A Party for Lola Read online

  Table of Contents

  A Party For Lola

  Book Details

  Charlie

  Tiffany

  Micah

  Sasha

  Lola

  About the Author

  A

  PARTY

  FOR

  Lola

  CAITLIN RICCI

  It's Lola's fortieth birthday, and she's expecting nothing more than a quiet evening at home with her family. As the day passes, however, her loved ones have something much bigger in store and are working diligently to make certain this birthday is one she'll always remember.

  A Party for Lola

  By Caitlin Ricci

  Published by Less Than Three Press LLC

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission of the publisher, except for the purpose of reviews.

  Edited by Nicole Field

  Cover designed by Natasha Snow

  This book is a work of fiction and all names, characters, places, and incidents are fictional or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is coincidental.

  First Edition March 2019

  Copyright © 2019 by Caitlin Ricci

  Printed in the United States of America

  Digital ISBN 9781684314744

  Charlie

  Lola's fortieth birthday party was tonight at five. At ten that morning I was standing in front of the bakery wondering why the hell the open sign wasn't on. Sophia was supposed to have opened Welcome Home Bakery at six am for the cinnamon roll crowd.

  Sophia was the only one in the city who made vegan cupcakes that didn't taste like a chemical mess and last year Lola had gone from being a strict vegetarian to an absolute vegan. I was amazed by her conviction. I liked cheese too much to be able to take the plunge like she had, and I hated the texture of vegan cheese. But her choice made Sophia being in the bakery to get me Lola's cupcakes absolutely necessary. I couldn't just go to the grocery store and pick up a vegan cake.

  "Come on, Sophia," I grumbled.

  I'd been trying the number for the last fifteen minutes that I'd been standing there in front of her shop off Commercial Street in Springfield. C-Street, as it was often called, wasn't busy at least. Not yet anyway. The Peruvian place down the street was going to be filling up fast for the lunch crowd. And I needed to get some presents at the tea shop, but they didn't open for another thirty minutes.

  I tried calling her again and was shocked when I didn't just get put to voicemail like the previous times.

  "Hello? Sophia here," she answered me.

  "It's Charlie. I need Lola's cupcakes. Where are you?" I was trying so hard not to be upset but really, this was important. We'd set all this up weeks ago. Forty-eight cupcakes were supposed to be in the back of my car right now.

  "OMG Charlie!"

  I really didn't need her shrieking in my ear. "Yeah. Me. Charlie. Can I get the cupcakes? It's kind of important. Party. Tonight. Important stuff." I hated repeating myself. And, also, I really hated being out in public without my people. I'd only recently, like in the last four months, started really going out in public as more and more enby. Tiffany had helped dress me that morning, which was a relief because my girlfriend had great taste, but I was trying so hard to exist in that space between what I normally presented as and what I was born as. It was such a fluid area most days, and I was great with that, but right now, with my anxiety shooting through the roof and me just wanting Lola's party to be great I was feeling so self-conscious.

  "I'll be there in ten minutes. I promise. And I'll take off fifteen percent. I'm so sorry. My cat had an emergency and we just got back from the vet and I will be right there. I promise. I'm so sorry."

  I cringed. I got it. Emergencies were emergencies. Sophia couldn't fix that and it wasn't like she could have prepared for it somehow. "It's okay. I understand. I'll be here. Thanks for the discount. How's your cat?"

  "He's in so much trouble. Little Loki. I swear to god if I didn't love him so much... No. I'd never get rid of him. But sometimes it's so damn tempting."

  I heard her keys jingle and figured she was locking up her apartment.

  "How is everyone?" she continued. "Does Lola have any idea?"

  I snorted. "I hope not. She might think we're up to something, but so far we've managed to keep this a secret. No idea how long that'll actually last, but as long as no one spills the beans by tonight we'll be okay. She could really use the pick me up party though. Work has been rough on her. She's had to go to HR a few times in the past month for stupid shit. But we're getting her sister and her kids from the airport this afternoon so maybe that'll help."

  I hated that Lola worked at such a transphobic piece of shit place as that magazine. But it was what she'd always wanted to do. What she told us about was bad enough that I wished that she would just quit already. There were four of us working, four of us making good money and willing to help support her. She could quit and take her time to get into a place that was nicer and more affirming.

  "People suck. Seriously. If I didn't love making cupcakes so much I wouldn't deal with the people part at all. Or if I could afford to hire someone to run the front part and do weddings for me that would be amazing. I'm pulling up now."

  I saw Sophia's bright yellow Beetle and I hung up with her. She hugged me and then kissed my cheek. I wiped off her bright red lipstick but I didn't really mind her affection. We'd gone to high school together. I'd dated her for all of like two weeks or something.

  "I love your hair. Did you cut it again?" Sophia asked me as she unlocked the front door. She didn't turn on the open sign. Maybe she didn't plan to actually be open all day today. I didn't blame her. Her cat probably needed her.

  "I've been messing with it," I admitted. It was long in front again but the back was shaved almost to my scalp. And it was green. I hadn't been green in a while.

  "Well, it looks awesome. Wait here. I'll be right out. Your cupcakes are in the back. They're all ready to go. For once I was ahead. Go me."

  I stood there awkwardly waiting for her while she went in the back and then came back, carrying two big flat yellow boxes with bright blue flowers on them. "Lemonade and key lime. A delicious spring combination."

  She put the boxes on the counter and I opened each of them. Not because I didn't trust her to know what she was doing, but because I wanted to see them for myself before my people devoured them tonight. Some people may have thought forty-eight cupcakes was going to be plenty for a gathering of maybe twelve people. But those people were not my people and we could easily demolish anything sweet we were handed.

  "Do they look okay?" Sophia asked. I must have been staring a bit too long. Or maybe I'd started drooling. They were perfect. And I couldn't wait to devour the sugared lemon curls on the lemonade ones.

  "Of course they do. They look amazing." I forced myself to step back before I decided to lick the icing off of at least one of them. I took out my wallet, then handed her the cash. "Don't you dare take off anything. I got the cupcakes. That's what important. And your cat emergency isn't like you slept in or completely forgot about me or anything."

  "Thanks. Say hi to everyone for me tonight, okay? I'd love to be there… but the cat."

  I hadn't even thought to ask if she wouldn't be able to attend. "Sure. Of course. See you later. We'll get dinner soon."

  *~*~*

  I had three missed calls from Tiffany when I got back in the car. She must have been feeling really frantic to call me that many times when she was supposed to be shoe shopping. We really needed to get better about shopping for each other and not leaving it all until the very last minute, only hours before we were supposed to be meeting up and then h
aving the party. How five people who loved to procrastinate had ever gotten together and made this all work for as long as we had was beyond me. But then again I wasn't complaining. I wouldn't change any of the big stuff, but this hectic last minute thing needed to be fixed before we did another birthday party for each other.

  Thankfully we had a three month break before Sasha's birthday, and they were never one for big parties.

  I called Tiffany back as I walked over to the tea shop. "Hey," I said as soon as she connected.

  "Where have you been? I've been calling you!" She was shrieking. That was never a good sign.

  "Sorry. Sophia's cat had an emergency and—"

  "How's Loki?" she interrupted me. She understood emergencies too. She was the biggest animal lover among us. Someday soon we would have to give in and go get her a cat of her own.

  I paused for a second as I crossed the street. "He's fine. I got the cupcakes. Sophia's not going to be able to make it to the party. How's shoe shopping? You're sounding a little manic." Hopefully she was managing to keep it together and not stress out another person at the store like she usually did when she was trying to control everything and nothing was going her way.

  "Don't even start with me. None of these people have shoes that are larger than a size eleven. I need cute thirteen heels in wide width and no one can give them to me."

  I winced. It was definitely good that she was out shoe shopping and not me. I would have just said screw it and gotten Lola a purse or something. But I had horrible taste, according to everyone close to me. "What about that place at the mall?" I was fairly certain that I'd seen them have bigger sizes the last time we'd stopped in there after getting the soft pretzels that Micah loved.

  Tiffany sighed dramatically. "They had pumps. That were boots. I got them anyway, but they're not my favorite. Like, they'd be okay if Lola had nothing else to wear but they're not going out dancing with her squad kind of shoes. No, I'm looking for come fuck me right here and now kind of shoes and no one in Springfield has what I need. They can order it, but that doesn't really do me any good ."

  I knew better than to bring up the idea that we should have planned better and ordered Lola's presents months ago. I leaned against the building and looked out at the street. "So... I'm at the tea shop. Would saying good luck help you at all?" I doubted it, but it was the best that I could do for her from across town.

  She laughed. Now that she'd vented, at least, she seemed to be doing better. "I need more than luck, Charlie baby. But I'll take it. Kisses, darling. Kisses."

  Tiffany hung up on me and, with that crisis firmly in what I knew were her very capable, highly manicured hands, I went into the tea shop to get a nice selection of loose leafs to add to Lola's spread of presents tonight.

  She loved peppermint tea. Peppermint was safe. But there were so many more options to choose from. I grabbed some already bagged green teas, a few whites, and a chocolate chai that smelled incredible. On second thought, the chai was going to be for me. We weren't supposed to be shopping for ourselves, but I highly doubted that Tiffany would pass up a perfect pair of heels if she happened to see some for herself and I wasn't going to miss out on a new chai that I'd never tried either.

  I grabbed Lola a new coffee mug on the way up to the check out counter too. There were never enough clean mugs in our house.

  I had my birthday party errands done with plenty of time to spare, just the way I wanted. But it occurred to me that Tiffany needed a break. I knew she could handle everything. She always did. But I wanted to give her a little bit of a moment just to breathe too between the errands she had planned. She also had to go get Lola's sister and kids after she was done shopping. I turned into the parking lot for our favorite cafe and texted her.

  Feel like getting some coffee?

  Her text back was instant as if she had been looking at her phone already. No more than ten minutes ok?

  I wouldn't let her be any more frantic than she already was. I promise. I'm at our cafe right now. Be here soon?

  I'm on my way.

  She was too. Not more than five minutes later she was pulling up beside me and then we walked into the cafe, hand in hand. She was taller than me, and way prettier than anyone I knew. Tiffany was grace and beauty and I loved her kick ass demeanor. When she looked around the room it was as if she was sizing every person there up and deciding whether or not they would be trouble for us.

  No one was, thankfully. The cafe was queer owned, queer ran, and very queer friendly. The bathroom was a single space and had a unicorn on it. I ordered a green tea latte, Tiffany ordered something called a mermaid special that had sprinkles and whip cream and looked like melted cotton candy, and then we were sitting next to each other on the couch, her hand in mind as we sipped and enjoyed a quiet moment together in the busy cafe.

  "Do the cupcakes look amazing?" Tiffany asked when she'd finished nearly half of her drink.

  "Yeah." I leaned against her shoulder. She was back to looking around, meeting the gaze of anyone who looked at us a little too long.

  "No one is going to bother us here," I assured her. It was, after all, why this was our cafe.

  "Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe not me but you're small and adorable."

  I rolled my eyes, but I didn't argue with her anymore than that. If she wanted to protect me she was welcome to, even when I didn't need protecting from anything. "Did you get what you needed?"

  She looked away from the people in the cafe to turn and kiss me. It was just a quick kiss. But I was grateful for it. We were all stressed and running around and any little bit of calming affection was welcome at that point.

  "No, but I've got one more shoe store to check before I give up."

  We sat there quietly together, just enjoying each other and our drinks, until she had to go and I got the cupcakes home.

  Tiffany

  The sales clerk at the last shoe store came back out with the perfect shoes. I loved them. I wanted them for myself. But they were for Lola. Every perfect silvery shiny six inch heel lace up bit of perfection that they were.

  "I need them," I told her before she'd even brought them to me. I reached out my hands and made grabby motions. I couldn't help it. I was like a magpie. I needed those shinies and I needed them now.

  She looked stunned. Maybe my earlier desperate tirade had scared her. Maybe not. I hoped not. I didn't want to be a horrible customer. I'd probably already fallen well away from that line though.

  "Are you sure you don't want to try them on first?" she asked me. It was probably something she had to say. She definitely looked done with me. Exasperation was not a good look for her. I'd have to come back and apologize when I wasn't feeling quite so stretched thin.

  "They're not for me. My girlfriend is five-five, if that. She can rock these." I was a little over six foot. I would have been a giraffe in these heels. I tended toward ones that weren't over two inches. Ever. I wished that I could have worn the heels though. Heels made her ass look amazing.

  I could be jealous about my girlfriend's body later. I had to get going now.

  I quickly paid for them, they were bagged up, and then I was off to my next stop. Shoes were nice, but this was my girlfriend's fortieth birthday. Two pairs of shoes were not going to cut it, as pretty as they were.

  With forty minutes to spare before I needed to go get Lola's sister and kids from the Springfield airport, I hit the perfume store at the other end of the strip mall. It was also a makeup store. Nice makeup too. A bit expensive, but the good stuff generally was. Just like wine.

  Thankfully perfume didn't only come in tiny sizes and hide in the back room if they were anything bigger so I didn't need immediate help as I browsed the different offerings. My girlfriend wouldn't smell like dead roses, but something lavender based was right up her alley. It didn't take me long to find something.

  I could have left it at that, but this was my last chance to get Lola something for her birthday and the makeup was definitely calling me over. Two
pairs of shoes, a bottle of sweet perfume, and some new lipstick would be a good combo.

  I was browsing the deep reds that would have looked fantastic with Lola's gorgeous dark skin when my phone starting buzzing. Micah was at home cleaning the house in preparation for the party, but apparently my boyfriend was also worried all about me too. Are you at the airport yet? The flight might be early.

  He really needed to relax. Micah, my love, I'll be there soon. I'm shopping right now. Relax.

  I had hoped that would help him get over his need to micromanage everything around him, even when none of us were home, but apparently not. It's half an hour before the plane is set to land. You can't still be shopping. Buy it and go.

  He was crazy. There was no ‘just buying' with me. He should have known that by now. Still, to get him to chill out, I grabbed the lipstick and went to the counter. It was moisturizing. It promised incredible color and all day wear. I wondered if it would survive being kissed by four people. We would see.

  Moments later I had that little errand done and I was back in my car. It was probably the quickest of my makeup related shopping trips. Micah should have been proud of me about that.

  *~*~*

  The Springfield airport was tiny, but that made parking awesome. I stood there in the waiting area looking at Facebook and Twitter and wondering how everyone else was doing with their portions of the party when something small and warm wrapped around my waist.

  I looked down, surprised to be caught so off guard, at the sight of my niece's smiling face. Kiley was five. She was perpetually smiling. "Hey kiddo."

  I glanced around, expecting to find Emily, Lola's sister, and Todd, her son, as well. They weren't far behind.

  "Auntie Tiffany?"

  "Yeah?" I put my phone back in my purse and carefully picked her up. Carefully because I didn't want to risk my skirt riding up. My underwear tucked everything in nicely, but the people around us didn't get a peek.

  "You're so pretty. Will you teach me how to do makeup? Mom says I'm too young."