A Mushy Love Story

It was Steve’s first day, first staff meeting. This meeting came with a meet and greet and welcome back Potluck before getting down to business. Steve sat at a table with Principal Tate, Vice Principal Harris, and Susan, the head secretary. 

“Are you finding everything you need, Steve?”Susan asked. 

“Oh yes. Thank you Susan. You have been so helpful.” He had the habit of accidentally over loading his plate at buffets and was a bit embarrassed by his heap of lasagne on top of another assorted items he couldn’t resist. He was working hard not to get sauce on his shirt or pants, wiping his mouth after each bite. 

After a long half hour of partaking in small talk of the best stapler brands and summer gardens, and maintaining his professional air, finally, Principal Tate stood to throw her lunch remains away and that gave Steve a chance to mingle elsewhere. But where? With who? He got another seltzer and stood against the wall to take in his new “work family”. 

The kitchen started bringing out desert, walking right past him. 

“Looks good,” he humored the staff as they went by. 

Then, one walked by with a beautifully aromatic apple pie. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on a slice. 

“Dessert’s on!” shouted Principal Tate and Steve made a dash.

“Who doesn’t love apple pie!” He said right at the same time as a woman who raced in from the other end, with the same determination as Steve. They both laughed at the surprise, and Mia said, “You first.”  

“Oh no, you go first,” he gestured. With a smile.

“Oh no. You’re the newbie, and newbies always go first: Stanton Junior High School rule.”

“Is that so? Well, I don’t want to break any rules on my first day.”

He dug in and then stepped aside for her. 

“I’m Steve, by the way.”

“Oh! Science?”

“That’s me. And you are?”

“I’m Mia! You’re the new hire in my rotation team. I’m math.” She tried to reach her hand out but they both realized they were too busy balancing pie, fork, napkin and drink. 

Instant connection, but they couldn’t date, because that would be inappropriate for work, so they became close friends instead. They did everything together: movies, dinners, TV at each other’s houses—mostly Mia’s because of her girls. (he became Uncle Steve!). But at the end of each night, they went their separate ways. They never broke the rules. 

Just as well, Mia figured, because she had her two little girls, and Steve, well he’s only been widowed one year, so… friends was a perfect solution!

From the moment Steve met Mia over that apple pie, he often thought of quitting, just so he could date her. But he too, figured patience and the friends route was the right move.

Walking was their favorite activity together. With his science flair and her mathematical mind, the two of them loved to admire nature together and patterns and rhythms of the world. They had private jokes and a language with math and science terminology no one understood, and would burst out laughing, leaving others in the party dumbfounded. 

Three years into this special friendship, it was a spring day and they sat on a bench at their favorite spot in the park, by the “field” of fiddleheads. 

Steve said, “Hey Mia, I’ve got some news I want to share with you, and I also want to ask you a question.” She turned toward him very curious, and worried at the same time. “Don’t be mad at me,” he stuttered. “I hope you’ll be as happy as I am..”

“Steve, you’re my best friend. Of course I’ll be supportive and happy for you.I..”

And then he just blurted it out. “I took a new job in a different school.” 

Her face was one of horror. “How can you do that to me? We’re such a good team! What if they hire another teacher I can’t stand? I can’t get along without you!”

“I know,” he grabbed onto her hands. “I can’t get along without you, either.”

“What? Well, then, why are you leaving?”

“Remember, I said I had some news, and a question?”

“Yeah, but..”

He stood up and paced for a moment before he turned to her and said, “I’m leaving our team Mia, so I can be with you, really be with you. I can’t take it any more. I’m so in love with you. I have been, I think, since day one, and I’m hoping you’re feeling the same way as I am, or I’ll feel like such a fool if you don’t, but,” He took a deep breath. “My question is, well the reason I took a job at another school is so I can ask you—- Will you marry me?” 

She didn’t hesitate a second. She jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck and his around her waist and they kissed for the very first time, for a very long time, meshed as one, kissing, and swaying back and forth, like a pendulum, wildly at first, gently settling into a perfect stillness of the feeling at ‘home at last’. 

He whispered in her ear, “I want to do this right.” And he led her back to the bench. As she sat, he kneeled beside her and pulled from his pocket a little box. 

“You didn’t!” Mia said. 

“Of course I did!” He sprang open the box. 

“Oh my God! You did do it! I always said you were the best listener!” she said as she watched him take a thin gold ring with a small emerald at it’s tip out of the box and slip it on her finger. Steve learned from many conversations they had about their opinions about the institution of marriage, and she had stated that she never wanted a traditional diamond ring. She would want a very small, delicate emerald, her birth stone. This ring was one of the millions of things Steve knew and loved about Mia.

At their wedding, they had apple pie for dessert instead of the traditional wedding cake. Rows on pie slices on plates, waited behind the new family of four who stood around a full apple pie on a pedestal.

“Ladies and gentlemen, and children and all, “Harvey, Steve’s best friend began clinking his glass. When he had everyone’s attention, he continued. “It’s time for the bride and groom and their children to cut the cake, but instead of cake we shall have pie. Why? Because from what I hear from the bride an groom, ‘Who doesn’t love apple pie?!’”

 The crowd chuckled and Harvey yelled, “Drum roll please!” Everyone began drumming on tables and Harvey shouted, “To the tune of, Ready! Set! 

Go! 

All four of them reached all their hands into the pie and smashed it all over each other’s faces