#exaltcdone 01.

she may never have been this gleeful before. it’s been a decade at least since bertie had to whap! her hands over her mouth to stop herself sounding like a giddy lovestruck schoolgirl.

halloween is off the holiday shit-list this year.

         ‘ biddy, look at you. ’

         ‘ that’s, like. the big one. ’ donna turns the invite in her hand as if she’s expecting an as yet undiscovered angle to throw a hologram. she’ll tilt it just right and there brighid and bertie will be, stuttering in and out of focus as they dance, miniaturized, in the third dimension. ‘ marriage. ’

she has a baby at home, little and loud and the perfect assassin of donna’s capacity for conversation. (‘marriage,’ she says, like motherhood is small change.)

         ‘ jesus, brighid, i feel like i’m— ’

a year or so ago, this is where he’d grunt and groan and break his toes on furniture he’d thought upturn-able. now he sighs (once, quietly), spins the crosshairs around on himself, and sets down what project components he hasn’t yet accidentally broken.

         ‘ it’s like relearning the blackberry. my fingers are too big for the buttons. ’ les shows his palms: two of his digits are stuck together with glue, the pad of a thumb is bleeding, the heel of his right hand is a streak of silver glitter. ‘ i thought this was supposed to calm me down. ’

with a cheery, playful turn of tempo, cosmo delivers his truth in a few lines. it’s under the guise of goofing around; with the hope that berlin’s lyrics will find footing in brighid’s own love story.

         ‘ i’ll be loving you, always, ’ he sings, playing at the quirks of an over-serious performer, but coming up short, sweet, and handsome. his voice is better than he gives himself credit for. ‘ with a love that’s true, always. when the things you’ve planned, need a helping hand— ’