Sugar Rush, page 4
I put the microphone back on the stand and fumbled around in my pocket, desperately trying to make this right once more. I needed the box with the ring within it. I needed her to see what I was trying to do here. If she could see the ring and know where this conversation was headed, then perhaps it would make things run a lot smoother.
“Er, hold on…” I took a few steps towards her. “I just need to…” Actually, this was a little easier without the mic making my words too loud. This was what I should have done from the start. “Lara, I…”
I got the box between my fingers and smiled at her, noticing how pale she had become. I could see it now that I was nearer to her which suggested to me that she had already guessed what was going on here, thank goodness. That took the pressure off me a little bit. I was already starting to feel a little bit brighter, like I was definitely going to be able to relax and enjoy myself once all of this was done. I even began to smile which was unexpected, but a nice surprise. I wanted to do this happy.
“So, Lara…” I dropped to one knee right in front of her. “What do you say…”
“Oh fuck.” Her legs kicked out and knocked in to me. “Shit, I need to…”
She ran. With her hand clapped over her mouth she ran away. She took off towards the bathroom, leaving me looking like an idiot on one knee on the floor, open mouthed and shocked. A thick silence clung to the air, it was humiliating, I could feel everyone looking at me. At least, that was how it felt until other people raced from the room as well with their arms over their mouths, looking like they could vomit at any given moment.
“It’s the cake,” someone yelled. “The cake is making everyone sick. That bathroom is a disaster.”
And that was the moment a hurricane ripped through the party and it became a complete shit storm. People puked everywhere, other people ran off as if they could catch food poisoning just by breathing the air, and through all of it I didn’t see Lara at all. She had locked herself in a cubicle and refused to allow me to see her ill.
It seemed that she hadn’t worked out that I was going to propose after all, my idea had fallen flat, so I wasn’t going to end the night with a fiancée. I would have an angry girlfriend who hated me for organizing her a party that ended this way. The last minute change of baker was going to bite me on the ass, I just knew it.
7
Brandon
“ U
rgh, I feel like I am going to die,” Lara groaned as she slung the wet towel, I’d made her for her burning forehead on to the floor. “This is horrible. The worst food poising that I have ever had. I can’t believe the doctor said there isn’t anything that I can take to take this pain away. It’s going to kill me.”
“I wish there was more that I could do, sweetie.” I rubbed her arm gently, hating seeing her all struggling like she is. I would have done anything in the world. “I wish there was a magic pill to make it better…”
“The fucking cakes,” she screamed over the top of me. “That fucking cake bitch. I can’t believe that I posted about her on Instagram. I bet she has a ton of new followers because of me. I was all nice about her and now I regret it. I want to delete the fucking post before she gets more attention from me, but my cell phone is dead.”
“It’s on charge,” I reminded her. I’d left it up stairs on purpose because she would only wind herself up with it, which wasn’t going to help her feel any better than she did right now. “It will be done soon. Plus, I know that people have been blaming the cakes, but we don’t actually know that it’s the cakes, do we?”
Lara shot me a glare. “Are you fucking joking, Brandon? You are the only person who didn’t have a cake and you are fine. Doesn’t that tell you something? And what else could it be anyway?”
“I…” Now that I didn’t have an answer for, I had already suggested that it could be a viral thing and it made her too angry for words. I wasn’t about to make that error again. So far, Lara hadn’t thought to blame me for everything, and I wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible. “I don’t know, I have a good immune system?”
“Don’t be an idiot, Brandon. This is all about the fucking cakes. I mean, Gary has been in the third floor bathroom all night long throwing his guts up and he ate lots of cake. What does that tell you?”
“Gary also drunk a ton, so it could be a hangover. I don’t know, no one does. It could be anything…”
I only wanted her to be rational about it. I needed her to see this through clear eyes and see that blaming the poor lady who made all the cakes wasn’t going to help anyone. She just needed to calm down and focus on getting well. Perhaps once she stopped looking so green, we could sort this out. I was sure that once she stopped being ill, she would forget about thee cakes and focus on the Instagram likes that she had acquired. She posted a lot before the sickness hit and that had to have worked out pretty well for her… surely?
“Once I get my phone back, I am taking that cake bitch down,” Lara growled, clearly ignoring my attempts to make this a calmer conversation. “I have been trolled enough times to know how to do it well. And I am a strong person. I bet that cake bitch is pathetic. She has to be, to feed such shitty cakes to such an important party. I mean, that was my thirtieth birthday and she wrecked it. I will only ever get one birthday to turn that age and it’s gone now. She needs to pay. She needs to understand that you can’t get away with it…”
“Perhaps it wasn’t on purpose. These things happen, you know?” I shrugged one shoulder. “It can happen without the person who’s doing the cooking even knowing about it. You don’t have to blame anyone.”
This should have been a day to discuss our wedding, I was utterly sick of this conversation. If only I had gotten the proposal out before the sickness swept through the party… but then I suppose that would have been another magical moment ruined that she wasn’t able to get back however hard she tried.
“It doesn’t matter. If it was by accident, then that’s even worse. She has a dirty kitchen and needs to be shut down. The fucking Blue Flower Bakery or whatever it’s called… it has made a powerful enemy in me. Of course, I have to blame someone. That was supposed to be the party of the year. Now all the people who attended will remember is getting sick. There were some very powerful influencers there, you know? It affects my reputation. If any of the other influencers says anything then I will lose my position, so she has to pay. You get it, right?”
I really hated the idea of trolling. Saying anything bad to anyone behind a computer screen was dumb and weak. It sickened me when I spotted some of the comments made to Lara, even if she didn’t give a shit. She just said that the best thing to do was read them aloud because it took the power away from the words, but I still found it hard to bear. I couldn’t imagine anyone doing it, least of all someone who had been through it.
But this argument was only going to continue on going around in circles if I said anything about that and I wanted it to end, so I kept my mouth shut and handed Lara her glass of water to drink some more. She drank but ranted in between each sip, saying increasingly worse things about the baker as her temper increased. I just tried to tune out every single word, so I didn’t react. She would calm down eventually, just like she always did with me. Lara held grudges but she would let them go eventually. I was sure this one was the same.
“I’m getting my phone.” Lara gave up her position on the couch and stomped towards the stairs… well, it was more of a shuffle because of the illness, but I got the intention behind it. “I can’t stand this anymore.”
Luckily, before I needed to tell her that she was being crazy by focusing on her Instagram account rather than her health, Gary made an appearance with an expectedly grim expression on his face.
“I can’t remember the last time I puked like that.” He shook his head sadly. “It was a lot. More than a hangover. I think it was food poisoning, just like everyone keeps saying. Fucking cake bitch.”
“Not you too.” I rolled my eyes at him. “It could be something else, you know that?”
“Yeah, maybe so.” He was much more accepting than Lara. “Who cares anyway?”
“I care.” Lara hadn’t made it up the stairs because of Gary being in the way, and now it looked like she had forgotten all about it because she was so annoyed by my friend. “And you should too. You helped set up the party, right? You even met the cake bitch, and she poisoned me to ruin the night. That was my special night…”
“But I thought that Brandon didn’t actually get around to…” Shit, he was about to wreck my surprise…
“It was Lara’s thirtieth birthday,” I jumped in, shutting him down before he blurted out about the proposal. “And the sickness ruined everything. The other influencers might post stuff about it…”
Lara stared at me in surprise. “You listened to me. You care about my following…”
“Of course I do.” Okay, if that comment rushed out to shut Gary up worked on another level too, then I would take it. Anything to keep Lara on side through all of this. “You know that. Maybe we should do something…”
“I could go down there,” Gary jumped in and offered. “After all, I did meet her last night, and I gave her the check so I can get the money back. You guys shouldn’t have to pay for anything that made anyone ill.”
“Yes!” Lara fist pumped with excitement. “Go and kick some ass, Gary. Make that pathetic cake bitch know that she can’t charge people for shitty food. I wouldn’t want anyone else to go through that…”
Oh, as if Lara cared. She just loved the drama. And much as I wanted to tell Gary that this was a good idea, I had shown Lara some support now and if I changed my mind, she would be even angrier. So, much as I wanted to stop this idea from spiraling out of hand, I had to clamp my lips tightly together to let them get on with it.
“Should I let the cake bitch know that we’re going to take her down?” Gary asked Lara while nudging her in the side playfully. He seemed to be enjoying being on her good side for a change and I could hardly blame him. After all, that was what I was trying to do myself. Stay on her good side at all times. “Let her know that the money back isn’t the only thing that will happen to her? After all, she must know who she’s upset.”
Lara flicked her hair over her shoulder and smirked. “I know. I am going to be the biggest influencer around. Especially when my modeling career takes off. She doesn’t want to be on my bad side… but she already is, and I don’t see any way of her getting off of it. I am about to start a hate campaign against her right now, including changing the caption that I posted on my Instagram picture last night praising the cakes. It’s time for everyone to know the truth about Blue Butter Cup Cakes or whatever the fuck it’s called.”
“Bluebell Bakery,” Gary unhelpfully reminded her. “And yes, you should definitely do that. A two-pronged attack, one from me at the bakery and two from you online. Perfect.”
This was spinning out of hand, getting out of control, and there wasn’t a damn thing that I could do about it. all I could do was stand in the middle of them with this stupid bland expression on my face while they planned to take down someone who I really didn’t think was to blame for any of this. She was innocent, or maybe it had happened by mistake, which didn’t make it her fault either, and she was about to be attacked by these two for it.
But what could I do? I was hopeless, they weren’t going to listen to me, they were steam rolling down the path much too quickly for me to do anything about it.
8
Jane
“ D
id you see how many new followers you have?” Samantha screamed as she slid into the store, shocking Mrs. Lovely along with the rest of the customers who needed my attention despite the fact that I was knackered and still pretty drained from last night. “The PR campaign worked perfectly. Your Instagram is blowing up.”
I laughed awkwardly and continued to serve the woman standing in front of me before I replied. “I haven’t actually seen anything yet. I just got my tired body out of bed and came straight here.”
I was still exhausted, absolutely shattered, barely alive just moving on auto pilot. I was just doing what I needed to do, getting thorough the day before I could get back to bed once more. Still, it was nice to have my best friend here, supporting me and clearly excited on my behalf. She really was over the moon.
Samantha took her seat and waited for the bakery to be empty and once it was, I made us both a giant mug of coffee and took a seat beside her to see what she was showing me… and I was immediately blown away.
“Oh my God, look at that. The influencers really have done me good. That’s amazing.”
“That —and the giant check that you now have to cash in— makes for a very productive week, don’t you think? I would be careful because I think you’ll have people banging down the door to get to you.”
We both stared at the door for a moment, anticipation flooding through us, but of course the door didn’t break down just because I had seen how many followers I had. In fact, the ridiculousness of what we had both just done made the pair of us burst out in to laughter. We had almost lost our heads in the moment.
“Well, maybe this week,” I teased instead. “And I can’t wait to cash that check. I have some great ideas about what to do with the money to push the business even further. My brain is buzzing with plans. I can’t wait.”
“Tell me about them,” Samantha asked while she took another sip of her coffee and smirked at me. “Since I’m your PR guru now and in charge of your social media, I think I should know all about it. Spill the beans.”
The passion filled my voice as I spoke, I felt like I was soaring higher than air. Telling Samantha about my much anticipated plans reminded me that I was on the way there, that I was moving in the right direction. I was buzzing, I was even more awake than normal which was a miracle considering it was the day after the night before, but that was just how excitable I felt about it all. This was my dream finally coming to life at long last. I had been waiting for this success to come my way over the last few years. Ever since I first started baking.
All of a sudden, just at the moment we were in fits of giggles about something silly, the door really did swing open loudly making both me and Samantha jump. I was half expecting an infiltration of customers but instead it was just one person coming my way. One unwelcome person who I recognized all too well.
“Gary.” I rose to my feet and stared at him with confusion in my face. “What are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to make a complaint about the bullshit you served us last night.” His face was a little green as he stared at me. “You made absolutely everyone sick at the party last night. Those cakes you served were poison.”
“Huh?”
I honestly couldn’t work out what he was saying to me because it was so ridiculous.
“What do you mean? There was nothing bad in the cakes. I only use the freshest ingredients around.”
“So, why was everyone sick then? Huh?” His hands flung on to his hips. “Why was the party ruined? That was Lara’s special thirtieth birthday and it was wrecked before Brandon could even think about proposing.”
My blood ran ice cold. I didn’t like what he was accusing me of. Nothing like that could ever happen because of my cakes. I was so anal about the best buy dates and fresh ingredients. This was impossible… although if I really thought about it, some of the interns did catch a sickness bug, which could have been to blame. They did leave immediately, as soon as they realized that they were sick, so there was a minute possibility that I was to blame… but I wasn’t going to say that to Gary. Because he was already aggy and on edge and ready to blame me for everything. This would have only added fuel to the fire when I didn’t even know it was the case.
“So, obviously, Brandon doesn’t want to pay for the night since it was ruined. I will need that check back.”
My stomach fell out of my ass. That check being gone wasn’t good for me. Not only did it put all of my plans on hold, but it also put me in a bit of a hole. I forked out a lot of money for the ingredients for the party, and now I wasn’t going to get that money back… God, this really did leave me fucked.
“She is not giving you the check back,” Samantha growled on my behalf. “Are you joking? Just because people got sick at the party, it doesn’t mean that it had anything to do with the cakes. It could have been the booze or the other food that I’m sure you had there. It could even be a sickness bug or something. Until you have scientific proof that it was to do with the cakes, you have no right to be here.”
That was a pretty good argument, or so I felt. I was pretty sure that Samantha might have shut Gary down, but instead all she did was wind him up even more and sent him off in to a terrible rant.
“Do you know what it’s like to spend a lot of money on an event?” He threw his hands in the air in frustration. “And then to have one thing fuck it all up? I mean, that would be bad for a normal person, but it’s even worse for Lara. She expects the best of the best and this might ruin her relationship with my best friend. Is that something you want to be responsible for? Not only wrecking the proposal but the whole relationship?”
“If she’s that high maintenance, then maybe we did him a favor,” Samantha yelled back, not backing down.
“She is an Instagram influencer; she needs things to be perfect. She expects the best cakes.”
“Influencer isn’t a real job. I hate the way that people think it means something these days. It’s absolutely crazy.” Samantha rolled her eyes, refusing to back down, but I couldn’t stop the guilt from washing over me. I felt sick to my stomach. I reached in to the pocket of my apron where I had been proudly storing my check, feeling like I was on top of the world. I had to hand it back, even if it was going to kill me and damage the business, it was the right thing to do. I didn’t want to take the blame, but it could have been my fault and that was enough. “Don’t come in to this shop and start throwing things around. It’s absolute bull shit.”
