘It was a really fun night, we played some games, drank, danced. Me and this guy are hitting it off-,’

  ‘Wait,’ said Anna, holding up her hand. ‘You don’t even remember his name do you?’

  Elsie bit her lip and then shook her head as Anna threw her head back laughing. ‘As I said,’ she continued. ‘Me and this guy are hitting it off, and by around three in the morning, my sister is fast asleep - somehow with all the thunder - curled up with her friend on the couch, two of the guys are playing ping pong - because of course he had a ping pong table - and the other girl has passed out on the floor whilst playing some game on his wall mounted TV. Next thing I know, he takes my hand, smiles and leads me up the spiral staircase to his split level bedroom.’

  ‘Don’t get shy on us now,’ said Anna, her face a picture of glee.

  ‘When we get up there, we both just start tearing at each other’s clothes, he ripped my tights and I don’t even know where my knickers ended up - I had to walk back to my sisters dorm without either the following morning - he probably kept them as a trophy.’

  Anna’s face was frozen in amused horror as she listened.

  ‘We start-,’ she paused and looked at Cole apologetically. ‘Fucking… and oh my goodness, he’s good. Really good. I came fast - within a few minutes - from just his dick, but he wasn’t done. He fucked me every way you can imagine, missionary, cowgirl, reverse cowgirl, doggy, prone. I lost count of how many times I came. My sister couldn’t look me in the eye the following morning. Anyway, after an hour or two - fuck knows how long - I can sense he’s close. His muscles go tight, he’s thrusting harder, his head is back and he’s moaning deeper and then he goes silent, and as I look up at him there’s this flash of lightning and all the lights go out and all I can see is this guys face in the after burn, eyes closed, mouth open… and then I feel him come - and it’s like a firehose - and then BOOM - this huge crash of thunder shakes the whole damn apartment.’

  Anna burst into laughter, covering her mouth with her hand as she roared.

  ‘It was insane, I was both turned on and utterly terrified at the same time and I came again, really hard.’

  ‘You fucked Thor!’ squealed Anna.

  Elsie burst into laughter as she nodded. ‘The thought has crossed my mind over the years.’

  ‘Seriously?’ Anna began to count on her fingers. ‘No name, top knot, muscles, blonde, Norwegian looking. Start’s a frickin’ storm to get you into bed? You fucked Thor.’

  ‘I gotta be honest,’ said Cole, leaning forward. ‘I prefer that theory too. I can’t be emasculated by a Thunder God, I’m a mortal, it doesn’t even compare.’

  ‘Oh no,’ Elsie waved her finger. ‘You are way better than him. It’s not even a fair comparison. If he was Thor, then you are Eros.’

  ‘Wow,’ said Anna. ‘That is a compliment.’

  Elsie glanced over and saw that Anna was blushing. Their eyes met and lingered for a moment and then Anna took a deep breath, turning to her husband with flushed cheeks. ‘I think it’s your turn hubby?’

  He grinned and then leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table and making a steeple with his fingers. ‘Never have I ever… lied in this game.’

  ‘Ooooh, interesting,’ hummed Anna, looking around at each of them in turn, making a show of trying to read their faces. After a moment, Cole lifted his drink and knocked it back.

  Elsie gasped, her eyes wide in shock as she turned to look at him. ‘Wait, what? When?’

  ‘Isn’t that rather the point of lying,’ he laughed. ‘To get away with it?’

  ‘No, you can’t do that, that’s not fair. Was it the one night stand thing? You have haven’t you? I knew it.’

  ‘I’m not saying anything.’

  ‘Oh my goodness, this is going to drive me mad,’ she said, deep in thought as she bit down on her nail.

  ‘Good,’ he laughed, running his tongue along his lips. ‘I like to keep you guessing.’

  ‘You suck,’ her face brightened for a moment and she sat up. ‘Oh! I know, you stole something?’

  ‘Your heart. Too easy.’

  She sagged. ‘You’ve never seen a ghost, even if you had, you’d have rationalised it into a reflection of a painting or something.’

  ‘Which leaves…’ said Tom.

  Elsie looked up, confused. ‘Falling in love at first sight?’

  Cole smiled and said nothing.

  ‘Awww,’ said Anna. ‘You fell in love with the raging psycho the first time you saw her naked?’

  Cole burst out laughing and pointed two finger guns at Anna.

  ‘You’ve never told me that before,’ said Elsie quietly.

  ‘I knew the moment I saw you,’ he said quietly. ‘Like Anna said, it was just there, in my mind. Something clicked and I knew.’

  ‘But I was naked and threatening you,’ she laughed.

  ’It was instinctual, you can tell the difference between acting crazy and actual crazy, and there was something about you… and I just fell in love. There was no way I was leaving that room without you.’

  Elsie wiped a solitary tear away from her eye and then she stood up and kissed her husband, pecking his cheek and lips and head over and over.

  ‘I love you,’ she said. ‘You’re such a cheesy fucker, but I love you.’

  ‘Well, that was beautiful,’ said Anna as she knocked back her drink. ‘Who’s next?’

  ‘Whoa, wait - wait, wait! You just drank!’ shouted Elsie, pointing, one hand draped around her husband, stroking his chest with her fingers.

  ‘Did I?’ she laughed, acting innocent as Tom started to laugh, knowingly.

  ‘No,’ said Elsie, shocked. ‘You knew?’

  He nodded, hiding his face.

  ‘There might have been one small detail I withheld during an earlier answer.’

  ‘You have to tell us,’ laughed Elsie.

  ‘Ok. When I was living in New York, it’s true that I was working as a desk clerk, but I had a second job too.’

  Elsie’s eyes widened.

  ‘And on the day I met Tom, I wasn’t blissfully wandering around, idyllically looking up at the sights.’

  ‘What were you doing?’

  ‘I was dressed up as a hot dog.’

  Elsie burst into laughter. ‘No way.’

  ‘Yes way,’ she laughed. ‘I even had a dance.’

  She stood up and began to pirouette around the dining room, recalling the steps.

  ‘We didn’t romantically bump into each other, I knocked him flat because I wasn’t looking where I was going when I did my signature twirl.’

  Elsie was laughing so hard now that tears were streaming down her face. ‘That’s so beautiful.’

  Tom leaned forward. ’We both ended up in a heap on the pavement, and I had to help her out of the costume as it was all twisted. That’s when I saw her smile for the first time, and that’s when I fell in love... With a hot dog.’

  ‘That’s amazing,’ said Elsie as Anna sat down, the laughter fading.

  Elsie put down her fork, the last to finish her pudding. There was a long silence around the table as she dabbed again at her lip with her napkin, delicately licking at the errant splash of chocolate sauce that had escaped her spoon.

  There was an undeniable chemistry in the room. It was electric, flammable even, as though one spark might set the room alight. She felt hot and she grinned as she squished her thighs together in an effort to quell her arousal, pressing her hands deep into her crotch and sensing how wet she was.

  They were looking to her to move things forward. This was her chance, she hoped.

  ‘Shall we move to the lounge? The fire’s still going… We should be cosy in there?’

  Flashes of memory of making love to Alice burst into her mind’s eye and she stifled a grin.

  ‘I’d love that,’ s
aid Anna, smiling as her foot brushed softly against Elsie’s. ‘Lead the way.’

  ‘I’ll go get some more drinks,’ said Cole, standing up.

  ‘This is so nice,’ said Anna as she stood too. ‘I’m so glad we met you both.’

  ‘I’m glad we met too,’ said Elsie, resisting the urge to take Anna’s hand.

  ‘I’m interested in this fireplace,’ said Tom, interjecting, standing up beside his wife and looking out toward the lounge with curiosity in his eyes.

  Elsie smiled at them both as she stood at last and beckoned for them to follow, her whole body tingling with taboo exhilaration.

  *

  ‘Now it’s Tom’s turn,’ said Anna, cradling her drink as she sat nestled next to Elsie on the carpet, a blanket over them both. Tom and Cole had taken up an arm chair each, facing toward the fire as the girl’s sat to the side.

  The fireplace roared, warming Anna’s back and soft arms as she brushed against Elsie’s thigh with the palm of her hand.

  After finishing their meal, Elsie had led them through to the lounge and Cole had busied himself bringing through drinks and then stoking the fire, returning it quickly to its full force as Elsie grinned, memories of her and her husband’s first time with Alice, right here on this same rug two years ago at the forefront of her mind.

  Tom had questioned her about the history of the fireplace - she refrained from telling him about her personal history with it - and she had relished the opportunity to share some of her findings, and for a few minutes they had chatted easily, until at last they had all settled back down, drinks in hand, to finish the game.

  ‘Ok,’ said Tom, his deep voice and natural charm focusing the room. ‘Are we ready? Never have I ever… flashed someone.’

  Elsie burst out laughing and drank as Anna’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘Oh my goodness, I did not have you down as a flasher.’

  ‘Pretty sure half the boys I went to Uni with have seen my tits,’ she laughed, wiping her lips. ‘They were not an uncommon sight on a night out.’

  Cole laughed and then pointed at Tom as he subtly drank, almost as though he was trying to hide it. ‘You too?’