Penelope entered the apartment, struck immediately by how colorful it was. From the lavender walls, to the soft blue furniture, the space might’ve felt cool and calm—if you ignored the paper cranes. Filling the space with every color under the sun, tiny paper cranes of all shapes and sizes were dangling from the ceiling, tucked into window frames, and sitting on table tops. The blitz of colors was magical, but Penelope couldn’t stop her interior design brain clicking on: it was a lot.

“Hey Pen-Pen, what brings you down here? I thought you were shopping,” said Nolan, with a fake grin, breaking Peneleope’s visual examination.

“Oh, you know, just being neighborly,” Penelope said, forcing a smile back. “Your eggs are in the fridge, by the way, if you want to make an omelet or something for dinner. They’re fresh now-”

“Cool, I’ll do dinner later. Right now, Flo and I are hanging out.” Nolan gestured to Flo, who had seated herself across from Nolan at the kitchen table.

“Come on, join us,” Flo said, waving to a seat at the table.

“I’d love to,” said Penelope, putting on her game face.

Two can play this game, Penelope thought to herself. And only one can win it.

Penelope seated herself next to Flo, and opened the container of muffins she had prepared.

“Those smell great,” Nolan said, reaching for a pastry.

“And they’re not for you,” Penelope said, a little too sharply. She immediately corrected herself for Flo’s benefit. “I mean, let our host at least try one first.”

Flo reached for a muffin and paused, looking for something to put it on.

“I’ll get us plates,” Flo said, starting to rise.

“I’ll get them!’ said Nolan, hopping to his feet.

“How thoughtful, thank you,” said Flo, smiling at him.

“I’ll get napkins!” said Penelope, determined not to be out-niced.

They practically tripped over each other rushing to the kitchen.

“What are you doing here, Nolan?” Penelope said through gritted teeth, opening drawers and looking for napkins.

“Hanging with my friend Flo. And you?” Nolan said, opening cupboards.

“Bringing a housewarming gift,” Penelope said, grabbing hold of a stack of napkins in victory.

“But…Flo has lived here, like, forever,” said Nolan, casually taking a stack of plates.

“Housewarming for me. Or…housewarming preview,” Penelope called to him, as she leaped back to the table.

“What was that?” Flo asked, looking at Penelope expectantly.

“Nothing, I was just saying, it’s so nice to meet you, and I can’t wait to get to know you better,” Penelope said, handing Flo a napkin.

“Yeah, I told Penny how we were bonding over music,” Nolan said, placing a plate in front of Flo. “Did you know she plays the piano?”

They both stared, smiling, at Flo, who eyed her muffin. “I feel like it’s Beauty and the Beast in here,” she mumbled, putting it on her plate.

Penelope and Nolan looked at each other.

“Nolan does have beast-like qualities,” Penelope said, with a chuckle. “I mean have you seen the way he eats?”

“Wait, you think you’re the beauty in this scenario?” Nolan asked, raising an eyebrow. “Babe, only one of us worked for Hot Crossed Buns catering company, and it wasn’t you.”

“No, no,” Flo interrupted, “I meant…‘be our guest, be our guest, la la la’. You two are really pulling out all the stops to make me feel at home in my own home,” Flo shot them both a glance before biting into the muffin.

Penelope blushed, embarrassed at being caught in the scheme. “Oh, no, we just—I just was trying to…” She trailed off, watching Flo’s face light up at the bite of the muffin. “Do you like it?”

“Oh yes, very much. You know, my partner, she makes—made the very best pecan pie. Every Thanksgiving she had to make me my own because I refused to share. I have such a sweet tooth. Just one bite, and I’ll be eating the whole bag. So please,” she pushed the bag of muffins towards Nolan, “you have to take these back with you.”

“My pleasure,” said Nolan, grabbing one for himself, and taking an enormous bite while staring at Penelope. As he chewed, his expression changed. “Damn, Penny, these are really good!”

Trying to stifle her annoyance, Penelope turned her focus back to Flo, eyeing the paper cranes again. There was one tucked into a flower pot on the table.

“These are beautiful,” Penelope said, looking at its tiny folds. “Did you make them?”

“Yes,” replied Flo. “Barb loved paper cranes.”

“Was Barb…?” Penelope waited for Flo to fill in the details.

“Yes, she was my partner. Forty-nine years together. She passed during the pandemic.” Flo stated it matter-of-fact, taking another bite of muffin.

“Flo, I’m so sorry,” said Penelope.

“That’s terrible,” Nolan said, dipping his head.

Flo gave a bit of a shrug in response. “I was making a hundred of them for our 50th anniversary — and then I just didn’t stop.”

“It looks like they were made with love,” smiled Penelope, picking up and turning the crane over in her hand. “And each one is unique.”

“Both true,” said Flo. And then she pointed to a tiny, teal, tissue paper crane in the window. “That one is my favorite. And the hardest to fold.”

“Whoa,” said Nolan, admiring it. “How did you do that?”

Penelope saw Flo’s eyes really light up for the first time. “Would you like to learn?”

Both Penelope and Nolan nodded enthusiastically. Flo handed them small pieces of paper from the pocket of her oversized dress. “Watch what I do.”

Penelope could tell that Flo was slowing herself down so that they could follow. And Penelope still couldn’t quite get it on the first try.

“Like this?” Penelope asked.

Flo looked at the small, sad bird in Penelope’s hands. “Not bad,” said Flo, and then, “but also not great.”

“How about these?” Nolan said, holding up his three creations.

“Are those…frogs?” Flo responded. Penelope couldn’t help herself from laughing.

Flo continued. “Penelope, your technique is almost there, you just need to relax and enjoy the process. It doesn’t have to be perfect for it to make you happy.

Nolan snickered at Penelope’s feedback, so Flo turned to him. “Nolan, you’re very quick, but work on quality over quantity.”

They both nodded in agreement. “Maybe I can come back for another lesson?” Penelope asked.

“Yeah, we both should,” Nolan said quickly.

“I’d like that,” Flo said. “Now it’s time for you both to get going. The Price is Right is about to come on and I haven’t missed an episode in fifty years.”

Nolan and Penelope gathered up their paper creations.

“Don’t forget the muffins!” Flo said, handing the container to Penelope. “I really did like them,” she said softly to Penelope, as they headed to the door. “Although they could have used a pinch more salt. Not perfect, but they made me happy. ”

“Thanks,” said Penelope, with a smile, vowing to work on her perfectionist streak.

“Bye, Flo!” he started to say, as Penelope exited, closing the door behind her with a smirk.