“Hold me tight, Daddy.” I clung to him as another flash caught our attention from across the room.
He picked up a piece of chocolate and raised it to my mouth. “Just a little bite.”
I took a small bite, and he popped the rest into his mouth.
The waitress returned with my drink in an emerald green sippy cup. I gripped it with both hands and took a sip. It was the cider Rayna and Tinley were drinking when I ran into them at the pub. It seemed like yesterday, but also a lifetime ago.
“Which one do you want to try next?” He grinned.
“The lemon one.” I pointed to a miniature confection that was shaped like a lemon. The skin puckered like real lemon peel.
Again, we shared it. The sour sweetness burst on my tongue. “Oh, I like that one.”
He nodded in agreement.
We continued like this until we’d tried them all. Next, we wander around the room from station to station. There was a craft table where everyone got to draw a picture of the wish they wanted to ask the wizard for. Another station had Oz themedboard games and card games. There was a coloring station where we got to color our version of different scenes from the movie.
“What would you like to do?” Patrick asked.
I approached the coloring station and flipped through the pages until I found one of the landscapes of Emerald City and the forest and part of the brick road.
“I’d like to color.” Sitting down was difficult, thankfully the stools had cushions.
Patrick picked up his phone and frowned.
“Take it.” Smoothing out the paper. “I’ll color you a surprise, Daddy. You can’t see it until it’s done.”
“Okay.” He bent down and tilted my head up. His lips landed on mine. Soft at first, but then firmer. It made my mind spin. “You stay put until I come back to get you, okay?”
I nodded. He kissed me again.
I loved his lips already. I loved everything about this night. When Patrick gave me a choice on whether to leave or be punished, I did not know the choice would lead me here. Everything about this situation seemed unlikely to get us here. It didn’t feel like we were playing.
A woman approached the table. I almost covered the paper, but looked up to find her eyes not on me, but on a man behind her who was smiling and nodding at her encouragingly. She turned back to face me, wringing her hands together. Her eyes darted around.
“Hi,” I said.
Her mouth moved, but no sound came out. She swallowed and tried again.
“Hello.” Her hands gripped the chair across from me. Her knuckles turned white.
“Would you like to color with me?” I asked.
“Hm.” She looked back at the dark-haired man, but whipped her head back around and answered me. “Yes, please.”
Then she froze. Her bottom lip trembled.
“Are you okay?” I leaned forward. “Please have a seat.”
She pulled the chair back, and it scraped the floor, making a loud screech. She gasped. I giggled.
She smiled and sat down.
“Hi, I’m Kylie.” I held out my hand. She looked at it before taking it and shaking. She didn’t really have to; her whole body trembled enough.
“Annabelle.” She tried smiling again. It barely registered on her face.
“Are you okay?” I looked back at the man and then back at her. “You seem nervous.”
