“No.”
“You're a scared little girl, who decided she needed to get fucked. So you went out and found a man. Found two men. So much attention for little Katya Tocci! The dull girl from next door scores with the hot older neighbor. But the moment I take some space for myself, you freak the fuck out. Did you think we were special? That you were my girlfriend?” he started laughing at her. “You knew what we were from the beginning. You're the one who slipped those panties into my pocket. You knew exactly what you were getting into. Stupid fucking girl. Gets fucked right and thinks she's in love. Pathetic. I hope you -”
She couldn't take it anymore. She was going to have a mental breakdown. He was beating her with his words, she could feel it in her muscles. Feel it all the way to her bones. To her heart. But he would not break her. She wouldn't give him that satisfaction. So in the middle of his rant, she let out a shriek and grabbed the closest thing to her – the half-eaten strawberry lemonade cake – and threw it at him.
“Shut the fuck up!” she shrieked, following up with a piece of chocolate ganache.
There was complete silence in the room. A pin drop could've been heard. They stared at each other, both breathing hard. She'd definitely crossed the line, throwing food at his suit that was worth thousands of dollars – but he'd fucking burned rubber as he'd gone over the line. Had left it in the dust and never looked back. So she figured cake throwing was warranted.
“Are you serious?” he breathed, running his hand down his tie, flinging frosting to the floor. Katya didn't say a word, just stared at him, one of her eyebrows boldly raised. Then, from behind them, came a snort. Then a snicker. A laugh being suppressed.
“I'm sorry, sir, but you kind of deserved it,” Lauren interjected.
Shit hit the fan. Or more correctly, cake hit the fan. Wulf lunged at the table top, shocking Katya and causing her to shriek. While her mouth was still open, she got a face-full of vanilla dessert. She coughed on it and blindly reached out, squeezing whatever was closest to her and rubbing it all over Wulf's suit. That earned her another piece of cake, this time splattered all over the left side of her head.
“You fuck!” she was shrieking, almost incoherent as she kept adding more dessert to his chest. “I hope it fucking stains! I hope it never fucking comes out! I fucking hate you! You stupid fuck!”
She wasn't sure how long their food fight lasted – it could only have been a couple seconds, but it felt like forever. Everyone was shouting, not just them, and then Lauren was in the middle of it, getting cake all over her scrubs.
“Hey, hey, hey! Knock it off, you two! Hey! I know you're pissed off, buddy, but that is a woman you're currently whitewashing with chocolate cake! Calm down!” she demanded.
“Mr. Stone! Ms. Tocci! Please! Show some decency!” that was Wulf's assistant, the tiny woman who rarely said much, screaming at both of them.
They were yanked apart. Some strange man had his arms around Katya's waist, holding her away from the table. Lauren was in front of Wulf, both her hands on his chest, and the assistant was standing in the middle of it all, slipping and sliding in the mess on the floor.
When Katya cleared the frosting out of her eyes, she gasped. From his collarbone to his belt, Wulf was covered in cake. There was a little smeared down his cheek, and a chunk in the side of his hair. She was almost proud of herself – she'd certainly gotten him at least as good as he'd gotten her.
“What is the meaning of this, Mr. Stone!?” the man holding her demanded.
“Get your hands off me!” she shouted, pulling herself free. She quickly moved around, putting the table between her and Wulf. He also stepped away, creating more distance between them.
“It didn't have to be like this,” he said in a scratchy voice.
“No, it didn't, Wulf. I hope you're happy with yourself,” she replied, not backing down one inch.
“Always am, Tocci. Ayumi, we're leaving,” he turned to his assistant. The woman took a deep breath and held her ground.
“No, sir.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said no. I'd like to stay and help clean up your mess.”
There was a tense moment, with Wulf's glare bouncing between Katya and Ayumi. Then he gave her a curt nod, and with that, he walked out of the room.
Out of her life.
His clients lingered for a moment, still obviously in shock over what had happened. Lauren finally chased them away while Katya dropped to her knees, attempting to scoop up the cake from off the floor. After hesitating only a moment, Wulf's assistant moved to help her.
“What are you two doing!? Stop that, it's filthy! I'll get someone from the building to clean it,” Lauren said, grabbing Katya by the arm and pulling her to her feet.
“No, no, I'll take care of it,” Ayumi spoke in her normal terse voice, but she looked at Katya like she was hurting for her. “It's the least I can do. I'll go find someone. I'm … I'm so sorry.”
The petite lady scampered from the room, leaving a shocked Katya in her wake. They'd never really spoken, except for Ayumi to pass along messages from Wulf. That she'd stayed behind and was helping Katya, it was a little mind blowing.
Or it would be, if I had any brains left in my head. You just had a screaming match and a food fight in front of your client, you idiot.
“I am so, so sorry, Lauren. So sorry. I don't know what came over me. I … I completely understand if you don't want me to do your cake anymore. I'll find you a new baker – the best baker in San Francisco. I'll pay for it,” she gushed, raising shaky hands to her head, shoving her doughy fingers into her hair.
“Are you kidding? Honey, after that show, I cannot wait to have you at my party! Shit, if I didn't have to go back to work, I would be taking you out for drinks and demanding the backstory to that little scrap!”
“Little scrap!? Lauren, I called him a pussy, he called me a slut, and then we threw cake at each other. Nothing about that was little!”
“You're right. It was epic. Look, go clean yourself up. Don't worry about a thing, we can go over the design some other time.”
“This isn't right. I was beyond unprofessional.”
“What would be right? Firing a girl who just got very publicly dumped by a guy who looks like he might be the world's biggest asshole? No, sweetie, you've had a rough enough day. Who you sleep with or fight with has no impact on how my cake tastes, and frankly, that's all I care about.”
Katya started laughing, and didn't stop till the laughs turned into tears. Lauren had an arm wrapped around her when Ayumi came back into the room.
“They're sending a janitor,” she said. “Please, don't worry – I'll make sure any cleaning fees are billed to The Stone Agency.”