Foolish April

April stared at the door, afraid of what might be waiting for her on the other side. "Why are we going in there?"

Rebecca gave her a sly grin. "Because this is where your present is and, believe me, you're definitely going to want to open this one in private."

She opened the door and led her down the row of racks until they were nearly at the end. She stopped at the second to last row and turned to stare down it. "Happy birthday, princess."

April glanced down the hall and was surprised to see the new assistant art director, Ryan, standing at the end. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed in front of him. He gave her a smile.

"Why is he here?" she said, swallowing nervously as she took a step backward.

Rebecca grabbed her sleeve and pulled her forward. "He's here to give you your birthday present."

April blinked in surprise. "What do you mean? I told you, I don't want a present."

"Oh, you're going to want this one. Every girl in the office wants this one."

She let go of April and strutted toward Ryan, purring as she pressed herself against his side. The corner of her mouth curled into a leer as she slid her hand down past his waist, her fingers rubbing the thick outline trapped against his leg and showing through his pants. "Ooh, such a...mmm...big present."

April's eyes went wide. It was definitely big -- very, very big. But when she glanced up and saw the smirk on Ryan's face as he watched her she turned away, burning with embarrassment.

"Whoa, where do you think you're going?" Rebecca said, grabbing her by her sweater.

April struggled to pull away from her and, trying not to look at Ryan or his crotch, whispered, "I don't want that kind of present."

"Are you kidding me?" Rebecca said. "Any normal girl would want what's in his pants. Consider yourself lucky he's even agreed to give it to someone like you."

April turned a deeper shade of red, even more embarrassed than before.

"Unless you're trying to tell me there's something wrong with you. Maybe you need one more your size?"

April yanked her arm away. "There's nothing wrong with me."

"Good. Then I'll leave the two of you alone so you can spend some time...umm...playing with your present."

She headed back down the hallway, the sound of her high heels fading away as the door to the art storage room closed behind her. April, bewildered by the unexpected turn of events, glanced back at Ryan who was still leaning against the wall, watching her.

It seemed like the only sound in the hallway was her heart hammering in her chest, but then Ryan uncrossed his arms, put them behind his back, and broke the silence.

"Go ahead," he whispered. "There's no one here but you and me. Pull it out."

April couldn't help herself as her eyes immediately went to the thick outline in his pants. He was watching her, waiting for her. Rebecca was right; every girl in the office did have their eye on Ryan. And that's all April wanted to be, just one of the girls. Besides, she could only imagine what Rebecca would tell everyone if she chickened out.

Her memory flashed back to another birthday party, her best friend's. They were only twelve years old. Her friend's older brother had gone in the closet and every girl had taken a turn spending two minutes alone in there with him. But when it was April's turn, with all of the other girls laughing as they pushed her toward the door, she panicked. She cried out and when her friend's mother realized what they were up to everyone was sent home. The party was over. And, as it turned out, so was the friendship.

She learned later that nothing had happened in the closet. Every single girl had simply talked to her friend's brother, nervously waiting for their two minutes to be over. Only one had been brave enough to even kiss him. But that hadn't stopped them from teasing April, taunting her and singling her out for ridicule for years after.

She took a deep breath and stepped toward Ryan who was still watching her patiently, an inviting smile on his face. Her heart pounded as she reached out and pulled on his belt, her eyes locked on the swollen outline inches from her tiny fingers as she undid the thick leather strap. As his belt came open she reached for the button on his pants, afraid to make eye contact as she undid it and went to pull his zipper down.

And then a scream from behind her nearly scared her right out of her skin.

"April Fools!"

She spun around, terrified, and saw Rebecca. She was barefoot and carrying her high heels in her hand so she couldn't be heard. Behind her, three other girls from the office were laughing uncontrollably. Ryan was laughing too, and gave her an apologetic smile as he did his pants back up.

Rebecca pulled her heels back on, still howling with laughter as she hurried toward her.

"April," she said with a look of mock astonishment, "I am absolutely shocked! I mean, I knew you were fun-sized but I never knew you were such a little horndog. Why were you so anxious to get in Ryan's pants? Don't tell me you thought that was your present?"

As April stared at the two of them, bewildered, Rebecca smiled and slid her hand into Ryan's pocket. "This is your birthday present," she said, and pulled out the thick purple highlighter that had been showing through his pants. "I thought it might help you catch up on your proofreading but, you know, you can use it however you want. My guess is it's just your size."

The other girls howled with laughter again, and were still laughing as April pushed past them and ran back to her desk, more embarrassed than ever. She didn't grab the proofs she'd already put aside to work on at home. She just grabbed her coat and keys and headed for the front door.

She was nearly through it when Rebecca intercepted her. "Hey, you're not mad are you, cupcake? It's April Fools' Day. I didn't want you to feel left out."

April forced a smile and tried not to make eye contact, afraid that she'd burst into tears. "Yeah, no problem, you guys got me. That was a good one. It's just that I have to get home, my parents are throwing this big party for me."

"Oh, isn't that sweet. Make sure to show everyone what you got for your birthday." She smiled as she pressed the giant purple marker into April's small hand.

She stared down at it as Rebecca headed back into the office, accompanied by a chorus of snickers and muffled laughter as one of the girls reached out and high fived her. As if on cue the clouds, which had been waiting for April all day, opened up and rain came pouring down.

This time she didn't run. She walked slowly, her coat under her arm, letting the shower soak her to her skin. Halfway to her car she let the marker fall from her hand and didn't watch as it rolled, carried by the water toward the gutter. And when she finally opened the door and climbed onto the custom cushion on the driver's seat her face was so streaked with raindrops that her tears were almost unnoticeable. She put the key in the ignition but didn't turn it; she just clenched the steering wheel and kicked as hard as she could at the metal extenders that allowed her tiny feet to reach the pedals on the floor.

* * *

The timer rang and April hurried to the oven to pull dinner out. She was carrying it back to the dining room table when a knock at the door startled her.

Putting the hot dinner down on the placemat, she pulled off her oven mitts and went to see who it was. There was an unfamiliar silhouette in the glass sidelight beside the door and she was stunned when she opened it and saw Ryan standing there.

She winced as the painful memories from the hallway came flooding back. She checked behind him, almost expecting to see Rebecca hiding in the bushes, and fought the urge to slam the door in his face.

As if he'd read her mind, he held out his hand to stop her. "April, please," he said, a look of genuine concern on his face, "just let me talk."

Still fighting the urge, her knuckles white on the door handle, she said, "How did you know where I live?!"

"Denise told me."

April felt her blood pressure rising. "I think someone needs to remind Denise that personal information is supposed to be confidential."

"Yeah, believe me, she didn't want to tell me," he said. "She's still furious about finding Rebecca going through her files. But when I explained to her why I needed to apologize to you -- "

"You don't need to apologize to me."

"Yes I do. I should have never agreed to be part of that prank. I know it's no excuse, but...I'm still new at the firm and trying to fit in. I thought this would help. Rebecca said the girls play this prank every April Fools' Day. She said you'd think it was hilarious."

April wasn't smiling. "I didn't think it was hilarious."

"Yeah," he said, nervously sweeping his fingers back through his hair, "believe me, I could tell. I was actually hoping to get a chance to apologize to you at the bar. Rebecca said everyone was going out for drinks after work and I just assumed, with it being your birthday and all, you'd be there."

April glanced behind her where her dinner was waiting on the table. "I wasn't invited and I, umm, already had other plans."

"Yeah, that's what Rebecca said, something about your parents throwing you a big party?"

He glanced over her shoulder at the empty house behind her and she quickly closed the door halfway, blocking his view. "You could have just apologized tomorrow."

"Yeah, I know, but I wanted to make sure I apologized before, umm, before you saw Zander."

April's eyes narrowed as she realized why he was on her doorstep. "Don't worry. I'm not going to tell anyone what happened."

He let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much. I really want to keep this job, and I'd hate to think that -- "

April held up her hand to stop him. "I understand. Apology accepted. Now, I should really be getting back to my dinner. Goodbye."

She went to shut the door but he stopped her. "Wait, you're eating dinner all alone?"

She hesitated, trying to think up a lie, but she knew it was obvious there was no one else with her. "Umm...yeah."

"Well that's not right. No one should be alone on their birthday. Let me take you out and buy you dinner instead."

April blinked in surprise at the unexpected invitation. "I've already made dinner."

"I know, but...I have to do something to make up for what happened today."

"You already apologized."

"Please, I could buy you a hundred dinners and it wouldn't be enough. I know I embarrassed you today. That prank was way over the line. I was stupid to let myself get dragged into it and I want to make it up to you. Come on...let me take you out for your birthday."

April hesitated, and then quickly shook her head. "Honestly, I'm fine. This is how I like to spend my birthday. And I really need to go before my dinner gets cold."

"Are you sure?" he said, still trying to see past her.

April closed the door a little more and nodded.

Ryan said, "Okay, umm, I guess I'll see you at work tomorrow?"

She forced a smile and shut the door. He seemed sincere, but she knew the invitation also seemed too good to be true. And she started to wonder if Rebecca was behind it, wondered if this was part two of her prank.

April wouldn't fall for it again. She'd already learned her lesson earlier today. She should have never left the house. She should have called in sick and stayed home like she did every year. It was only because of the meeting that she'd mustered the courage to go in and it had backfired on her, just like it always did.

But once the clock had struck twelve she'd thought she was safe. Didn't Rebecca know it was bad luck to pull a prank after noon on April Fools' Day?

She sat down at the dining room table where her dinner was waiting. She gingerly touched the corners of the plastic tray, making sure it wasn't too hot, and then peeled back the corner until the cover pulled free. A blanket of steam broke loose from inside and curled upward as April stared at her birthday dinner: Salisbury steak, instant mashed potatoes, peas and some kind of dessert.

She poked it with her fork, not sure what was hiding beneath the strange-looking crust. And then there was another knock at the door.

She put her fork down and went to open it. She was surprised to see Ryan was back, a bottle of wine in his hand.

"Hey," he said, "sorry to keep bugging you, but it just didn't seem right letting you spend your birthday all alone. And then I remembered I still had this wine in my trunk from a cousin's wedding a couple of weeks ago. Assuming you still don't want to go to dinner, maybe we could at least have a glass of wine together to celebrate your birthday?"

April stared past him, still thinking Rebecca must be hiding in the bushes.

Ryan glanced back too, wondering what she was looking at. "I wasn't sure what you were having for dinner, but I'm hoping red goes with it. Can I come in?"

She hesitated, still unsure. But she had a feeling he wasn't going anywhere unless she agreed. "Fine, but only one drink, and then you have to leave."

He nodded in agreement, grinning as he followed her inside and waiting while she went to the kitchen. She knew there was only one wine glass in the cupboard; one was all she'd ever needed. So she knelt down and reached back behind the pots and pans until she found the cardboard box the glass had come in. There were three others inside it and she quickly unwrapped one, rinsed it and hurried back to the living room with both glasses and a corkscrew.

Ryan was standing beside the table staring at her meal with a screwed-up face.

"Umm, what the hell is this? It looks disgusting."

April blushed with embarrassment. "It's a Hungry-Guy frozen dinner."

"You're having a TV Dinner for your birthday?"

"Yeah, I like them. They actually taste a lot better than they look. The secret is to do them in the oven instead of the microwave. I have more. Do you want me to make you one?"

"Oh god...no, I'll stick to wine thanks."

April waited in her chair as he poured them both a glass. She was used to eating alone, but she felt a little uncomfortable being the only one eating. She pushed the untouched meal away, too embarrassed to admit that the frozen dinners were her guilty pleasure; whenever she felt sad they always made her feel better. She had a freezer filled with them.

He handed her a glass of wine and she took it with both hands, holding it close as she savored its bouquet. But as Ryan leaned close and touched his glass to hers, she caught a whiff of his own boozy bouquet.

"Wow," she said, waving her hand back and forth in front of her face. "How much did you drink at the bar?"

"Probably too much," he said, putting his wine down after barely taking a sip. "It took a few doubles before I was able to work up the nerve to come over here."

"And you drove?"

"I know. I shouldn't have. I'll take a cab home, I promise. But I'm thinking now maybe the wine wasn't such a good idea, either."

"Wait here," April said, and ran back to the kitchen. She soon returned with a glass filled with ice water.

"Thanks," Ryan said, as he took it. "Your parents have an amazing house."

"Oh, this isn't my parents' house. It's mine."

Ryan nearly spit out his drink. "This place is yours? It's huge. How much do proofreaders get paid?!"

April laughed. "I didn't buy it, my parents did. But one day they went on a round the world cruise and never came back. So now it's mine."

"Oh, shit. You don't mean they..."

She laughed again and took another sip of her wine. "Don't worry, they're still alive. The ship didn't sink. They just found a place they liked near the coast of Spain and decided to buy a house and stay there. I'm flying over next month to spend a couple weeks with them. We'll celebrate my birthday then."

"And they just gave you this house? They must be loaded."

"Yeah, they kind of are." She pointed at a photo on a side table. "This is them."

"Your parents, they're both..."

"Normal-sized? Yeah, I'm the one who got the short straw."

He winced and she laughed at his reaction. "Don't worry, short jokes don't bother me. I've lived my whole life this way. I'm pretty used to it now."

"But, honestly, you don't even look like..."

"A midget?"

He winced again. "I thought we were supposed to call you little people?"

She rolled her eyes. "I hate when people call me that, it sounds like I'm a leprechaun. Technically, I'm a dwarf. Anyone under four foot ten is."

"But still, you don't look like one...you know...a dwarf. I mean, of course you're short, but..."

April smiled patiently. She'd been explaining her size her entire life. "It's called pseudoachondroplasia, and I was born with it."

As Ryan struggled to pronounce it, she continued: "It's a different disorder than the dwarfs you're probably thinking of, they have what's called disproportionate dwarfism with disproportionate heads and limbs. I have what's known as proportionate dwarfism; everything I have is in proportion, just smaller."

She could almost feel his eyes on her, studying her like she was on display. She was used to it. She couldn't go anywhere without everyone staring at her as if she'd wandered away from a circus. She took a deeper sip of her wine and turned away.

"I used to let it bother me. I used to get angry and bitter and think, 'Why me?' But now that I'm older I've grown to accept it."

She glanced up and saw him searching for the right words to say. She knew whenever her height came up the conversation always went short. She was about to change the subject when he did it for her.

"Oh, wow, whose are these?!" He stepped past her into a hallway, where an array of artwork covered nearly every inch of the walls.

"They're mine."

He stared in awe at the varied collection of charcoal sketches, pen and ink drawings, watercolors and oils. "Where did you find them?"

She blinked in surprise. "Find them? I didn't buy them. When I said they're mine, I meant they're mine."

He stared at her, dumbfounded, and then he noticed the small stylized A in the corner of every piece. "You mean...you made these?"

She gave him a tiny nod and took another sip of wine.

He bounced from work to work, spending mere moments on one before being pulled to the next. A look on his face as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. But his astonishment at the treasure trove that lined the walls was nothing compared to the surprise that awaited him at the end of the corridor. And as his jaw dropped the glass of water nearly slipped from his hand.

At the end was a huge studio, loaded with trays and racks, tables and easels and all kinds of art supplies. Half-finished works leaned against every wall. He stared at them in disbelief. "Why are you only working as a proofreader when you can do this? You're an artist."

"No I'm not," April said, shaking her head. "I never finished art school."

He did a double take. "Are you kidding me? Finishing art school is hardly a requirement for being an artist. Look at these...they're amazing!"

"Thanks, but I just did them for fun. I know I don't have half the talent or training you or Rebecca have."

"Talent? Are you kidding me? And training -- you can't train this," he said, as he went from piece to piece in awe. "Your line work, your brush work...they're amazing, and so many different techniques. I can see now how you spotted the flaw in her color scheme when none of the rest of us did."

"I just made a lucky guess."

"No," he said, as he approached a large gouache on canvas, "you have an eye for art. I can see it in everything you've done. Like this piece, it's stunning."

He stared at the large work before him, detailing the interior of a small beach house on a bright summer day. There was a girl stretched out on the couch, her face turned away from them, asleep or falling asleep as her long arm lazily stretched toward the book she'd abandoned on the floor beside her. She was dressed in a light summer dress which had ridden high on the bare thighs of her impossibly long legs, and her sun-kissed hair was the exact same shade as April's.