His perfect piece of birthday cake!!!!!

None of the cakes in the glass case did not excite him much in the bakery.  His hands were pointing to a piece of cake in the corner. 

"Don't you want a whole cake? ", Ruth asked.

"No", he replied. 

"Then, we need to get more slices for everyone".

"No, we can just get a piece of this now, and let's bake vanilla for others". 

"Show some mercy on me".

"We can share the same", he chuckled. 

"Yeah. I also don't want to eat trashily". 

They were seated at the table near the stained glass window of Banjo bakery after paying at the till. Now and then, through stained panes, flitted beautiful patterns across the floor.  A few minutes later, the cake and the frappe were served on their table. 

"I never liked the meringue on top of any delicious cake", she said in a petulant manner. 

"Neither me", he carefully scooped the meringue with a fork and placed it at the other end of the shallow plate.

Her thoughts drifted away in the stream of summer light. "It's odd that you have an affinity for homemade cakes."

"Is expecting a quintessential piece of cake madness?" She pushed a cake morsel into his mouth and interrupted his question.

"How does an outgoing person like you don't like being pampered on your birthday?"

"It would be foolish of me to imagine that I'm more special to everyone around me only on my birthdays."

"No harm in being extra special on your birthday." she winked.

"I don't like the idea of someone's extravagant affection only on my birthday."

She looked at him a bit askance. "Oh gosh.. I can't change your perception. Shall we leave?"

He smiled and said, "Yeah sure."

They both crossed the Coyle extension road and walked on the way to the mini-clubman cooper. 

He said languidly, "I never celebrated my birthdays, and it was the way I was raised.

 As the years passed by, it faded away. I eventually got rid of the intolerable fascination I had in my childhood with birthday celebrations." 

She began to say something but waited for a man, stampeding on the road and gasping for his breath, to pass by. 

"But, things like that make you fashionable in this trend and make you the happiest person in the world", she reached for the passenger seat's door handle of the cooper. They both got into the Cooper.

"Bhutanese don't celebrate birthdays, yet their country was the happiest country in the early 21st century," he said, and pushed the button to start the engine. She was speechless for a few seconds.

"I can never win over your intelligence", she said and buckled herself.  Silence creeped inside as soon as she started pondering the conversation. An hour later, Rian pulled up outside the garage of their house. Going past the porch, Ruth went into the living area and flung herself into the hanging wicker chair.

Rian poured himself out a cup of tea and sat on the upholstery. 

"Roo, don't you feel the celebration as meaningless?"

"No. Not at all. A lot of my friends wish me and gift me stuff. I love the vibe of it."

"Isn't it the manifestation of things we own and people we have? When the crow's feet creeps into your eyes, won't you just wish to know who can remember your birthday without this kind of pompous display? Moreover, it is not profanity if I don't celebrate."

She looked at him marvellously. "I agree, but can't you celebrate for me? 

"You are matured. You shouldn't ask like this. I want to be free from setting expectations which limit freedom. I just want to release myself from this situation. This year, cake cutting is just for the parents and in-laws. Shall we bake?"

"I believe my parents don't think us scrooges."

"Until I nourish a healthier relationship with them, it will be tough."

"Rian.. You are an excellent biopic material and a bad influencer. I now don't like to celebrate."

"Don't be. If it makes you happy, you should. I'll never disapprove of it."

"No. It's not that. I don't know who cares to wish me or pretends to wish me and secretly planning how to regift it?". 

"Yeah.. Hmmm. That's right.", he sipped his cold tea. 

"Let me turn it down a notch."

"That's good. I believe yours is also going to whip you up with a piece of cake next year."

"To the meaningful birthdays", she raised her empty hand in air. 

They cheered and went off to the kitchen to bake a vanilla cake.