Chapter 19
Chapter 19: The Anniversary of Freedom
Exactly one year passed since the day Daniel walked through the door with the wildflowers.
It wasn't just Emily’s birthday anymore. It had become a silent anniversary of their freedom.
Daniel left work exactly at 5:00 PM.
He stopped at the same famous bakery downtown. He walked up to the counter and ordered the exact same, elaborate, overly-expensive strawberry vanilla cake.
When he walked through the front door of the villa, he didn't have to announce his presence to silence.
Emily was in the living room, listening to music, curled up on the new sectional sofa reading a book.
She looked up, seeing the familiar pink cake box in his hands. She stood up, a playful, knowing smile spreading across her face.
"You didn't," she laughed, walking toward him.
"I absolutely did," Daniel grinned, setting the box down on the glass coffee table and opening the lid to reveal the perfect cake.
Emily looked at it. The pink frosting. The delicate sugar roses.
She looked at Daniel.
Without breaking eye contact, Emily reached out, grabbed a massive handful of the beautiful pink cake, and deliberately dropped it straight onto the clean marble floor.
Splat.
Daniel stared at the mess on the floor. Then he looked at his wife.
He burst out laughing. A deep, belly-aching laugh that echoed through the room.
He reached into the box, grabbed his own handful of cake, and smeared a streak of pink frosting directly across Emily’s cheek.
She shrieked with laughter, grabbing more frosting and chasing him around the coffee table.
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They ended up sitting on the marble floor, completely covered in frosting and cake crumbs, eating the ruined dessert right out of their hands, laughing until they couldn't breathe.
They were cleaning up the mess together. But this time, it was a mess they made out of joy, not fear.
