The perfect gift

“I have to get Asa something special.” Sandra looked down at her phone, the notification bubble that indicated that someone is writing was still active for the last ten minutes.

“I don’t see the point, it’s just a birthday.” Cynthia finished the small designs on her nails. One of the hearts was lopsided, but she wasn’t worried about perfection. “If it falls on a weekday, you celebrate it on the weekend.”

Sandra slightly parted her hair. “Some people would be happy with just that. It’s going to be Low-key anyway. That’s why I’m trying to get a hold of their own roommate.”

The bubble stopped. The message popped up.

Cynthia went into the small bathroom, fixing up her bob to present herself as semi-professional. She smiled as she spied Sandra looking at the phone, jumping excitedly. She brushed off Sandra’s extra hair from her shoulders.  She carefully grabbed her sports bag and made her out the door.

  ****

 Sandra cursed as she saw the gift she was looking for online was out of stock. To calm her nerves, she sipped at her chocolate oolong tea.

Cynthia blankly looked at Sandra’s tablet on her way out the door. “The shipping time was two weeks anyway. There’s a place downtown that has the same thing.”

Sandra gave Cynthia a look that said And how long have we’ve known each other? “It’s not the same exact thing. In any case, I have backups. Oliver has given me a list I printed out.” Sandra held up the list to emphasize her point.

“Asa’s birthday is on the 9^th. That’s no time.”

“I have time, Cyn, chill!” Sandra wrapped her worn pink pajamas clad body against her well-maintained pastels attire. “I will do my best to have some chill time.” She leaned her head against hers.

“Do what you can, don’t stress about it, sweetie. Have I taught you nothing?” She stressed out the last words, waving her hands around for emphasis.

“Oh I can’t really say that when you’ve shown me the stars in a whole new way.”

Both of them gave a secretive smile. “Don’t let this take over your life.” Cynthia warned. “You’ll never find your way out.”

“I have at least 3 other presents to look for as options. Easy.”

“I should give Asa money, they’ll appreciate it.” Sandra looked at her lack of results of anything substantial. She had taken up most of the table as her desk, while Cynthia finished making her smoothie and sat down on the plastic chairs.  Cynthia had to keep herself fit, given her job.

“A gift card to a store of their liking would work too.” Cynthia suggested.

Sandra tied back her dark curls, wiping the sweat off her brow.  “I got confirmation that Seban is buying a binder for them. Lucia is getting them the chance to do a portrait, from her job. All sunshine and roses there.”

“And the coloring book from that cancelled show?”

“Just got outbidded.” Sandra stretched her body out. “I don’t want to just settle for just money and just a gift card. It’s a very important milestone for Asa.”

“Given my relative newness in your life, I may be overstepping.  I’ve never met Asa, but I think there’s something more than stressing over a gift.”

Sandra’s hand gripped on a mini clay clump she used to destress her muscles. “This is their first birthday, since coming out publicly. It took a long for them to be fully comfortable with their identity. And I want to make It something special to mark this occasion.”

“You’ll think of something. Perfect is not everything. “

Sandra’s eyes widen. “I think I got an idea.” She lightly tapped Cynthia’s cheeks. “Good luck with your day.”

“Same to you, Miss Perky Pants.”

*****

 Cynthia finished straightening her hair, admiring her work. She talked to Sandra late after she returned from work, that she talked with her friends about where the small gathering would end up for the occasion and would have the party here.

“So you decided to have this in our apartment.”

“Look the park was out, they said it was going to rain. And restaurants are out given the short time we had. It’ll be a perfect gift. We’re doing a potluck on top of it! Easy peasy!”

“Easy until it isn’t.” Cynthia muttered under her breath. She took out her good earrings, the one with the sparkly pink around in a circle.

Cynthia navigated her way around the decorated living room, with red, pink, and purple colored streamers all around. She was hesitant to join in at first, as all of Sandra’s friend were from high school and college. Literal years compared to her. Sandra was talking with the person of the hour, who’s back was to Cynthia.

“…And really, who was sort of friend would I be if I had forgotten one of my closest friends’ birthday?” Sandra stopped herself as she saw Cynthia. She waved her hand excitedly. “Asa, you’ve got to meet Cynthia, she gave me the inspiration to get all this done!”

Cynthia waved her hand. “It was nothing, really. I didn’t want to stress about it too much.”

Asa turned around. “Like that time you stressed about the bunny hole?”

The binder they had one may have compressed her breast by a size or two, and they had little makeup on, but she would recognize her face, even after all this time.

Cynthia’s lip turned upwards and gave her old girlfriend a hug. “Krista!”

“It’s Asa, now.” Asa gently reminded their ex-girlfriend.

“You too were together,” Sandra swirled her head at them both. “When did this happened?” She only had been with Cynthia for 6 months, both as a roommate and as a partner. And as far as she knew, she never really hanged out with Sandra’s friends.

“That one semester in London I took in Middlesex, I had this girlfriend for a few months. That’s was when you were referring to yourself as ‘Cyn’. Small world after all. I did try to contact you.”

Cynthia gave out a small smile. “I changed my number; my mum had a family plan that was much cheaper for me. I had to think about rent.”

“It’s good to see you finally accomplished your dream.”

“It took ages, never really got the K-1 visa, but I found a way.” She secretly smiled. “Glad you found a way to your true self.”

****

When Sandra and the rest of the party wasn’t looking, they exchanged numbers once more. Sandra worked odd hours due to her various temp jobs. The latest one she had her working the late night shifts. That was when they decided, it would be the best time to see each other. Two birds, one stone. For her late birthday gift. Cyn had a couple of extra pairs of X’s they could use, and, with the dry spell lately, she was looking for a new partner to play with. She loved Sandra, with most of her heart. But some games are off limits for her, with good reason. Now, with Krista back in her life, she knew she found someone worthy.