My employees know every last ingredient needs to be measured and added to the most careful degree. I take pride in my product, and I’ve spent countless hours experimenting with tweaking the amounts of each ingredient to find something close to perfection. But the work is never done, which is half the fun. I’m always looking for new ways to improve my recipes.
Before long, I’ve forgotten my headache and lost myself in the work. I’m covered in flour and crusty dough up to the elbows when Lauren arrives.
“Hey, girl!” she says cheerily. “I was hoping you’d be in today.”
I look up from the dough I’m portioning out and smile apologetically. “I know. I’ve been a shitty boss the last couple days.”
Lauren’s a few years younger than me, and she’s wearing the uniform with just enough of her own twist on it that I can’t quite get mad at her for it. Where she’s supposed to wear black pants she has opted for yoga pants, and where her shirt is supposed to be white without decals, hers has a small, decorative pattern around the hem. She has straight, brown hair and an upturned nose that’s just a little bit too big on an otherwise almost perfect face.
I’ve known Lauren since I was in high school, but like everyone else I was friends with, she went to the local school here while I went to Pensworth Academy in the next district over. Pensworth was full of stuck up, wealthy beyond belief, and completely out of touch kids. I didn’t make a single lasting friend there. The only people I ever enjoyed were the kids from other schools I got to meet when we traveled for theater and band. I fell in love with this little town when we first came here my Freshman year. I met Tara, Lauren, and Jennifer at a band meet and never lost touch with them.
Tara was my age, while Lauren and Jennifer were there as middle schoolers, but we still hit it off all the same. Now Lauren and Jennifer are working here to pay their way through their final years of college, and I can hardly believe how far we’ve all come only for it to all end because of Reid’s greedy brother. I’m not going to just lose my bakery and my ability to give my friends a job, but I’m going to lose the town I spent my childhood dreaming about moving to. It still doesn’t feel real.
This place has been like a beacon for as long as I could remember. It was like the shining light beyond the bars of my prison, at least that was how my melodramatic teen self thought of it. If I could just get away from the dinner parties, bow ties, gowns, and fake smiles. If I could just make it here. Everything would be okay. I could forge my own identity and make my own life. Everything would be perfect.
Lauren puts a hand on my shoulder and gives me a sympathetic look. “You’re our friend first, Sandra. Boss second. We’re happy to cover for you.”
I smile, feeling tears threatening to form.
“Besides,” adds Lauren casually, “As our friend and boss, we know you’ll find some way to reward us.”
I laugh. “Is that right?”
Lauren shrugs, dragging a finger through the flour on the table idly. “I mean. If we could come in an hour later for the rest of the week, it’d really help to regain the strength we spent covering for you.”
“Deal,” I say, smirking.
She does a small jump of joy and hugs me. “You’re the best.”
My smile falters a little when I realize losing the bakery is going to mean having tell Lauren and Jennifer they’ve lost their jobs too.
“What’s wrong?” asks Lauren.
“Nothing,” I say. “I uh, just have had a strange few days. Living next door to Reid Riggins has been…”
Lauren quirks an eyebrow. “Sexy?”
“Try confusing.”
“What’s to be confused about? Which hole you want him to put it in first?”
“Oh my God, Lauren,” I say, slapping her arm. “You’re unbelievable.”
“No. Reid Riggins is unbelievable. You let me know if you ever need someone to watch the house for you. I’ll keep an eye on Reid too, you know, just to make sure he doesn’t come around and mess with your things, or wear too much clothing. It’s hot out, he shouldn’t be risking overheating, you know?”
I’m about to tell her to get to work when I hear Jennifer arriving. “You’re back!” She squeals. Jennifer is shorter than Lauren and I. Her black hair is cut pixie style, framing her heart-shaped face and soft, feminine features. Where Lauren has a sort of forceful power to her personality and frame, Jennifer is delicate and fragile. She has narrow shoulders and a slight build and she’s easily the sweetest person I know.
“Sandra just agreed to give us an extra hour of sleep every day for the rest of this week,” says Lauren.
Jennifer’s eyes widen. “Really? You didn’t threaten to beat her up or something, did you, Lauren?”
Lauren scoffs. “Sandra didn’t make me take it that far.”
I eye her. “Like you could take me.”
Lauren drops into a fighting stance and fires a slow-motion punch at my face. I gently slap a flour-covered hand across her face, easily getting inside her slow-motion defense. For a moment her face is frozen, a white handprint on her cheek and flecks of white still drifting down from the impact. Then her surprise melts to laughter. Jennifer and I laugh along with her. It feels good to forget my problems, even just for a moment.
The three of us effortlessly dive into the work. I continue prepping dough, Lauren decorates a cake for Timmy Watkin’s 14th birthday, and Jennifer sets up the display cases with fresh product. Before long, the shop is buzzing with activity as person after person strolls in and collects their daily treat. At least ninety percent of my business comes from regulars. Once I figured that out, it made ordering supplies every week extremely simple and efficient.
It’s getting close to my lunch break when the door swings open in a way that causes me to glance up. Reid Riggins storms in, clad in a white shirt dusted with oil.
Jennifer and Lauren freeze beside me as well, transfixed by the sight of him. “I could stare at those forearms all day,” mutters Lauren. She rushes up to the counter to greet him.
“Reid, what a nice surprise. Can I get you anything, hon? My treat.”
Her treat? She’s damn right it will be. I’m not about to give away free products to him, especially not so Lauren can try to get in his pants. I try not to acknowledge the jealous pang in my chest. He’s not mine. I’ve spent a lot of energy trying to convince him and myself of that. I have no right to be jealous.
Reid completely ignores her, stepping up to the counter across from me and glaring. “Sandra. I need you to come outside, now.”
Lauren purses her lips in a way that says she will accept her defeat, for now. Jennifer stares at me, mouth slightly open and eyes wide. It would almost be comical if the look on Reid’s face wasn’t intense enough to burn holes straight through me.
“You… what?” I ask, feeling more than a little confused. There’s also a distant hint of pride in knowing he came for me. He looked straight past Lauren, hardly even noticing her because of me.
“I need you outside,” he says.