Make a wish

It’s a cold winter morning. Well, not so cold. Not Antarctica cold, you know. But cold enough that you wouldn’t want to leave the warmth of your bed. 

But the alarm has gone off. And so Ellen is up. 

The dark circles under her eyes are her usual. But today they come with redness. It wasn’t a good night for her. Dumped by a guy she didn’t love but cared for, lost her cellphone (“did it get stolen or am I THAT stupid?” she wonders) and she has a sizable hangover (that might explain the missing cellphone). 

Actually, I should say it wasn’t a great year for her. She thought it might pull through in the end (it hasn’t). Oh, yeah. It’s also her birthday. Didn’t I mention it?

A year ago she made a wish blowing the candles. I know you’re not supposed to say it, but I’m the boss here and I can: she wished she had someone else bake her a birthday cake. Silly, right? Well, who am I to judge? That’s the thing. I’m just the freaking entity in charge of trying to make those wishes come true.

And trust me, sometimes they are hard. But I’m luckier than others, birthday wishes are sometimes doable. Pretty much no-one wishes for “Peace in the world” when blowing their candles. Just money, fame, love, happiness… Usual stuff. Kids are great at this. But Ellen hasn’t been a kid in a long time. She didn’t even made a wish for many years: she felt too cynic or too grown-up (ha!) to do it.

But last year she did. And so I’m back on Earth. No more sweet holidays for me.

Anyhow, back to Ellen and her wish. By the way, we all understand what she was actually wishing for, right? Or do I have to spell it? 

The thing is, and you should be aware of this if you’re making a wish on your next birthday, that there is no guarantee whatsoever. Even if you blow all the candles at once. Nobody used blood to sign any contract or anything, right? We try. We do our best (or some of us do) but it’s much easier for us if you put a little effort yourselves.

And yeah, I said “we”. I’m not the only one. That would be impossible. We’re good, but not that good. Each of us gets assigned one of you when you’re born. And we are with you throughout your life as long as you keep making birthday wishes, right until the day you die. Then we get a new assignment and the cycle restarts. So yeah, I’ve been around a lot. How far back? Way before the invention of candles and the “Happy Birthday song” (I hate it, hate it!). Things change. Even traditions. But humans hoping and wishing is kind of a constant around here.

Thus, I’ve seen Ellen grow. I’ve heard her silently wish for dolls, for puzzles, for costumes, for games, for a certain boy to fall for her, to have her heart never be broken again and, a few years later, to have her heart be open again (most people don’t realize that we can indeed make hearts unbreakable, but the cost is often too high and almost always we have to undo it). It’s been a bumpy road for Ellen. Not the bumpiest in my timeline, but bumpy nonetheless.

I have a plan for Ellen today. I don’t know if she’s going to fall for it. But we’ll see, I guess. I’ve tried quite a few things this year, actually. I got a great bakery to open around the corner to her office, so she could have a wonderful cake baked by someone else. But, you know, back to the whole, even if it was literally her wish, that’s not really what she wished for. I was out of practice, remember? Holidays and so forth.

Then she met David (the dumper). I tried to steer her away from him because I knew he wasn’t into her. He wanted a fiction, an Ellen that’s not real, and he was never, ever going to care enough for her to even think about getting her a birthday cake (much less baking it himself). But nothing I tried worked to pull them apart, so I figured: friends can bake cakes too, right?

Yeah, right. Her two best friends also made birthday wishes. And those collided against my plans.

Liz wanted a baby so bad. So, so bad. She had been trying for a long time… It’s been devastating for her. So when she finally made her wish, it was pretty much a done deal. Now she’s a joyous, exhausted mom of twins. And even though Ellen is extremely happy for her (and doting on the twins), it wasn’t going to be Liz baking a cake. Not this year, at least. Probably not for a few years.

Then we have William. He’s actually Ellen’s college ex-boyfriend. They became adults together, loved each other, stopped loving each other… There was a brief hate period but it resolved itself and they became good friends again. It’s one of those happy stories that we value around here. But he made his wish and for it to become true, he had to move almost 3000km away. His clean water project is saving lives and that takes priority. Bummer.

So back to Ellen. With no parents (died in an accident when she was 25, I said it had been bumpy, didn’t I?), no siblings, and her closest friends unable to bake for her, plus DD (Dumper David)… It’s up to me to make it happen.

F**k! She’s out the door already. I got too distracted telling you about all this and I have to set my plan in motion. First, let’s make it snow.

Oh, yeah, we can control the weather too. Sometimes. We have to make a request ahead of time (could you imagine what it’d be like if we all could do it at the same time?) and it has to be seasonably. So snow it is.

Ellen loves snow. She’s wearing her boots, a thick hooded coat, a thick scarf… And she’s smiling for the first time in a couple of weeks. So that’s something.

The next thing is the beginning of a “meet-cute”. Yeah, out of romantic comedies. But sorry, it has to be this way or she won’t fall for it. And still, it might not work. 

There’s this guy who rides the subway more or less at the same time as Ellen does (morning and evening). Neither is very punctual, so they don’t see each other everyday. But it’s been often enough that they’ve noticed each other and they nod when their eyes meet in a reading pause. Today, he notices the puffy eyes and the remainders of a “Happy Birthday” glittery plastic tiara stuck on Ellen’s hood from last night. 

I should probably mention that DD did plan a surprise birthday party. On a Tuesday night. Not the brightest bulb in the bunch, huh? But he tried, somewhat. He still dumped her during said party because she confronted him about his flirting with several of her (not interested) co-workers. Have I mention that I think DD is a crappy human being? Well, I do. Because he is.

The subway guy is my doing, by the way. Not only mine, but I was the one who changed his schedule so that they’d be on the same subway car. Noah’s a decent, smart, witty guy. A bit of a geek. Too shy for his own good. Not bad looking either. And from what I’ve been told, he’s a great wisher. So two thumbs-up from me.

Noah wonders wether Ellen’s puffy eyes are a good sign or a bad sign for her. Or for him. He had been trying to muster up the courage to say hello, not just nod. So today, when she passes next to him to exit, he points to the shiny crumpled tiara and softly says “Happy Birthday”. So softly she’s not really sure he did, but she’s still creeped out.

Oh, Ellen. This was your meet-cute. I know it’s kind of creepy, but you should have gone with it.

Okay. I can do this. I can deliver. Noah’s still in play. The plan is not over until the clock rings midnight. 

Fast forward to mid-morning, when the snow has caused a leak in the server room at Ellen’s office. And who’s part of the engineering team called to fix it? None other than Noah. It’s true that the server room is in a different floor than Ellen’s office, but I’m doing my best, okay?

Meanwhile, Ellen is apologizing to her co-workers for DD’s behavior. And for leaving the party early-ish. And of course, that means explaining what happened. Which sucks. And feels overwhelming partially because she thinks she should be more devastated for having been dumped. She also has to go to the bar, to see if her cellphone is there. So during the lunch break, she goes out in a hurry… almost crashing against Noah who was coming back in.

Yay!

— Sorry — he says

— Oh, no, I’m sorry. I was in a hurry and wasn’t looking where… Oh! It’s you.

She has recognized him! Yay! But you can almost feel how the temperature has dropped with the recognition.

— Oh. Hi! I… I think it came out kind of… creepy, I guess,  this morning. I’m… I’m sorry. I just… I’ve seen you in the subway so many mornings and… Sorry. — he manages to stutter

—You know, knowing it was creepy doesn’t really make it better. But I accept your apologies. Gotta run!

Ellen, Ellen. He’s trying! And no, I don’t control what they say, what they do. That’s all them. I can only facilitate things. Like I said, we’re good, but not that good.

Coming back from the bar (with her phone luckily back in her purse), she thinks about Noah (“that creepy guy from the subway” for her). She feels kind of bad for him, wonders if she was too harsh with him… until she realizes he was at her job! And as far as she knows, he doesn’t work there. Now she’s not only creeped out, but seriously worried. 

F**k! I’ve messed up.

When she arrives, she asks the security guard to be on the lookout, for she’s worried she has a stalker.

—Oh, don’t worry. I saw you two earlier and I know the guy! He’s supervising the repair of the server. I don’t know if he’s stalking you, but he’s in the building for work. Anyhow, if you feel unsafe, I can call a car this evening to drive you home. And I can send someone to your floor, just to be safe.

—I’ll think about the car. Thanks! And have a nice afternoon!

Oh! I like this guy. I have to ask about his birthday wish, in case I can be of assistance. Nice.

Ellen calls Liz and tells her all about it. Last night. How she doesn’t feel that bad and so she feels bad about not feeling that bad… They’ve known each other so long Liz is not surprised about this. And she knows Ellen has noticed Noah on the subway too. He was described once as the “shy guy with beautiful hazel eyes from the subway”. So she cannot but laugh when Ellen tells her about the events of the day.

— I think he’s probably just smitten. Awkward but harmless. Still… Will you please give me a call when you arrive home? Be safe, please.

—Sure. I’m still thinking about getting the car. It’s my birthday after all.

Not on my watch, Ellen. Not today. Snow will pile on the streets, be sure. It’s subway weather!

When Ellen finally hops on the subway, he’s already there. Reading. He lifts his eyes and sees her and immediately stands up, picks up his backpack and approaches her.

— Hi. I’m Noah. I’m really sorry about before. I know it’s weird and I don’t know you, but can I sit here? I promise I won’t bother you.

He has clearly rehearsed it. Atta boy!

—I don’t think so.

Oh, shit. Noah clearly didn’t expect this. And neither did I. This is not my best work. Dammit. He awkwardly goes to the end of the car, leaning against the wall. Trying to go back to his book and failing miserably.

Ellen cannot concentrate either. She feels bad for him but knows she didn’t do anything wrong. When a pregnant woman hops on the train, she stands up to give her up the seat. And as the train fills, she gets pushed closer and closer to the end of the train, until she’s standing right next to Noah. They’re both aware. Of each other (“oh, he smells so nice”, she thinks) and of the awkwardness of it all (“should I move?”, he wonders).

This is my last chance. This will cost me a ton of favors in the future, but I’m causing a blackout. That’s it.

When the train stops, Ellen sighs, gives up to fate (actually me) and looks up to Noah.

—Hi, I’m Ellen. I guess… I guess we can be not-strangers for a while. But I will scream if you try anything!

—Oh. Hi. Nice to meet you. I’ll scream too if I try anything.

She smiles. He has nice eyes that smile when he does. They talk. They laugh a bit. Smile a lot. By the time they sit on the floor, together, he knows he’s pretty much doomed to fall for her (or has he already?).

—Ellen, since I noticed this morning the… Tiara?… I… I got you something. 

Yes. This is working.

—I saw this bakery leaving your office… and I… I don’t know why, but…

Oh, I do know why. 

—…I felt that I had to get you something. Just in case we saw each other again today.

Do it. Do it!

— So, happy birthday, I guess.

Ring, ring, ring!! There it is. He’s pulling a lemon meringue tartlet out of his backpack. It’s not a birthday cake, but given Ellen’s smile, I think it’ll do.

He hands her a plastic fork, keeps one for himself.

— Shall we?

I think I can stop the blackout now. Phew. They still have about 30 minutes till they arrive to her stop. 40 to his. Time enough.

—Did you make a wish? — he asks when they finish eating.

—Yeah, I did.

(An easy one!)

She leans her head on his shoulder. He kisses the top of her head and clumsily holds her hand.

And that’s two for two! Yay me! I’m going to leave the two of them here. And take a few months rest.