Love Muscle

I set up the backgammon board. I enjoyed the contrast and the combination of the leather case and the restaurant's steel benchtop. I understood the game basics. Ruby saw me organise the game, yet she dashed into the pantry.

I wondered: she doesn't consider me worth playing.

She emerged from the pantry carrying a large bag of icing sugar to decorate the cake.

The brunette returned to the game. I sat on a stool as Coral stood and offered Ruby hers. My bestie leaned over us as we played. Occasionally, as I rolled the dice, her hair tickled my cheek. It must have done the same when Ruby threw.

The minx made lightning game calculations. My moves were slow, including testing options using my fingers.

Ruby smirked.

In the blink of an eye, she threatened a winning gammon. Luck gave me an unending doubles run, and I won.

Coral clapped softly.

"Another," snapped the brunette.

Her stiff, straight body suggested she believed I was lucky.

I knew I was.

Coral twittered through the next game as the dice twirled, bounced and tumbled in my favour.

I won the next round easily.

Ruby stood abruptly; I didn't understand.

Yes, she lost, but I never pictured her as a sore loser!

She put on a pair of oven mitts and removed the tray and tin from the oven. Ruby turned out the bases onto two cooling racks. She hooked the mittens, strode to Coral and me, and started setting the backgammon board.

"Best of five," she called as she rolled the dice.

At no point, including me, as to whether I wanted to keep playing.

Ruby creamed me in the next two games. Each time she won, Coral flipped her ponytail.

"Your coup de grâce will have to wait," the brunette stated, "The icing ."

That final fifth game, we never played it in her family restaurant.

Ruby organised a cake decorating assembly line. She insisted we use aprons and caps again. The brunette was practical and systematic as we made the lamingtons first. Ruby cut the lamington base into neat squares. I dipped them in the cocoa mix, and Coral rolled and sprinkled the desiccated coconut.

They looked delicious.

Coral hummed happily," Josh will enjoy these."

Ruby tried to confirm, "Pet, what's the theme of the cake?"

The golden girl ummed, "Oh, I have three ideas. Table tennis. Another is he's interested in rugby, or we could draw a big smile."

Coral delivered Ruby a spreading smile.

The pixie shook her head.

My bestie understood the shake; "Honey, the background is green; mix and spread some green icing. Pretty please."

Either the pretty please or the widest smile kept Ruby from saying more. The brunette layered the green icing while Coral and I coated the final lamingtons.

Waving a spatula covered in green icing, Ruby pestered Coral, "Well, decide?"

"Umm," dithered Coral, "umm."

The petite brunette's eyes developed a mischievous glint.

Irreverently, she teased, "I'll draw Josh's love muscle atop the cake —to excite you."

Too lewd for Coral, she stopped coating the final lamingtons and wagged her finger at her girlfriend.

The shredded coconut sticking to her fingers flicked off.

Some whizzed past me, and the coconut fibres hit Ruby's nose.

I admit I found her flecked nose exceedingly cute.

My fingertips dripped straggly sticky cocoa, yet wet; I wished to wipe the flakes off her nose.

Ruby exuded an engaging appeal — unnoticed prior.

I lifted wet fingers towards Ruby's face.

She backed off, hands up, "What the hell are you doing?"

Before I could say anything, Coral flicked a palmful of dried shredded coconut. Ruby was her target; she sprayed me accidentally, too.

"Girl, you want to play! I know how to play," Ruby taunted Coral as she gathered a handful of cake crumbs and launched them at her.

In an instant, their mutual mayhem led to a food fight.

I stood stunned and stranded in the middle.

Coral grabbed the bowl of cocoa sauce. She dipped her hands into the chocolate paste and splattered Ruby. The sauce sloshed, splashed across the brunette's face, and trickled down her apron.

Ruby responded fast. She fisted her spatula and launched globs of green icing catapult precise at Coral. My bestie's face was blotched green. Blobs of icing congealed from her temple to her chin. Some icing stuck to her hair, smeared her apron, and soiled her white blouse. Like endless beading in all the wrong places!

Holy hell, Ruby's mum!

"Stop!" I yelled throatily.

The girls halted in a rare moment where I secured their dual attention.

"Geez, Ruby will be caned if the restaurant is a fricking mess!"

I directed this at Coral; I wasn't brave enough to scold the brunette.

Coral's head and hands sank.

The gravity of where she messed up hit her conscience fast.

"Sorry," she apologised to Ruby, "I hope you don't get into trouble. God, when is your mum coming home?"

The little minx's hands flew out, up and down.

It was a new experience seeing the brunette this worried. She usually hid her private emotions better than any teenager. Here in the kitchen, I beheld her young brow furrow. She huffed and gathered herself to action.

"Coral! Put your smile on the cake," she instructed warmly, "And then tidy yourself."

The latter delivered a tad uptight.

Yet to me, quiet and needy, "Luke, help me clean up."

She strode to a storage locker in a far corner. Returning, she plopped a broad array of cleaning fluids and rags on the central bench. The brunette and I started wiping the stainless steel. The icing and chocolate sauce had splattered far and wide.

Coral decorated Josh's birthday cake, choosing a cute white smile. Ruby and I spent excessive time wiping every nook and cranny. The kitchen gleamed spotless when we finished. Ruby stayed super quiet and controlled during the cleaning. She scrubbed so hard that sweat patches leaked under her arms.

It was rare to see Ruby stressed and thinking of consequences. I studied her change from carefree to pressured. Even in a spotless kitchen, she didn't relax. She bundled the aprons, hats and cleaning wipes into the laundry room.

Finally, the girls went to the restaurant washrooms to wipe their tops and comb their hair. Ruby appeared calmer as she served Coral and me a vanilla milkshake using the restaurant machine.

Coral and I enjoyed drinking our shakes slowly. Ruby quenched her thirst, drinking straight out of the milk carton.

After this, she searched in a flurry for suitable catering boxes for her girlfriend.

She relaxed only when Sandy arrived to collect Coral and me.

On a side note, Josh enjoyed his birthday cake and the lamingtons.