Page 70 of The Way I Am Now
“I know, that’s the surprise,” she says, laughing. “Are you really surprised?”
“Yes!” I am definitely surprised.
“Thank God you’re finally here. Someone already stopped me to ask where the bathroom was,” Parker says, taking a sip from her tiny ceramic cup of sake.
“Why would someone ask you where the bathroom was?” Eden asks.
“Well, because I’m Asian I must work here.”
“Oh my God, what did you say?”
Dominic starts laughing, and so do I.
“What am I missing?” Eden asks.
“This happens a lot, you’ll see. So my go-to response is to tell them in KoreanI don’t fucking work here, asshole. They walk away real fast.”
“That’s brilliant!” Eden claps and laughs with her whole body.
I look up at Dominic, smiling as he’s watching me watching Eden. “What?” I ask him, moving closer to stand next to him.
He shakes his head and passes me a Coke with lime, which he’s already ordered for me from the bar. “It’s just good to see you happy, that’s all.” He raises his glass. “Happy birthday, man.”
“Thanks.”
All through dinner, we talk and laugh and Eden makes sure she keeps telling everyone it’s my birthday. And the chef keeps calling me “the birthday boy” even while he’s performing all the theatrics of the meal, balancing and chopping and tossing ingredients and setting the whole grill on fire. I would normally feel weird about the special attention—I never used to let my parents tell restaurants it was my birthday when I was younger for fear they’d have the whole staff come out and sing “Happy Birthday.” And that’s exactly what happens. Parker takes a video. I would be embarrassed, with the whole restaurant clapping for me, but I can tell it’s making Eden so happy. And then she kisses me right there in front of everyone— really kisses me—and they all erupt in raucous cheers.
I lean in close and say, “I love you.”
She rests her head on my shoulder for just a moment and says quickly, quietly, “You too.”
After the performance art that is hibachi, we’re left to finish eating. Eden says, “Save room for dessert, everybody.”
Parker sets her chopsticks down and says, “Oh yeah. I got a little sneak peek, and we’re definitely gonna want to save room.”
We all pile into Eden’s car, with our to-go containers and the balloons filling the back seat.
“Thank you,” I tell them again. “This was a really fun birthday surprise.”
Dominic says, “It was all your girlfriend.”
My girlfriend, I repeat in my head, I love the way that sounds.
“And . . . ,” Eden adds. “There’s still one more thing.”
“More?” I ask.
“Yes, you’re not the only one who can plan multipart dates.”
As we arrive home, Eden instructs Dominic and Parker to escort me to the roof. “I’ll be up in a minute,” she says.
While we wait up on the roof, Parker clears her throat and announces, “So, we’ve been conferring tonight, and we just want you to know that we think you really found a good one.”
“I know I had my share of doubts earlier,” Dominic admits, “but you clearly make each other deliriously happy, so there’s no arguing with that.”
“Not that you need our blessing or anything,” Parker adds. “Just thought we’d give you a little unsolicited feedback.”
Before I can say anything, Eden is backing through the door of the roof, and as she turns around and lets the door fall closed behind her, I see she’s carrying a cake with candles lit all over it. They start singing to me for the second time tonight, and as she sets the cake down on the wicker table, I see that there are tiny peanut butter cups mixed into the frosting.
