With Love, from Cold World(108)

“What concert cruise?” Lauren said, joining the conversation. Even though she’d moved in with Asa and his housemates six months ago—her lease had been up, and fitting right in their little group had been surprisingly easy—she and Asa had driven to the Cold World holiday party separate from the rest of them. She turned to Asa now, giving his hand a squeeze. “Did you know anything about this?”

“What?” he said. “Oh. No.”

He’d been acting weird all night. She imagined it must feel a little awkward, returning to this place where he’d worked for so long. For close to a year now, he’d worked at a local LGBTQ services center, and he’d started building an online shop where he sold his art. He’d even been commissioned to paint a few murals for local businesses—including the one for the Snow Globe, which he hadn’t let her see yet. He was supposed to show her tonight. Was it possible he was nervous about that?

“You gonna reprise your karaoke performance from last year?” Kiki asked, waggling her eyebrows.

Lauren groaned, but she was smiling. “Please don’t even remind me.”

“Maybe you could sing ‘Let’s—’?” Kiki started, then made an exaggerated oof sound when Asa elbowed her in the side. She pantomimed zipping her mouth and throwing away the key.

“Sorry,” she said. “I’ve been listening to Bleachers a lot.”

Asa held out his hand, and Kiki acted like she was removing more keys from her pockets, around her neck, tucked inside her socks, then reluctantly handing them over. Some of their inside jokes Lauren still didn’t fully get, but she was happy to see Asa grinning by the end of it.

They entered the party, which was still in the chill early stages before the music had started and the real festivities got going. John immediately split off to set up his equipment with the band, and Kiki and Elliot made a beeline for the drinks counter, leaving Asa and Lauren standing in the middle of the lobby. Lauren had kept her job part time at Cold World, after all, while she went back to school, so she was able to introduce Asa to a few new people he wouldn’t know. But he seemed distracted, shaking their hands and saying a perfunctory hello but without the usual easy conversation he was so much better at than her.

“Are you cold?” he asked at one point. “Want me to get your cardigan from your office?”

“I’m good,” she said. The weather outside was balmy, as was common for a Florida winter, but she’d worn a long-sleeved shirt on purpose, knowing how cold they kept Cold World.

“I think I’m cold,” he said. “I’m going to go grab it, if that’s okay.”

“Sure,” she said. Was it possible he was sick? She tried to remember if he’d felt any warmer than usual, but he always felt warm to her. After a minute, he came out of the office area wearing her cream-colored cardigan, oversized on her but fitting him almost perfectly. His hair—now back to his natural brown, a little longer than it had been before—was tousled like he’d been running his hands through it, and her heart skipped a beat.

When he rejoined her, she pulled him in to kiss his cheek, and he blinked down at her. “What was that for?”

“Do I need a reason?” she said. “You’re cute.”

He barely seemed to register the compliment, though, because he had his hand on the small of her back, guiding her through the people. “Let’s check out the Snow Globe now,” he said. “I don’t want to wait.”

That was fine by Lauren. She was dying to see what he’d come up with for the Snow Globe mural—she’d seen some of his ideas when they put their presentation together, but she knew it had changed since then. And if the mural was the cause of his jittery nerves, she’d rather get it out of the way so they could enjoy the rest of the party. She already knew she’d love whatever he created.

They stepped into the enclosed space, snow crunching beneath their feet, and the minute Lauren saw it she felt like her breath had literally been snatched from her body. It covered one entire side of the curved wall, which couldn’t have been easy to manage, but it was perfect. Designed like a vintage postcard, WITH LOVE, FROM COLD WORLD printed in large block letters, it had so many details and fun Easter eggs included throughout that Lauren felt like she could’ve spent hours in there just trying to find them all. There was the hot chocolate stand in one corner, people ice skating in another, including a kid who looked a little like Eddie. There was the little penguin with the striped scarf, which made Lauren smile, and tucked away in another part of the mural was an incongruous rosebush with a fox curled up peacefully in front of it, a reference that she somehow knew instantly was for her.

“What do you think?” Asa asked from behind her. He had to know she would love it, but his voice had a slight vibration to it, an edge that told her he didn’t take her good opinion for granted.

“I love it,” she said. “I—I don’t even know what to say. Asa, this is incredible.”

She knew he’d been working on it, of course. They’d had to close down the Snow Globe for a few days, and he’d spent that time locked inside, putting on all the finishing touches. He’d come out only to take the occasional break, enjoying a prepackaged sandwich with her in the café area, sitting in her office and building chains out of paper clips that she’d find later next to an added little message with a heart doodled on her to-do list.