Laughing, Gunnar puts his arm around my shoulders, and we follow our host, Terra, to a table by the windows. “Congratulations on your upcoming wedding, gentlemen,” she says with a big smile. She sets a tray down on the table, displaying six plates of different varieties of cake and several dishes of frostings and fillings.
We eat our way through a few flavors while Terra gives her opinion on cake and frosting combinations. My favorite right at the start is the coconut cake, but Gunnar makes a face. “The cake itself is good, but I don’t like these little shavings.”
“Why not?”
He grimaces. “Too much chewing involved. Could we remove those? We could have these instead.” He points to a bowl of rainbow sprinkles.
“I don’t think those go with the coconut cake.”
“So? They taste better.”
“But it will look silly!”
He frowns. “Who cares? Silly doesn’t have a taste.”
Terra adds, “We have different colors available. I could do white sprinkles so they blend with the frosting.”
“I don’t know… sprinkles on a wedding cake feels so tacky,” I admit. “And, oh damn. I just remembered my aunt is allergic to coconut.”
Terra makes a note of that.
“Convenient,” Gunnar says with a huff.
“It’s true,” I insist. Now I’m worried that I’m forgetting someone’s allergies. “Let’s go with chocolate then. You liked that one, didn’t you?”
“Too chocolaty.”
Oh goddess, we’re going to be here a while.
“How about the vanilla?” It’s hard to go wrong with plain old vanilla.
“It was good, aye.”
“Then we can alternate. One layer vanilla, the other chocolate.”
Gunnar purses his lips.Oh goddess, just decide.“What kind of frosting?”
“Vanilla for vanilla, chocolate for chocolate, or we can alternate per layer.” There, simple.
Gunnar runs a hand through his beard, and a muscle ticks in my jaw. “No chocolate.”
I stifle a groan. “Do couples break up during these tastings?”
Terra smiles. “That’s never been my experience, no.”
“Well, allow us to be your first.”
Gunnar glares at me. “Just vanilla.”
I’m going to scream. “But that’s so boring!”
Terra checks her phone. “We’re out of time, unfortunately, but you’re welcome to stay. Once you’ve made up your minds, please fill out the form.”
“See,” I grumble as she walks away. “Even she got sick of our nonsense. How about… er… vanilla cake with the lemon zest and curd?” Actually, lemon cake sounds divine.
“Which one was that?”
I point to the dishes on the far left.
