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The day was beginning to drag.
It was barely two in the afternoon and Effie was already yawning. For the third time in the past hour, she began to rethink her evening plans. The children had offered to treat her to dinner, and her friends had offered to throw a party. But she had refused because she wasn't in any mood to party.
She was old.
Every year it was getting harder to ignore it. Her metabolism was slowing, lines were starting to appear on her skin... She was getting old and at thirty-five there was no running from it anymore.
Perhaps it was the fact that she had recently gone up a dress size. Or maybe the comment her dermatologist had made about getting filler. Possibly, it could be the way her mother had stopped nagging for her to get a life and instead had started sighing at every mention of her life... Whatever the cause, all Effie knew was that she was in no mood to celebrate her birthday this year.
She had expected to turn thirty-five in a big house, with a husband and a successful career behind her, two children who behaved perfectly and rarely bothered her... The perfect life that she had planned since she was younger.
But instead, Effie found herself single and with a barely successful modelling career that had resulted in having to work for her friends to get by. She loved working at Cinna and Portia's shop - she did. But that didn't mean it was her plan. It didn't mean she couldn't reflect on her life and realise just how off-course she was.
It was said reflection that had caused her to turn down all offers and spend a much needed day at home. She would often simply ignore these thoughts and feelings, distract herself with work or dates or parties until she forgot all about it. But just this once she felt the urge to mope and pout to her heart's content.
A few cards had come in the mail, some gifts too. Mostly from her friends and a few from brands that still liked to work with her even after she retired from modelling. She had opened them all - grateful that she had been alone because she wasn't in any mood to fake a smile - and placed them around her house, hoping it would bring her some cheer. The big three and five balloons sent by her brother were sat beside the counter with cake Peeta had dropped off last night. It was far too much to eat on her own but she appreciated the effort.
When her doorbell rang once again, she simply assumed it was another delivery. With a sigh, she dragged herself from her sofa and into the hallway. She had expected the shadow of a postman in a ridiculous red uniform but there was no such thing. She opened her door with a little hesitation after that, only to be pleasantly surprised at the sight of flowers on the welcome mat.
For the first time that day, she felt a genuine smile tugging at her lips. If only because all the important people's gifts had been accounted for - which mean these flowers were a nice extra. She picked them up without a second thought, nudging the door shut whilst also trying to read the note...
There was suddenly a loud unfamiliar sound that had her looking back up at her driveway.
She almost dropped the flowers in her arm in shock.
The sight of Haymitch Abernathy with anything pink would shock her alone. Let alone the sight of Haymitch Abernathy holding a pink lead attached to a horse. Even more ridiculous was the pink bow on the golden horse.
"Haymitch, what on Earth are you doing?" She asks when he leads the horse closer. He looked far too cheerful. Not to mention the way he was holding the horse was so casual - as if he did this every weekend.
"Didn't you read the note?" He frowned, eyes dropping to look at the flowers in her hand.
"You do realise you're supposed to ask in advance if you can come over to somebody's house," she sighed. "Not to mention with a horse." Haymitch's happy demeanour was quickly growing into a sulk and this time, she frowned. "Why have you got a horse?"
"Read the note," he insisted. Carefully, she pulled out the note from the flowers and turned it over. The message was elegantly printed in a pretty font that made it a little hard to read. It took her a moment to realise what it said.
'35, aren't the years just galloping on? - H'
"Alright..." Effie said carefully, eyes glancing between him and the card a few times with clear confusion. "I am not understanding what the card means."
"It means..." Haymitch stressed, his voice taking on a poor imitation of her own. "Happy Birthday, I got you a pony!" He gestured to the horse with a far too enthusiastic grin painted across his face. He looked ridiculous. She found it far too endearing.
"A horse..." she repeated because she needed the assurance. "You got me a horse." Truly, when did had ever give him the impression that she wanted a horse? Well... there had been a few drunk talks they had where she had mentioned the several silly jobs she had wanted to be when she was younger. But she had mentioned so many jobs... surely he hadn't thought she had been serious about them all?
"It's a pony, sweetheart." He took a step closer as if to present the horse to her and she very quickly shuffled closer into her house. "What's wrong?"
"I am scared of horses," she mentioned quickly. "Don't you remember? I told you I wanted to be an equestrian until my mother took me to get lessons and I fell off." Almost comically she watched Haymitch realise his mistake...
"Well..." he shrugged as if it didn't matter. "This isn't a horse, it's a pony." He held the lead out again as if she would just accept that excuse and take the horse, did he think she was stupid?
"Do not be silly, they are the same thing!" She exclaimed. "Haymitch, what do you expect me to do with a horse?" He smirked and that only irritated her more. "Where do you expect me to put a horse?" She added. Her house was big sure, but it wasn't big enough for a horse. And she wasn't sure horses were supposed to be kept in back gardens... Her garden was far too polished to have a horse walking around, trampling on the flowers and eating the grass.
"I'm not an idiot, sweetheart," Haymitch scowled. "I did pay for it to stay somewhere. You know it's the thought that counts, right? Not to mention, this horse was fucking expensive." As if she was suddenly lit on fire, Effie felt her blood boil.
"Oh," she hissed. "My apologies, am I not grateful enough for the pony you have decided to saddle me with?" That earned a chuckle but she refused to let it shake her. "Did I not ask everybody to not bother with gifts this year?" She had made that very clear, that was why the gifts she had gotten today were a lovely surprise.
"I know for a fact the kids bought you a gift," he argued. "I don't see you giving them shit."
"Language!" She chided, pursing her lips. "The children's gifts were sweet and thoughtful. They did not give me a horse."
"Well, you're fancy!" Haymitch sighed, finally seeming to lose his patience. He threw his hands in the air in frustration and glared. "Fancy people buy ridiculous gifts! Didn't you tell me some guy once bought an old tree as a wedding gift?" There was a lot to unpack in that explanation and Effie opened and closed her mouth several times. Her hands were beginning to cramp from holding the flowers and she could see behind Haymitch there was a movement in her neighbour's curtains. Which was just the icing on the cake, wasn't it?
"I think you're talking about James Righton," she offered playfully before she tackled the problem. "Are you trying to tell me you bought me a horse because you think I'm fancy?"
"You are fancy," Haymitch replied with a smirk. "You're so posh I don't even know how we became friends." Friends was a strong word, she thought. Their relationship was very odd. But she didn't stop to ponder on that particular subject.
"Well, you tried to pick me up in a bar..." she hummed, simply to kill time. "And then we met again through Katniss & Peeta..." After a moment's pause, she placed the flowers at her feet, slipped on the nearest shoes and finally stepped outside her house. "And then you tried to pick me up again. But I decided it was better we remain as friends." It was cutting a lot of corners but the story softened her mood a little.
"Wasn't quite like that," he glowered. "Don't need to make me sound so desperate, sweetheart." She shrugged a little at that - a response she blamed him for rubbing off on her. "You're not mad anymore?"
"I am still mad." She closed the front door carefully and looked at the lead in his left hand with reluctance. "But I am also aware my neighbours are staring and you know I hate to cause a scene..."
"You love to cause a scene," he chuckled. "Remember your sister's wedding?" She did. And she had the sense to look sheepish because he had a point. However, introducing him as her boyfriend and kissing him in the photos to annoy her mother was an entirely different situation. It was also not what friends did but once again, she didn't linger on that line of thought.
"Alright," she sighed. "Tell me what to do with this horse so I can go back to enjoying my birthday alone." He offered her the lead and she wrinkled her nose. "You should walk with it. I don't know what to do." He lifted an eyebrow but didn't insist. "Is it being kept somewhere safe?" The horse didn't seem as big now she was next to it. She wasn't as afraid as she thought she would be. Then again, she hadn't seen a horse since she had fallen off one at nine...
"She,"he corrected. "Yeah, I paid for her to stay in a stable because I'm nice like that." She certainly disagreed with that last part but she wisely kept her mouth shut. "You should hop on, promise I won't let her go."
"Hop on?" She frowned. "Certainly not. I do not know how to ride a horse." There was a smirk on his face again and she didn't resist glaring in a hopefully threatening fashion. "Take your mind out of the gutter."
"I didn't say anything," he denied. "Alright, let's take her to the stable then. You can thank me with a drink afterwards."
"Thank you?" she hissed, begrudgingly following him out of her driveway. He walked onto the road as if it were pavement and she looked around in panic. Surely this wasn't how you walked a horse? What if a car came and startled it? What if they were run over? "You will be lucky if I don't kill you."
There were a few moments of silence as they walked to the end of her street. Effie wondered where he could be possibly taking her, she wasn't aware that she lived near a stable. She didn't see any horses regularly, that was for sure.
"Where are we going?" She asked when it was obvious he wasn't going to talk.
"To my truck. I have a trailer," he replied very neutrally. Far too inconspicuous to not arouse her suspicions.
"Will that be safe?" She worried. Just because she didn't want the horse didn't mean she wanted her to be harmed...
"Yeah," he assured her. "I was only trying to be nice, with the gift I mean."
"Nice would be sending me chocolates and wine," she argued. "Were you drunk when you made this purchase?" There was a smile tugging at her lips when he looked a little guilty. He was.
"Probably the worst mistake I've ever made whilst drunk," he admits. Effie very much doubted that, but she could relate. Her biggest mistake would have to do with him too. Why, the number of times they had gotten drunk and found themselves kissing, touching... It had resulted in her spending several nights imagining what he would be like in bed. Feeling the hot burn of jealousy when he told her about one-night stands, several heated talks and looks behind the children's backs and her stomach doing ridiculous dances when he smirked playfully at her after she made a particularly good remark...
"Well, it is certainly a unique gift," she sighed. His truck, she could only assume was right ahead. Blocked by a big silver trailer. He walked the horse onto the trailer and spent some time fussing over her. Probably making sure everything was secure, Effie didn't know. She stood awkwardly at the back, looking down at her shoes and then - when he took longer than she thought - at the big trailer. There was a sticker in the bottom left-hand corner, it was pink and white and upon closer inspection, Effie could read it said 'birthday girl'.
"Ready to go?" Haymitch appeared in front of her with a much more cheerful expression. He must have caught wind of what she was looking at. "You should see the stable. I bought pink ribbons and everything."
"Whatever for?" She frowned. "This is all very out of character, are you sure you're not drunk?" He didn't seem drunk, truthfully. He looked sober but Effie had learned not to trust her judgement. Haymitch had a good tolerance after so many years of drinking.
"I wouldn't be driving you if I had drunk," he spat. "You know that." She did. Haymitch was lots of things but he wasn't a careless driver, that was one piece of good advice he had drilled into the children's heads. "It was Prim's idea."
"Oh really?" she latched onto the mention of the girl eagerly. "Take me to see this stable then..." She was curious to see Haymitch's idea of decorating and she couldn't deny it felt a little nice to have a surprise.
As always, Haymitch's truck was full of clutter and she did a special check for spiders because they loved to hide in the old vehicle. They had appeared mid-drive before and she had made a scene screaming and trying to wriggle away... He had not been very pleased with her.
"I checked for spiders," he chuckled. Her look of surprise must have shown on her face. "See? Aren't I kind to you today..."
"You should treat me like this every day," she retorted, finally relaxing. She was certain her white shoes would be stained on the dirty floor but she would have to let it slide.
"Yeah?" Haymitch asked. He slammed the door shut and started the truck. Effie was always shocked by how quickly he could start driving. She always took a few minutes to check her makeup and put some music on. "And where would that get me?" Slowly, he began to drive. For a moment she worried about the horse but Haymitch seemed unbothered so she held her tongue.
"Well, I would not nag you about drinking as much." He was driving her towards his side of town it seemed, which was a little worrying because there was usually a lot of traffic... "Are you sure the horse will be alright?"
"Very sure," he assured her. Briefly, he turned to look at her before his eyes settled back on the road. There was a beat of silence before he spoke, amusement clear in his voice. "Are you getting attached yet?"
"Of course not!" She scowled. Although, the horse was very pretty. "Why didn't you get white?" She would have expected a white horse, had she known he was getting her a horse that was.
"Because it's golden," he shrugged. "And that's our thing."
"I have plenty of golden things," Effie argued. "I think I would've preferred white, I could have it dyed pink then and use it for a photo shoot." Her Instagram would love that one, she could picture it now. Gold didn't fit into her theme. Perhaps she could use a strong filter...
"That's just cruel," he sighed. "Besides, you don't have a golden thing gifted by us.” He turned right and Effie glanced at the mirrors with concern. Only feeling better once they were straight again. The horse wasn't making any noise but would she even hear her if she did? There was a big distance between them and the trailer...
"Lovely," she hummed, very much abandoning those thoughts to keep calm. She trusted Haymitch to know what he was doing. Even if this was the most ridiculous thing he had ever done. "Katniss will show up to dinner with her brooch, Peeta will bring his locket, you will show up with the bangle and I'll bring the horse."
"I hope you do." Haymitch snorted. "The kids would love it." She bet they would. They would tease her and she wouldn't hear the end of it. She could hear Johanna's crude innuendos already.
"Until it defecates all over their yard." That earned a chuckle that she liked far too much.
"You don't have to be posh, could just say shit," he offered. "Won't tell anybody if you swear..." She narrowed her eyes because she could certainly believe that he would. Every time she had used less than the polite language he had made a point of drawing attention to it.
"Certainly not." Wrinkling her nose, Effie turned her head the study him. The corners of his mouth were upturned in a way that told her he was holding something back. "It didn't... do that in my street, did it?"
"Yeah," he laughed. "Right on your bitchy neighbour's driveway. You should've seen her face." Given the cheerful smile on his, it was obvious he had far too much enjoyment at her neighbour's expense. Effie disliked Priscilla but that didn't mean she wanted a horse - her horse - to mess up her front garden...
"Oh!" She gasped with growing horror. "They are going to say such awful things about me!" If she was lucky, her mother wouldn't catch wind of it. But that would be wishful thinking, there were a few acquaintances in her street. All it would take is somebody to tell their family - and she bet they would - most of their lives were so boring... It would be all she would hear for weeks.
"Does it matter?" She had to take a moment to glare at the side of his head. What kind of question was that?
"One's impression always matters," Effie retorted. Her mother's words echoed in her head in a nasty tone that always put her in a sulk. "Are we almost there?" She could use the distraction of the surprise or else she would start overthinking about what people will say.
"Patience," Haymitch teases again and it irritates her to no end. The audacity of him to comment on her behaviour... Haymitch was the most impatient man she had ever met.
"I want to see my surprise," she pouts, a little let down by the lack of an answer. She doesn't recognise where they were now but that's no surprise. She didn't know his side of town well. She had gotten lost when she first visited Katniss and Peeta. Haymitch had to go and find her and he had made so many jokes about it in the dinner that followed...
"How you can worry about your age when you still act like a baby, I don't know." He glanced at her with a snort that did nothing to soften her reaction.
"I am not a baby," she hissed. Why he insisted on frustrating her like this, she had no idea. "What do you mean worry about my age?" Was that some kind of hint? Was he telling her she should be worrying about her age?
"You've been miserable all week." Had she? Wasn't that lovely to hear on your birthday? “Not very subtle you know... You’re thirty-five, not dead." She might as well be, she thought bitterly. Thirty-five and no career achievements. Thirty-five and a string of failed relationships...
"One could argue I'm halfway there," she laughed bitterly. "My mother is certainly disappointed with my achievements thus far."
"You've done plenty," Haymitch frowned. She wondered what he considered plenty. She had worked plenty of jobs - and been successful at practically none. She had dated plenty of people - and still somehow ended up alone... The reminders weren't nice and she felt her good mood deflate a little.
"Not really," she sighed. She settled further into her seat and debated saying how she felt. It was always hard to judge with Haymitch. There were many times she felt very comfortable talking to him about things she otherwise would tell nobody else about, but there were the occasional rude comments. Mostly about her life in general. He thought she was ungrateful, she knew that.
The choice was made for her when Haymitch stopped the truck. She blinked a few times, she hadn’t been paying close attention to where they were going for several minutes.
"We're here," Haymitch announced unnecessarily. He opened the door and got out without much fanfare. Leaving her to glance at the far too green landscape with curiosity.
"We are?" She murmured mostly to herself. There was nothing but fields and a big building painted blue and white at the top of a small hill. It didn't seem like they were going there though.
She stepped out the truck carefully, frowning when she realised the floor was so dusty. Her poor white shoes might be beyond help by the time she was done with this ordeal.
Haymitch had parked outside a smaller red building. Given the sounds and smell, it was the stable. Effie immediately began to rethink keeping the horse because really, she wasn't meant for a life of hay and horrendous smells. But she soldiered on. She mistakenly took a deep breath to try and calm herself down, only resulting in more strange smells mixed in with fresh air...
"Ready?" Haymitch's face popped out from behind the trailer with a slightly nervous edge. She nodded and stepped a little closer, still anxious of the horse. "Close your eyes." She hesitated for a moment before humouring him. She was certain he was laughing at her when he came closer and guided her by the shoulder. The sounds almost made her call the game off, but she was having fun...
There were a few steps which he warned her about in a low voice directly in her ear. And perhaps it was the anticipation of the surprise or the proximity of his body, but Effie felt butterflies in her stomach every time his hot breath rolled on her skin. Get a grip, she told herself. You're being ridiculous.
She was a little worried she would fall over. The ground was an odd texture and if it wasn't for Haymitch's strong body behind her, she was sure she would be stumbling all over the place.
When he stopped walking, there was a few shuffling sounds. A muttered curse that brought a smile to her face and eventually, two strong hands turning her towards the surprise.
"Open your eyes," he said finally. And she did.
Effie didn't react all at once. It took her a few moments to realise what he had done and then she had to scramble to find words. The small stall - that she could only assume would hold her horse - was painted with pink and white stripes. There was a satin hot pink happy birthday banner pinned to the wood. Below it, on the back left corner stood two balloons. Unlike her brothers, they were children's party balloons. The 3 and 5 had cartoon characters on them that were far too cute.
"Oh... Haymitch this is sweet..." She said, very aware that he hadn't taken a breath since she had opened her eyes.
It was obvious this had taken time to do, the paint was even and neat. Effie briefly wondered if Peeta was in on it, although she couldn't imagine he would be satisfied with painting stripes so she doubted it. The balloons were tied with pink and white ribbons that didn't match the shades of paint but were nice nonetheless...
"You don't like it?" He asked carefully. She wanted to turn to face him but his hands tightened on her shoulders as if he could read her thoughts so she settled instead on the fairy lights around the top of the stall. They were messily strung but they looked pleasing and it was obvious effort was put into getting them up there. It brought a nice glow to the otherwise dim place.
"Of course I do!" She said quickly. Her mind was racing with all the possibilities. It was all too easy to imagine the horse in there. To imagine how a photo would look on her social media. To imagine coming here every week and riding her horse... "It is very endearing." And sweet, and lovely. She felt warm and genuinely happy. Something she would have never thought of putting down to Haymitch.
"So you're keeping the horse?" He insisted. "Because this took for fucking ever and I'm not sure how to get it back to its natural state so..." Was she keeping the horse? He had put in all that effort. And it wasn't like she couldn't afford to keep one...
"I suppose so." She pursed her lips. "Thank you for the surprise." Without thinking she turned around and pressed a kiss on his cheek. Except he had looked down when she moved and it ended up far too close to the corner of his mouth. They both froze for a millisecond until she moved back rather suddenly. She was still on the tips of her toes and the height different brought her at the perfect angle. Suddenly, she found herself unable to tear her gaze away from his lips.
Effie wasn't sure how long they stood there, far too close together. Eyes locked on the lips of the other. It must have been a minute too long because she licked her lips with anticipation, certain he was about to close the distance. When a very unamused neigh spoiled the moment.
Startling guiltily, she put her soles back onto the wooden ground. Looking immediately at the interruption with hot cheeks. Haymitch was avoiding her eyes...
"I think she wants to get in," she joked. "I will move the balloons." She swung the white door to the stall open and grabbed the balloons far too aggressively. Haymitch made some kind of joking remark and when she turned around he finally met her gaze. As if they hadn't just almost kissed, he offered her a slightly amused smile and gestured for her to move out the way. "I will put these in the truck."
If he replied, she didn't catch it.
The hot July sun and fresh air cleared a little bit of the tension she had still been feeling. Effie felt almost normal when she rushed over to the truck. The trailer that had been attached was nowhere to be seen so Effie could only assume it was taken away. The thought made her blush once more. What would she have done if somebody had seen them?
It wasn't that she didn't find Haymitch attractive. Quite the opposite, it had been established the very moment they met that they found each other attractive. He had used a cheesy pick-up line that had almost immediately turned into something crude. Had she not been waiting in that bar for her sister, she might have talked to him longer. Taken him home maybe.
They had never crossed that line though and Effie was thankful for it. Even if she had been disappointed at first. The children had come to think of them as the parents of the group. Sleeping together would only create awkwardness she was certain. And they had all been through enough, it was more important to keep the peace...
There had been plenty of moments though, just like then in the stable. Sober moments where they looked at each other for too long. Or drunk times she had let him pin her to a wall before regrettably pushing him away and ignoring his disappointed sigh. They had managed to keep it from the children mostly. And for that, Effie was glad.
"You missed something," Haymitch told her, appearing in front of her rather suddenly. She hadn't been paying attention to his whereabouts.
"Oh really?" She asked, openly interested in whatever else he had up his sleeve. "You are spoiling me today."
"Don't get used to it," he joked before he reached into the truck. Pulling out a card and bottle from behind his seat. "Happy Birthday, sweetheart."
"Thank you!" Effie grinned. Her happy mood was back in full force now. She glanced at the wine, happy to see it was her favourite before putting it gently on the floor of her seat. The card was yellow and pink with a silly drawing of a woman in heels on it. Inside, Haymitch's scrawly writing read: ‘Another year older, but not wiser. from, Haymitch.’
"Please do not tell me you're starting to like puns," she complained. So far, all of his attempts had been awful. She wasn't sure she could stand him being like this for more than a day.
"I promise, no more puns," he sighed as if it was a big ask. "So, you like your gifts?"
"They are very peculiar. But I didn't expect anything from you, so I appreciate it," she replied honestly. He looked pleased enough with that answer so she smiled. "Now, I would like to go home and celebrate getting old... Would you like to share the wine with me?" He faked thinking for a moment before the trademark smirk she had come to love bloomed across his face. "I will take that as a yes."
"You know me, never turn down alcohol." She shook her head with fondness, glancing up at him before she got into the truck. He shut the door behind her - which was a pleasant surprise - and walked around to the driver's side. They drove out of the stables in comfortable silence.
"Thank you for my gift," she said once they were settled back onto the main road. "Do the children know you got me a horse?"
"No," he snorted. "Well, Prim does. Like I said, it was her idea. Apparently, it's some fancy breed. Akhal-something or whatever. She helped with the paint too. I promised her a ride."
"She is more than welcome to it," Effie agreed. Perhaps Prim could be the one to ride the horse, she thought. Thirty-five is a little old to take up horse riding after all... "It is the weirdest gift I have ever received." Often her birthday gifts had been very superficial. Some perfume or makeup, clothes or food. She wasn't used to something so...
"Weirdest gift I ever bought," Haymitch agreed, interrupting her thoughts. "Cheered you up though." He sounded very proud of that one. Effie mulled it over for a moment.
"Yes, it did," she smiled. She was feeling better at least, less alone. Perhaps she hadn't done a lot with her life but she had the children, a house - a horse now too, she supposed.
"I'm glad." When she glanced at him, he was sporting a rare smile. She wasn't even sure he was aware of it.
As her eyes settled back on the familiar roads to home, she couldn't help but think: me too.