Page 15 of A Wonderland Wish on Ever After Street
I knew his sunny smile was hiding more beneath the surface, and I get the feeling he’s simplifying something that goes alotdeeper.
‘This wasn’t my initial plan, but I believe in making the best of things and embracing what life throws at you, so maybe we can help each other here. No better place than Wonderland to find the joy in life again?’
I find myself smiling as I look at him. I want tobelieve that, but in recent years, it’s felt like getting my spark for life back is… ‘An insurmountable challenge that only a fool would take on.’
‘One fool at your service.’ He replaces the stack of hats on his head solely so he can tip them in my direction.
It’s impossible not to laugh. He makes the world seem brighter than it has for a while now, and I don’t think it’sjustthe electric-blue hair and lime green jacket.
6
‘Don’t you ever eat your own creations?’ Bram asks the following morning when he comes in from the back room, carrying two cups of tea and places one on the counter in front of me.
Today’s selections are Millionaire’s shortbreads, sticky toffee pudding tarts, and lemon cakes that I’m currently adding lemon butter icing to, and Bram opens the display case and takes his usual pick for breakfast. I’m still decorating the last of the cakes and he pulls the stool up to the counter again and sits opposite me, using a spiral patterned serviette as a makeshift plate.
He’s wearing a shirt with colourful clocks printed all over it, and I can’t help noticing that he hasn’t shaved today, and the added stubble makes him look sexier than usual.
‘Yes,’ I lie. The truth is that I’ve been avoiding it, both scared of running out of stock and not wanting to break the illusion that they taste as good as they look. What if I try one and they really are dried-up pre-packaged supermarket stock that someone’s gone to town with butter icing on?
‘Go on, have cake for breakfast, live large,’ he says. ‘There’s aslim possibility that you might enjoy it. If cake for breakfast can’t improve even the darkest of days, there really is no hope.’
He looks so earnest as he sits there, and apart from a few finger swipes of the icing I’m putting on, I haven’t eaten anything else yet today. And I have been given a cup of tea, and it does feel a bit wrong to obstinately refuse the cake when it’s right next to me. ‘Fine.’
‘Never has anyone had to be persuaded to eat cake before. You are a strange and unusual phenomenon to mankind, Cleo Jordan.’
‘You can talk,’ I mutter as I take one of the lemon cakes I’m icing and take a bite. ‘Happy now?’
‘Ecstatic. So overjoyed that my hardened little soul mayburstwith delight.’ On the word ‘burst’, he pulls a hand out from nowhere and?—
‘Don’t you dare!’
It’s too late. He throws a handful of glitter over both of us.
I make a noise of frustration. ‘What iswrongwith you?’
‘A question that has puzzled many renowned scientists for decades, but no one has ever come up with an answer. They’ve eventually had to agree that I really am just a bit of a weirdo.’
‘You can say that again,’ I grumble.
‘Oh, thank you.’ He clears his throat. ‘I really am just a bit of a weirdo.’
He’s doing it deliberately now. He knows it’s winding me up. After what I said about glitter yesterday, heknewthe one thing that would drive me mad wasmoreglitter.
‘And you can relax, by the way.’ He swipes a finger through the glitter covering the counter and sucks it clean. ‘It’s edible glitter. So no one can complain about eating it.’
I make that noise of frustration again. Spending time with Bram seems to lead to nothingbutnoises of frustration. ‘That doesn’tmean I want it in my hair,’ I mutter, trying to shake my blonde locks out over the floor. ‘Or my tea! Bram!’
He peers into my cup and then his own. ‘You should serve that. Who wouldn’t want to drink sparkly tea? It screams Wonderland.’
‘Someone is certainly screamingsomethingaround here.’ I’m still trying to brush glitter off the shoulders of my dress. While I appreciate his forethought in making it edible glitter, even edible glitter should be used sparingly. Although the sparkly tea thing is not a bad idea. I could line each teacup with a pinch of glitter so it’s ready when people pour their tea in…
Bram ignores me trying to blow glitter off my cake before I plonk myself down on a stool and take another big, frustrated bite.
‘I’m going to need the recipe for these. They’re so good. You could make a fortune if you got the local supermarket to stock them.’
I choke on that big, frustrated bite. He suspects, I’m sure he does. The silence between us is punctuated only by my hacking breaths as I try to claw air back into my lungs. Maybe I should be honest with him. His body language is laidback and easy, like he’s inviting me to say something, and he seemed so open last night, like he’d be kind and understanding, and the guilt is weighing me down. Maybe if I toldsomeone…
‘I’m sure,’ I mumble eventually. I can’t say anything. He’s got a direct line to the local council. There’s no way he’s not going to tell them something like this.
