Sugar Rush, page 2
“Er…” Her cell phone bleeped about a million times and she checked it three times in about as many seconds. “I don’t know. Maybe, like, one of everything.” She waved her hands over the counter. “All the sweet stuff.”
“One of everything? Are you sure? That will be a lot…”
I felt strange asking this like I was turning down business, but that did seem excessive and I didn’t want to make an expensive mistake for either of us. I didn’t need it and I was damn sure she didn’t either. If someone was on the phone yelling at her for nothing then I didn’t want to give her something to get in trouble for.
“It doesn’t matter.” She waved the company credit card at me as she answered a call. “All of it.”
I glanced at Samantha to see her stifling a giggle at the madness of this woman. I wanted to join in with her, but I couldn’t get caught. I needed to be professional because with a bit of luck, this woman with her company credit card would become a long term customer. So, I turned away and got to work, packing everything up in boxes. Even with my biggest box, I needed to use a few of them to get everything together for the woman.
She paid without even looking at the price because she was still on the phone and left in a haze of craziness. I honestly wasn’t sure what that was all about, so as soon as she was gone, I burst in to laughter. I caved and joined in with Samantha’s giggles, because there was no denying that was very strange…
“Wow, and here I was stressed about teaching my karate class in an hour,” Samantha squealed with joy. “That poor woman looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. Do you think that she has bought all of those cakes for herself, just to get through the day? Just to survive some asshole boss. Can you imagine? God, it makes me feel grateful that I can fight for a living. I wouldn’t cope with something like that.”
“Oh God, I know. I feel very sorry for her though. She looked under so much pressure. It’s really sad…”
Samantha changed the subject and we chatted for a little while longer before she went off to teach her class, but in all honesty, I couldn’t get that stressed looking woman out of my mind. Wherever she worked had to be terrible, one of those nightmare jobs that you never believed really existed. I hoped that my cakes would at least make her day a tiny bit better. If I could do that for her, then at least it was something…
3
Brandon
I
stared at the giant glass window looking out from my office on the eighteenth floor on to the city below, making some silent decisions in the back of my mind about where the company would go next, about what I needed to do to make sure that our marketing was better than the competitions…
Actually, that wasn’t exactly true. That was what I wanted to be thinking of, but Lara was on my mind a lot. Her birthday party was up and coming and I didn’t have everything in place like I wanted, and I needed it to be perfect. And not just because she was being a bit crazy about it because it was such a big birthday for her, turning thirty was a big deal, and she also needed it to be Instagram perfect for her followers. But more importantly, if I was going to finally propose to her at long last then I needed it to be everything. I wanted it to be the best proposal ever, even more so because I had a lot to make up for. I hadn’t exactly been amazing, and I knew it.
“Yo, Brandon!” I jumped as Gary strolled in to the office like he belonged here, as if he worked here or something. This was something that he did a lot and it wasn’t always welcome. I had told him as much, but he never listened to me, as always. “How’s it going? I have to tell you about last night once you left…”
He flung himself in to the chair on the other side of my desk and even grabbed the coffee I forgot I even had to drink it. Honestly, if he didn’t come from such a wealthy family and he had to work for himself, then maybe he would get why I didn’t always want to listen to his sex stories in the office.
“So, these twins were in the night club… of course I made a bee line for them…”
“Gary, this isn’t really the time or place.” I tried to interrupt him, even though I knew it was pointless.
“But wait, just hear me out, so twins are the ultimate fantasy, right? A threesome with twins is what everyone wants. As long as you don’t think about the family link, it’s hot as hell…”
“Please tell me you didn’t.” I screwed my nose up in disgust. “That’s awful.”
“No, I just took one of the twins home, but as you know I do have a full length mirror at the end of my bed.”
I had no idea how to respond to that, so I shook my head at him and said nothing. His stories were always pretty awful… but they also reminded me how lacking my sex life could be with Lara. In the beginning, we were at it like rabbits, unable to stop, and while it was normal for that to subside over time, it slid away a lot. There were months at a time when it seemed like she didn’t want to know me at all.
“Well, that’s just great, but I have a lot of work to do here, Gary…”
“Actually, I don’t think you do because I have just seen your beautiful personal assistant with cakes…”
“Brianna?” Just as I mention her name, she slides in to my office with big purple shaped boxes in her arms. “Oh, Brianna, you really do have cakes. And a lot of them as well. What’s going on?”
“The desert caterer you booked for Lara’s party has had to cancel. Apparently, there is some sickness bug going around and all of her staff have it so she can’t make anything. She’s refunded all of the money but now this means that we need to find somewhere last minute. So, I found this smaller place, Bluebell Bakery, which has lots of great reviews online. I got some samples before I ordered though, so we can get it out.”
“Ooh, great.” Gary doesn’t wait for even a second, he dives in to the top box and gabs a donut. He stuffs the whole thing in to his mouth in an impressively sickening way and talks with his mouth full, spitting crumbs everywhere. “Oh my God, this is some good shit, Brandon. Taste it. Use it for the party.”
I nearly made a comment about him being happy about the party right now, even though he made some shitty comments last night, but Brianna was in the room and I didn’t need to get in to it in front of her. So, instead, I grabbed out a cake of my own and took a bite. Immediately, I was stunned at how good the cake was. I could tell that it was fresh and delicious. There seemed to be something magical about it. Like home cooking, but to a luxury standard. Lara didn’t eat many sweet things because of her waist line, but this would get her attention. She would like it, and surely, she could make an exception for her special birthday?
Yes, this was good enough. Good enough for her thirtieth birthday and my proposal as well. I was happy.
“These are great, Brianna. Good find.” I took another couple of cakes for myself. “Take these around the office and find out what everyone’s favorites are. Then put in an order a bit like what we had for the other bakery.”
“Brilliant, sounds good.” Brianna looked incredibly pleased. “I’m glad you like it.”
“What place did you say this was?” Gary demanded. “I’d like to meet the woman who baked these cakes. Maybe me and her could have some sort of… connection, if you know what I mean.”
He shot Brianna a playful wink as if he had totally forgotten breaking her heart two years ago. Knowing Gary, he probably had. Brianna had just started working here when Gary charmed her. As far as I was aware, other women in the office warned her against him, but she was stubborn and fell head over heels for him anyway.
They had what I was sure was a wonderful weekend in bed together, where Brianna’s feelings only grew deeper, but Gary’s distanced, and he got bored of her. By Monday morning, she was in tears, threatening to leave my company because of his treatment of her. It was such a drama for me, but I eventually convinced her to stay.
Luckily, she had dated since so I got the impression that she was over Gary now, she treated him like he was a fly that she wanted to swat away, but it was a challenge for me. I had made him promise to leave the women in my office alone in the future, and I was pretty sure that he had followed my wishes. I hoped anyway.
There wasn’t any more drama following him in here anyway which was something.
“Bluebell Bakery,” she shot back coldly. “But the woman working in there is much too good for you.”
The door slammed behind Brianna which made Gary laugh. “God, she still wants me. It’s so obvious.”
“I’m warning you,” I growled at him. “Keep away from everyone here. I have enough going on without you making it worse. I do not need to go through another scandal like the last time.”
Gary snorted and rolled his eyes. “You take everything far too seriously. It’s sickening. Hey, when are you going to come out with me properly? Last night you bailed much too quickly. You should stay out long enough to come to a night club with me next time. Especially if you do insist on getting married and turning in to a real freaking grandpa. We need to at least have a blow out of kinds. Like a bachelor party.”
Oh God, I didn’t want a bachelor party. I didn’t need strippers and debauchery. Lara would kill me anyway, but how was I going to calm Gary down and make sure that didn’t happen? I couldn’t sort this out on top of everything else. I had enough on my plate.
“I don’t have time to worry about that. Not while I have this party to plan…”
“You have Brianna. Isn’t she doing everything for you? You’re pretty much set.”
“I can’t let her do it all on her own, Gary. I need to help as well. She’s my assistant. She works for me; I shouldn’t have her doing any of this personal stuff as well. It’s only because she offered…”
Admittedly, she only offered because she saw what a state I was in. I could see the stress getting to her already which had very little to do with me and a lot to do with Lara. My girlfriend needed this to be utterly perfect, I knew that her Instagram followers were all waiting to see this spectacular thirtieth birthday and if anything was a disappointment then Lara wouldn’t hesitate to let me and Brianna know.
“Well then, let me help as well.” I was shocked as Gary offered this. “Let’s speed things along and then you can come out with me. I can do anything that you need me to… especially when it comes to that baker.”
“I hate to agree to this when you are being such a skeeze,” I replied. “But I might actually need your help. I might have to take you up on that. Especially when it comes to the day of the set up.” I saw his face fall. “Hey, you have offered. You can’t take it back now. You have to help me out.”
Gary didn’t look too impressed, but I knew that he would do what I needed. After all, he was my best friend for a reason and that was because deep down he had a helpful heart of gold. Just because he didn’t always treat women well didn’t make him all bad. I was sure that one day the right person would come along change him, but until then he was going to carry on in the way that he was.
“Right well if I need to help,” Gary said as he rose to his feet with a grumpy expression. “Then I need to eat some more cakes to make sure that they are going to be good enough for the queen of… I mean, Lara.” He spotted my face. This wasn’t the time or place to start criticizing my girlfriend. “I will see you soon.”
I watched him go, chuckling to myself as he did. Gary was going to regret that offer to help soon enough, but I was still going to make him go through with it. After all, I would do it for him.
4
Jane
“ C
ome on, Jane,” Samantha whined desperately. “Let’s go out tonight. You promised me that you would come out with me soon and I just got invited to this party. It’s going to be amazing.”
“I can’t close up yet,” I insisted, knowing that she wasn’t going to let it go easily. “The sign says that I don’t close until 7pm and that’s when I need to stay open until. Just in case there are any last minute customers.”
“There isn’t anyone around!” Samantha half yelled. “You can close up early for once. No one is going to blame you for shutting up shop before the end of the day just one time. Come on, come with me…”
I shook my head determinedly. I was shattered anyway, it had been a long day with a lot of rushing around on my feet, and the last thing I wanted to do was socialize right now. Not even for my best friend. I just needed a hot bath and a nice long sleep before I go up early to bake and do it all again.
“I can’t go to a party, Samantha, I’m so sorry.” I was going to make her mad, but that changed nothing for me. I knew what I needed to do, and I was going to stick to it. “I have to stay open until seven. But if you want to go out over the weekend then maybe I can do that. I will have more time and head space then…”
“But…” Samantha was cut off as the door swung open, proving her theory that no one was around wrong. She looked just as shocked as I felt as the poor stressed woman from earlier came back in for more.
“Hello!” My eyes widened in surprise; this was the last person I expected to see today. Didn’t she buy everything earlier? Surely, she couldn’t need more of my cakes, however good they were.
“Hi, I don’t know if you remember me… I was in here earlier.” I nodded, too stunned to reply. Of course, I remembered the woman who bought one of everything. Did she think that happened every day? “Right, well my boss is planning a party for his girlfriend and she’s one of those Instagram influencer types who needs everything to be perfect. Which is why I look so stressed right now.” She tied to laugh but the sound was mirthless. “It needs to look good for her followers and the baker that we had hired backed out. My boss wants to hire you now, but it’s for next week so I know this is short notice.” Her expression turned to one of desperate pleading. “We will pay you for the express nature of this order. I know that it’s a big ask but my boss will definitely make it worth your while. Plus, I would love you forever.”
I didn’t even care so much about the money. Instead, I found myself nodding along just because I could see that this woman needed me so badly it hurt. If this party was what was stressing her out, then I wanted to take the pressure off her as much as I could. It didn’t matter that I didn’t know her. Women kind needed to stick together.
“Yes, I will do it. Whatever you need. Do you know what you want?”
She handed me a piece of paper. “All the details are there. Including what we’re offering. I really do need to get going though because I have to get the sets ready. Lara needs suitable places for her guests to take pictures.”
I was speechless as she ran out of the door, leaving me with the biggest order that I had ever been given and very little time to get it done in. Without even combing through it in fine detail, I knew that I was not going to be able to achieve this by myself. I would have to get some interns in. Luckily, the culinary college nearby always had people wanting some real-life work experience so I would get in touch with them as soon as possible.
“Fucking hell, look at that number!” Samantha gasped, staring at the most important part to her. The payment. “You are going to make a killing off of this. And if it’s an Instagram girl, that works out well for you as well.”
“It does?” I asked her curiously. “Why does that help me? It adds more stress if anything…”
“Yes, that’s true, but you will be tagged on her page and people will know that it’s you.”
“Tagged? Don’t I need an Instagram account of my own for that?”
Samantha rolled her eyes at me. “Give me your phone. I will set one up for you right now. How do you not have one already? You could post pictures of your cakes every single day and lure people in. I have had people come to my karate classes because they have seen some of my online posts. Hey, smile.”
She snapped a picture of me way before I was ready for it and cooed over it like it was nice. I snatched the phone off of her and stared at my flour and sugar stained face, immediately unimpressed.
“Can’t you take a better picture of me? I look like I’ve been in the kitchen all day.”
“But you have,” Samantha replied blankly as if that didn’t matter. “And it’s cute. You look good in the picture. It shows more of who you are and what you do. Trust me, it’s perfect.”
Since I didn’t care too much about Instagram anyway and I really couldn’t see me having the time to keep it up, I rolled my eyes and started cleaning up the area around me, getting ready to shut up shop for the day. Sure, it was going to leave me closed up fifteen minutes early, but I had my big order now. I seemingly had everything under control financially for the foreseeable future. I could afford a night off.
“Let’s go to this party,” I said idly to my friend, knowing this would shock her. “I need to celebrate. Plus, if I have this big order to fill then I am not going to be going anywhere any time soon.”
I felt invigorated anyway, excited now to get out and have a laugh with my friend. Samantha looked absolutely delighted by the idea. She jumped around and cheered before making some demands about what we should both wear to the party, so we fit right in. I was willing to do whatever she wanted tonight because I was too happy for words. This order was potentially going to be the start of the next phase for me. Or, it would be if I got it right…
The music was loud, the people were louder, and I found myself surrounded by people who were desperate to get the right picture for their Instagram followers for the night. An obsession that I didn’t really know much about before today but that I couldn’t escape from right now. Everyone seemed to be at it. I had an account now, Samantha had made sure of it, but I knew that I would still rather enjoy the party than document it.
Still, I thought joyfully to myself. These people will all be taking pictures of my cakes soon.
Samantha had already discussed making sure that any guests posting the pictures tagged me so that their followers could find me, and I said that she could sort that out if she wanted. She was going to be my PR guru for the event. If she helped rocket me towards something better, then I would be over the moon.
