She looked like a sun goddess.

Her brown skin shone like bronze against the bright saffron of her dress. She searched her closet for a pair of high-heeled espadrilles and stepped into them. Perfect. She skipped the makeup and returned to the kitchen. The chocolate icing had stopped running. She let out a victory whoop, as she carefully lifted it from the counter. It wasn’t falling apart from movement, so that was a good sign.

Antonia walked to the front door, grabbing her keys along the way. When she opened the door, her heart dropped. It was starting to rain. “Nooo...” She held the plate with one hand and tried to shield it with her other as she ran from her front door straight to Aiden’s.

When she knocked and waited, her stomach flipped. She couldn’t hear the thump of his music; he had turned it off around the time she started her baking experiment. She knocked again. The soft patter of rain soon turned into a light drizzle. As she waited, her doubts crept back into her mind. This was easily one of the dumbest things she’d ever attempted. What if he wasn’t even in his home? While his car was still parked behind her own, he could have stopped by the pub or the chipper.

Antonia carried the cake around the other side of his cottage, hoping she could knock on his back window. The heels of her sandals sank in the soft ground as she made her way across the grass. She stumbled and it took two quick hands to steady her cake. She and it would get wet, but it certainly would not fall on the ground. When she reached the back window that looked like his bedroom, she tapped against it.

“Ms. Harper, is that you?” said Mr. Creely who stood out in his own yard.

Oh god...

Antonia smiled brightly as she waved at the old man. I look absolutely insane. “I’m just delivering a cake to Dr. Byrnes.”

Mr. Creely waved and gave a nod, though his bushy eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Huh, that’s nice of you.”

Antonia took the cake by both hands again and scampered back to the front of Aiden’s cottage. Along the way, she called out, “It’s just what neighbors do in America.”

“I see.”

The rain was now coming down in a deluge. Her dress clung to her thighs as she carefully made her way across the grass patch. The cake’s icing was sliding again. She knew that the structural integrity was too dodgy for all of this running around. By the time she reached Aiden’s front door, she’d lost all patience. She’d knock again, but if he didn’t answer, she would smash this goddamn cake against his front door and let the animals claim it.

She raised her fist to bang just as he swung the door open. Antonia jumped back in fright, nearly tipping her cake to the ground. “Why can’t you answer the damn door!” she shouted.