Eva felt very envious. She had arrived in Magnolia without much hassle last evening. She confirmed her whereabouts with her manager and quickly checked into a local inn ‘Deliora’. The first time she heard of the celebrations was when she went down to get dinner. The inn had a small pub built beside it where people from Magnolia often gathered to share their extra time with each other, drinking and merrymaking into the night. Eva had joined them, choosing to sit at a corner with some wine instead of alcohol. She hated those nasty things. She would never understand why people were even obsessed with them.

Then, she had heard loud chatter from every direction about some sort of celebration the very next day. It was a curious subject since almost everyone in Magnolia seemed to be into it. However, it managed to surprise her the most when she realized that the enthusiastic preparations were not some sort of festival or public holiday but actually the birthday celebrations of a girl. She didn’t understand and honestly believed it to be some sort of joke that every Magnolian citizen were in on until the inn owner personally welcomed her to the function.

“What do you mean?” Eva had asked, hiding her surprise. “I say it’s Medias’ little one’s birthday tomorrow! Oh, you wouldn’t know Medias, now would you?” the inn owner, an old man over his sixties, reached under his counter to pull out a paper that he turned towards Eva. “Medias is a wonderful man if I have ever seen one. He is well known here for the grand parties he throws once in a month or so. He has been with us for such a long time, always helping us and sometimes, even throwing parties for our sake. There is probably no person in Magnolia that Medias has never helped at least once. So of course it doesn’t surprise that he would throw an even bigger party for his little girl. A fine child she is, too,” the man couldn’t stop as he placed the paper on the counter and pushed it towards Eva. “Medias is looking for people to help him with the preparations. Maybe you should help, too. He is rather kind with his rewards”.

Eva was jealous of the girl. She quickly caught herself before it could show on her face and took the request paper with her upstairs. Eva read the contents with a blank expression, going over the jovial scribbles and colorful art work wanting someone to meet Medias the next day to help with the celebrations. ‘When was the last time that her birthday was celebrated,’ she wondered. The question seemed selfish and she was sure not everyone in the world had the fortune of celebrating their birthday even once, but Eva had a father! She had a father who was in great health, who had no troubles in terms of wealth, and who ran a huge business with no trouble at all. But not even once had he held her, there was not a moment that he cared for ever or even looked at her with kindness. She was so used to looking up at two cold pools of indifference ever since she gained memory that Eva had no idea what a father was supposed to be like. At least, not until she saw him with her younger brother. It was difficult to see if it was the same man that treated her so coldly but smiled so very warmly at the boy that was barely able to walk.

All of it had made her want to rebel at first. Crying all day and night, throwing silly tantrums, hitting or even kicking the maids and butlers that took care of her, and doing the most idiotic pranks. But not once did Dominic come for her or even scold her. Eventually, the crying stopped and she thought that maybe if she became a better person, the best even, then her father would properly face her.

It was a desperate scramble to become the most ‘perfect’ person from that point. Somewhere down that road, Eva willed herself to create her walls and countless masks that she finally hid behind. When the art of dancing drew on her, she finally let go of all the other things that held her back and took flight, all on her own.

Love did not exist. It is only a superficial trick caused by some sort of chemical reactions in your head, an illusion that quickly crumbles when the initial attraction starts waning, and the biggest lie in a world built in lies, is what Eva had understood. She had looked down on it afterwards, deciding very well that she would never create something like it in her world. All she had and needed was herself.

But then, she couldn’t help but wonder, why had the news of someone celebrating their child’s birthday hurt her so much? Why had it so harshly uncovered the brutal wounds she had hid for the past seventeen years? Why had it started making her feel so ugly inside? She didn’t want to feel like a villain but it seemed that she was turning into one every time she looked down at the vibrant request for help. She wanted to feel happy for the child, she wanted to be able to look at them and have a sincere smile on her face but she couldn’t. Every time she thought of it, she wanted to ruin the day for both of them, she wanted to teach the girl the brutal reality of life, wanted to manipulate Medias into turning against his family, and wanted, much like a child, to take away everything that made them happy... Eva, to say the least, had turned into a disgusting person that entire night…

“Oh so you are the one helping us out today!” Medias smiled brightly. Behind him, hugging his legs was the cutest little seven-year-old Eva had ever laid her eyes upon. Last night had thrown her into an unwelcome phase of depression and hatred. While she was still so very jealous of the child and her father, Eva had caught herself before she could do something she would regret. She was going to help them with the party for the sake of it and leave.  

And Magnolia was practically glowing that day. It was in a festive hype with Medias and his ‘little angel’ at the center of it. Everyone, and Eva saw just about the whole town, was helping with the decorations. Some even went as far as to decorate their house with twinkling lights and beautiful flowers. It was colorful, to say the least. Eva found that a lot of them were merrily chatting with each other while another lot climbed up roofs after roofs to decorate the street. But most of them were contributing in one way or another. Eva had taken it up as a job, keeping her personal feelings separate from the jovial mood Magnolia painted that day.

Eva started out by cleaning the streets, which by itself was a really tiring task. Magnolia was a fairly big city and while many people helped her by taking turns, it still took them a while to make everything seem spotless. The women had turned their attention to baking a giant cake in the middle of the park where the main celebrations will be taking place. Once the cake is cut, the plan is to take an entire parade down Magnolia streets.

Men worked on the float and the younger ones worked with the decorations. Eva helped out in that department after cleaning. With her wind magic, she was able to lift the heavier things up and place them properly. However, once she showcased her magic power, everyone started relying on her further, barraging her with requests after requests. In the end, Eva had to help an old man with his chimney’s decoration, two children with their magical building block towers, a lady with the baking of the cake, and even Medias as he asked her to fix one place or another.

By the time she took a break, it was clear as the day that Medias wanted nothing less than perfect for his daughter’s birthday. He made sure that everyone in Magnolia was attending and that everyone was enjoying themselves. Eva had doubted many times over whether the old man was taking a simple birthday celebration too far but with everyone she talked to, they had nothing but good to say about the middle aged man.

“Medias is a wonderful person. He helped old lady Mrs.Heratich with her daughter’s wedding,” reported a woman as she made Eva pour out a large mix of cake batter into a giant mold. “oh Medias?” a young man helping out with hanging the paper chains had looked at her in wonder, “Medias is awesome! That old dude may be old but he can crack some mean jokes if ya know what I mean”. And, while Eva had no idea what he meant, it was impossible to not see how much citizens of Magnolia adored Medias. Whether it was his sense of humor or over the top parties, everyone loved Medias for being the kind guy that he was. Many of them had told her that despite being rich, Medias has never goaded anyone over his wealth or looked down on others. In fact, he had helped more people than he needed to and was always available for the people to have a chat with.

It also seemed that while the citizens adorned him, Medias was in it completely for his daughter. It was only a couple of times but whenever Eva caught a glimpse of him, she was always able to trace his line of sight to his young daughter playing with her friends. She was obviously just as loved by everyone as Medias was, judging by the size and amount of her gifts.

Now, Eva was no stranger to over the top gifts. She had received everything a girl needed at all times. Dominic may not have been the best father but he definitely didn’t care for the money that was spent on Eva. Eva grew up with the finest of things, all the silver, gold and silks. At first, Eva had no choice but to accept and use them. What was a child supposed to do to support herself, anyway? Later, she had started working on her own, earning money for her school and dance lessons and shows. It was simple part time jobs in the beginning, working as a waitress or even delivering newspaper. The biggest change in that chaotic life came when she was offered her first modeling contract. It made big profit, to say the least, and she had never had to worry about money again.

However, she was awed by how much people were sincerely showering the child with kind words and heartfelt gifts. It caused a familiar green eyed monster to surface within her again. Eva wanted to live that life too. She wanted to know what it was like, but she wanted to believe stubbornly that all this affection was a lie, too. They were only enthusiastic about the whole thing because Medias was a rich man and because he happened to be selfless enough to help everyone in sight.

“It’s finally done!” she heard a female voice sigh. The streets were finally decorated and it glowed under the orangy red hue of the sky. There were paper lanterns and fresh flowers everywhere. Specks of sparkling dust was spread everywhere along with twinkling lights, bent and twisted to all shapes and sizes, adorning the buildings. Once everyone settled into their places, it was finally time for the child to cut the humongous cake built on the center of the park.

She had walked forward in her flawless white dress, flowers decorating her auburn colored hair. With a huge innocent grin that Eva couldn’t help but smile at, the girl slowly cut a piece of the cake and immediately ran towards her father. The rest of the cake was magically cut into even pieces that flew over to everyone else. The others who weren’t eating was starting up the big floats and lining up for the huge parade. Eva decided that was the end of it. She had already gotten paid for her services and she had stayed long enough for the main event. It was time she went back to get some real sleep.