Snowflake Day again. Nathaniel and Elizabeth invited a bunch of friends over and the crowding and strangers made Mimi nervous. During the present-opening, she ducked into the kitchen and made a cup of coffee, hoping it would calm her nerves. She sat alone for several minutes, trying calm down.
She was sitting at the kitchen island, listening to the muted sounds of the distant party, when the kitchen door opened with an impersonal click. Assuming that Elizabeth had followed her, she didn’t bother to look up from her cup.
A male voice spoke, startling Mimi more than she cared to admit. “Hi,” he said simply.
She half jumped out of her skin, her eyes flying to the man who now had her cornered, alone, in the kitchen. She gasped involuntarily, and he held one hand up, his expression apologetic.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Rodney Singleton said. He’d been invited, rather inexplicably, by Elizabeth, and had brought his brother Booker and sister-in-law Imogen (who for some reason wore a bikini) in tow. “These kinds of things always make me kind of anxious. I was looking for an escape route,” his lips pulled into a half smile.
“You’re not the only one,” Mimi replied dryly, relaxing now.
“May I sit?” Rodney asked, indicating the stool beside her.
“Of course,” Mimi said, scooting her stool a bit to the side to make room for him.
Rodney sat down, looking at her all the while. She’s so beautiful, he thought dreamily, his thoughts drifting like dandelion seeds on a summer day. Suddenly he realized it had been a while since anyone had spoken, and that it was his turn to do so. He tried to think of something suave to say, but his mind was a blank.
“So, uh, how about the weather? Weird to have no snow on Snowflake Day.” Rodney was echoing the chatter he’d heard in the living room, at the party. Rodney had never spent a Snowflake Day in Champs Les Sims, and thus had no idea if the snowfall this year was a normal or abnormal amount.
Mimi half-smiled, amused at his bumbling attempt at conversation. “Not to me,” she said. “I grew up on Sunlit Tides, so we never had snow on Snowflake Day. To be honest, snow is still a little foreign to me. Pretty, but foreign.”