Page 13 of Size Game

“You can tell her everything you want. Okay, Princess?”

“Everything?”

“Of course. We’re going to see her on Sunday.”

“I want to be a princess! I want a pony!” She bounces up and down telling me everything that she’s already told me. I smile and scoop her ice cream into a bowl for her.

She takes her bowl and starts making a mess on the counter. Some of the toppings actually make it onto the ice cream, but not everything. I decide that I’ll clean it up after she’s gone to bed, and we go back to the living room to watch yet another pony princess movie.

8

Claire

Iget to the venue early to make sure that everything is set up for the walk-through. I managed to find a decent-sized hall that has a ballroom, perfect for a princess party. The room is large with a big dance floor. The venue has options for pedestal stands for flowers, ceiling drapes, and colored ceiling lighting.

After I walk through the room alone, I find the coordinator and ask if she’d show me some of the color options. She shows me some drape options and a few of the light colors. I ask her if I can show them to my client, and she agrees. She is nice enough to also give me the linen options.

I get everything as ready as I can and wait for them to arrive. I’m a little nervous. We hooked up once and then again in his car, and now I’m meeting his daughter. I know this is for work, but still. It’s a little odd and actually kind of sudden. I thought we’d never see each other again, and now he’s hired me on to do his daughter’s birthday.

The world works in weird ways sometimes, and it can’t be avoided. I know Hailey warned me early on about the horrors of using FLICK, but I never thought something would happen. Not that this is horrible; it’s actually rather nice. I know he likes me. I’m pretty sure that’s why he hired me without even looking through anyone’s portfolio.

A few minutes later, a little girl wearing a tiara, butterfly wings, and a ruffled pink-and-purple dress comes running in. She runs right past me onto the dance floor and starts twirling around. I smile and look back toward the entrance where Alex is standing wearing a plain button-up shirt and nice slacks. Even out of the office he looks good.

I can’t help but admire him. His shirt isn’t fully buttoned, so I can see just a little of his toned chest behind the fabric. His slacks are well fitting, and my eyes just barely glance down at his package.

“Daddy! It’s a princess room!” Sadie yells from the dance floor.

Alex walks up to me with his hands in his pockets and smiles. “Is that what it’s listed as in their brochure?”

I giggle. “Not quite.”

He and I sit at a table with a bunch of fabric swatches laid out. Sadie runs over and jumps up on his lap. He holds her and pats her head. Watching how he looks at her is so sweet. You can tell he really loves his daughter and would do anything for her.

I start to go over the different linen options. Whenever I ask a question, he asks Sadie what she thinks, until soon she is just answering by herself. She tells me what she wants, and it’s clear that this is the fourth, fifth, and sixth time that he has heard this speech of hers. He just sits there with a smile.

Sadie starts to pick up some of the swatches as though trying to match them together. She really likes pink and wants everything to be pink. I can see the headache starting in Alex’s face. An entire room of pink is enough to give anyone a migraine for days.

I gently suggest white tablecloths with pink runners, the sparkly light pink ceiling accents, and pink ceiling lights. She gets really excited and starts talking about balloons. I tell her she can have balloons and flowers and even a piñata.

She tells me she wants lavender balloons. Well, she said “pretty purple,” but Alex’s expression and mouthed words said “lavender.” Then I ask her about flowers. She tries to explain to me some extravagant, completely made-up flower. So, I pull out my sketch pad and hand it and a pen to her and ask her to draw it for me.

She is quickly distracted, drawing a bunch of flowers all over the page. I look up at Alex, who is now smiling at me. We lock eyes and I smile back. There is a calm between us that makes this almost seem like a date. It’s clear that he loves his daughter, and I think it’s clear to him that I like her too.

After a few minutes, Sadie has finished her drawings and hands me back the sketch pad. I look at the very vaguely flower-shaped scribbles on my paper and smile.

“Do you like butterflies, Sadie?” I ask.

“Yeah!”

I quickly draw a little butterfly on the paper, and she is very happy about it. There is a softness in Alex’s smile as he watches me interact with his daughter.

“Where do you want the table for your cake and presents?”

Sadie hops off Alex’s lap and runs around the room, checking out different viewpoints. She stops at one corner of the dance floor and waves for us to come over. We approach and she tells us that they should be right there. Then I ask a few more questions about where she wants certain things, and we follow her around the room.

After we are finish designing the room, Sadie seems fairly wiped out. She’s had a long day. Alex picks her up and turns to me.

“You wouldn’t want to… maybe come over for dinner, would you?”