Daisy & Magnolia

This is the story of my wife and best friend, Magnolia. Before we got married and opened a cafe together, we met in the diner she was working in, and I was with my ex-boyfriend, Marcus.

It was about 5 years ago, I was 25 years old and still under my family's thumb of expectation. My sister introduced me to Marcus at her 30th birthday party. The chemistry was never there and the sex wasn't something I enjoyed. Most times, I had to fake an orgasm for it to be over. It was a nightmare.

Marcus has blonde hair that went down to his neck, that he would wear in a ponytail. His eyes, icy blue with a slender nose. His lips were always curved to show that mischievous smile. And his ego was enormous. He never took criticism well and refused to take accountability for his mistakes.

I had black hair that curled high around my head, in a big fro. My face, round with rosy cheeks that pigmented with my dark skin. My mouth was round and heart-shaped and behind them was a big gap. My eyes were big and wide as I observed around me. I was more of a thinker rather than a talker and usually kept to myself. What was my sister thinking pairing us together?

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"Do you know about the author Roald Dahl?" I asked during brunch with my boyfriend, Marcus. We were waiting on our breakfast, getting the munchies after our early morning smoke.

He sat across from me, pouring some sugar into his black coffee. His eyes focused on his phone.

"He was the author of "The BFG" right?" I nodded. "He was actually a chocoholic. Isn't that cool?" He nodded, keeping his eyes on his phone. I slump into my chair and glared at him, feeling irritated.

"Here are your pancakes." the IMOB (International Mansion of Breakfast) Magnolia said, placing my pancakes in front of me. Her hair was fiery red and with beautiful curls that she wore in a mid ponytail. Her face, covered with brown freckles. Her eyes, a beautiful hazel color.

I felt my mouth salivating as the smell creeps up to my nose. Marcus laughed, seeing my reaction to the food.

"Thank you so much," he said to the waitress and takes the whipped cream from my pancakes with his finger, and put it on my nose. I stared at him, my face getting redder and redder as he laughs at me.

I ignored his disgusting action of putting his hands in my food and grab a napkin from next to me. The waitress stared in awe at what just happened.

"It's okay," he said. "We always joke around like this!" I forced a laugh, letting her know it was okay. She nodded and headed back to the kitchen, with a cringing look on her face. I sighed and cut into the pancakes.

Before I took a bite, the waitress came back from the kitchen and gave me more whipped cream on my pancakes, then walked away. I'm stunned, not knowing what to say.

"Daisy, you're already big enough. You don't need those extra calories." He spooned up all the whipped cream with his fingers and puts it in his mouth. "Besides, we're trying to get you back in shape before you see my parents."

The anger spread from my toes to my face. I could feel my fingers shaking while holding the knife and fork. And can we also talk about his logic, if you really cared about my calories you would take my pancakes, not my whipped cream!

"Here are your......" the waitress stares at the pancakes, that are now wiped clean. She looked at me stunned. I look at Marcus. "I guess he wanted some of my whipped cream. It's okay though because-"

"She doesn't need you to give her handouts. She's trying to lose weight," he says, completely interrupting my thought. He licked his fingers to get the excess cream off. I cringe at the sight.

"If you wanted some whipped cream, you could have just asked her rather than take mine," I said.

Marcus sighs and looks up. "Can I have some more whipped cream?"

"No." she smiles and he grabs my plate. He looked up at her with a smile on his face.

Oh no. That usually meant he's upset. I shake my head at the waitress and apologize for the issue but she stops me.

"I'm going to remake this for you okay?" I nod in response and thank her again.

She gives him one more look then walks away before Marcus could interject. He chuckles but says nothing.

"She's probably single. That's why she butts into people's business," he says, grinding his teeth in a smile.

"Could you be nice and respectful for 5 fucking minutes?" I suddenly say. I immediately cover my mouth. Marcus stares at me, his eyes starting to widen.

I decided to finally time to say this. I uncover my mouth and let out a sigh.

"Marcus, I think we need to end this journey here," I say. He continues staring, completely shocked.

"I'm tired of you telling me I can't do anything. I am bigger than most but I still have feelings! You don't validate them! And you're so pathetic. You say the most disrespectful things." My hands start to shake, I feel my face getting hot. I have never stood up for myself, especially like this. But I felt a rush of confidence and started to feel happy with myself.

He looks down, then gives a dramatic exhale as if he's relieved. Then, he gets up and leaves. I get a text notification from his number.

It says:

From: Marcus

"I'm happy you did it. Thank god you had to say something before I did. I know how dramatic you are when someone tells you something you don't like, so I waited until you broke up with me. Finally. Besides, you're fat and ugly. I only dated you because your sister begged me to.

"Here are your pancakes with extra whipped cream." the red-haired waitress says and places my plate in front of me. She looks around and asked if he went to the bathroom.

"He left." was all I could say. I eat my pancakes in silence, trying to play it off with a smile, but my gut was burning with embarrassment. I quickly leave after I finish without saying a word.

Later that day, after staying in my bed. I finally have the motivation to get up and go to the kitchen. I turn on the television to see "Mathilda" playing. The scene that plays is when Bruce Brogtrotter is eating the chocolate cake, while the school watches. I look around the kitchen to see if I could make some cake and eat until I passed out. I should celebrate, besides I took the first step of getting out of a toxic relationship.

Finding all of the ingredients, I get started with making the cake. As I'm mixing the ingredients, my mind drifts to my sister. She's definitely not gonna be too happy about this. What is she gonna say? She's probably going to bring up mom in the convo. "Mom's not gonna be too happy about this."

But what about my happiness?

I looked at the television to see Bruce being cheered on while eating the remnants of the chocolate cake. I grimaced. I love sweets to a certain point. Eating a whole cake like that would make me feel so sick. I should probably consider only eating a slice today.

After some time, I finally finish making the cake, adding black cherries on top, giving it an edible crown. I take a step back and look back at my creation. Suddenly, there's a knock on my door.

I opened it to see it's Magnolia. Her eyes widen, surprised to see me. I stick my head out to see if there was anyone with her. "Did you follow me here?"

"I'm just as surprised as you. I live upstairs and I wanted to ask if you had any sugar. I would ask my neighbor but he's...... a bit creepy." I nodded, understanding what she meant.

"Mr. Todd is a bit weird. I saw him when I was coming home and wouldn't stop following me." she nodded, making a face.

"Do you wanna come in and have some cake? I just made some chocolate cake and was thinking of making some tea." Magnolia nods and comes in.

After having cake with peppermint tea, we sit and watch Mathilda together. We laugh at the funny moments and roll our eyes at the not-so-great moments with Mathilda's parents. I got up during a commercial break to make some more peppermint tea.

"Can you get that for me please?" I asked her. She runs to the door. Opening it, I see her smile fade into disgust.

"Is she here?" I heard a voice say. My heart dropped. I know that raspy voice. Marcus comes in and smiles at me mischievously, "Honey. I'm home."

"Get the fuck out of my apartment," I say. I reach for my wooden spoon from my kitchen drawer and threaten to hit him with it.

"Don't worry I just came to get my things." Magnolia and I stare at him in silence, with the Road Dahl movie in the background.

"I already told your sister," he said with a smirk on his face. "She's telling your mom as we speak." He starts to chuckle. "Now your family is gonna disown you. They hate queers." I felt my body growing hotter and hotter with anger and impatience.

"I really don't care. I'm a grown woman and I can choose wh0 I date!" I say. I stomp my foot on the ground then point to the door. "Now get out before I call to force you out!"

Magnolia then opens the door, telling him to leave. He glares at me, then walks out the door, completely ignoring the Magnolia as she held the door. She locks the door and then smiles at me. "So when were you gonna tell him that we had sex?" she jokes. I blushed and threw my kitchen rag at her. She laughs and catches it.

After finishing the movie. She gets up and heads to the door. After our goodbyes, she stops before opening the door.

"I know this might be crazy, but we should go out sometime." Magnolia then makes eye contact with me. I stare back with a smile then walk up to her.

She puts her hand out to shake my hand. "Let's start over then." She smiles at me and says "My name is Magnolia. And what's yours?"

I shake her hand and smile. "My name is Daisy."