A Valentine’s Eve Surprise

By Violetta Toth

Wings aflutter, Elvinia races ahead of me down the crowded thoroughfare. I’m in no rush. Firstly, we’re both here. Secondly, I refuse to break my other wrist and make it a matching set.

It’s Valentine’s Eve, yet sprites of all kinds are already covered in crimson dust, leaving ruby sparkles in their wake.

“Hurry up, Scarletina!” Elvinia chastises me loudly, still looking ahead. “You’re always late.”

Surrounding fae stare at us. I shrug my shoulders at a couple gliding past, mirroring their look of confusion at the lunatic berating herself up ahead.

Elvinia arrives at Pixie Pip’s Patisserie in a huff and, with hands on hips and a less-than-amused expression, waits for me to catch up.

“What time’s our reservation?” I ask. A feeble attempt to lighten the mood.

“They don’t take bookings.”

“Then why…”

My best friend since birth, Elvinia’s logical, reliable, and generally level-headed—today being the exception—but, in her spare time, she moonlights as a meddling cupid. And lately, she’s had a ton of downtime.

“Wait, why are we late? You better not be setting me up with an elf or a pixie or”––I gasp––“a leprechaun!”

“I definitely didn’t invite a boy.” Elvinia nibbles her lower lip, a telltale sign she’s hiding something.

With a twitch of her nose, the door swings open—a skill I’ve yet to acquire. Three potential suitors sit at a table, their smiling elf faces identical to the photos Elvinia shoved into my face last week.

“I invited three!”

“Time for a new bestie,” I hiss under my breath.

Hand on my back, she pushes rather than guides me inside.

“Scarletina, meet Derwyn, Calypso, and Tamon.”

I squirm to pull my plastered arm through my bolero sleeve, while Tamon gets my chair. Surely they’re filled with regret, not having signed up for both charming and nursing me.

“Whoa!” exclaims Derwyn, an elf of few words.

“How’d that happen?” enquires Calypso.

“At the gym,” pipes up Elvinia, before I can answer.

“Nice. A fellow gym junkie,” replies Calypso, flexing his biceps.

“Gymnastics, not the gym,” I correct Elvinia.

“Tell them the story,” orders Elvinia. She turns to the elves. “It’s hilarious.”

They all stare at me in anticipation. Struck by silence, I’m taken back to my first and last Tinkerdance recital, where my teacher limped off stage with my body latched onto her thigh, our wings entangled, and my tiny, frightened face squished into her butt cheek.

Grabbing two nutshells filled with nectar, Tamon says, “She’s probably told it a hundred times already. Let’s—”

“Should be a great story then. Let’s hear it,” interjects Calypso, fidgeting with his napkin.

“Juice?” Tamon saves me. “Y’know, once I tore a tendon in my big toe catching a jar of marmalade at our yuletide party. The injury benched me for the entire Gaelic football season.”

“Must have been a big jar,” I respond.

“You’ve no idea how much my family likes marmalade.”

We all crack up. My grip loosens on my placemat, and a sprinkle of rose-colored fairy dust bursts from my fingertips.

While Elvinia and Derwyn check out the famous pixie pastry display, Tamon’s cell rings and he excuses himself. Calypso babbles to me while tinkering with his phone, swiping left and right spasmodically.

Four minutes, three glasses of water, and a hundred glimpses at my phone later, I realize we haven’t ordered yet. To my delight, Tamon returns with menus for everyone.

As I flip the geranium petal pages of my menu, something small and light pelts me square between the eyes.

“Ouch.” I rub the bridge of my nose, uninjured, aside from my pride.

Across the table, Elvinia’s telling Derwyn about her brother’s antics purchasing two sci-fi costumes for tomorrow. Meanwhile, a restless Calypso tears another piece from his already-shredded napkin and rolls it into a small ball. Similar balls are scattered across my placemat and hair.

Tamon snatches the napkin out of Calypso’s hand. “Seriously, dude?”

Ignoring him, Calypso leans forward onto his forearms. “Shame you didn’t escort me to the Imbolc ball last weekend, Scarletina. Not to boast, but many a fairy’s feet were ablaze when I danced with them.” He flashes a lopsided grin.

My lucky escape.

How could the fairy who knew my favorite kind of socks be so blind about my taste in men? Calypso was fanning my flaming curls, metaphorically speaking.

“Care to re-sparkle your wings, Elvinia?” Before she can respond, I grab her hand and whisk her away in an explosion of glitter.

“Him!?” I spit out, swinging my plastered arm toward the table with such vigor a passing fae detours around us. “The ‘great catch’ you tried to set me up with last weekend?” I awkwardly air quote with one hand.

“So Calypso’s a no?”

I strike my forehead.

Undeterred, Elvinia continues, “Look, no fairy should spend Valentine’s Day alone. Even my brother has a date tomorrow, and he dresses like Spock!”

It’s true. His last birthday was a Star Trek themed party, and he cut his bangs using a bowl as a guide. It was… kind of cute.

“I can’t.” I grab my purse and make a beeline for the exit, eager to return home.

Grateful for my parents’ romantic escape this weekend, I head directly to the serenity of the kitchen. As I peel the skin off a pile of cherries, a pair of warm elf hands slide around my waist.

“Pixie pastries not to your taste, either?” jokes Wynston. “I’ve got a little surprise for tomorrow. You’re a size zero, right?”

I turn to face my secret boyfriend with a faltering smile. Personally, I love his quirks, except perhaps his Princess Leia obsession.

“What kind of surprise?”

He holds up two sticky buns on either side of my head, humming the theme song from Star Wars.

Less than amused, I swat my favorite honey-glazed treats away. “Stop! I’m still riling from a night out with Elvinia.”

He kisses my forehead. “What’s my sister done now?”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

At the age of eight, Violetta wrote and illustrated her first picture book as a Mother’s Day present. Since then, she’s packed away the sticky tape and crayons, but continues to create flash fiction, minus the illustrations. Her inspiration comes from the amazing people that surround her, the fur babies that keep her lap warm, and the many online stories that move her. With so many talented authors on Havok, she’s honored to join them.

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