Chapter 46
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
VIOLET
“This is nice of you,” Cami says, staring over the Chinese takeout I have on the table in the bakery.
“You three have been such a huge help I wanted to do a dinner for everyone,” I reply, while opening the last container.
Cami and Brianna have been coming in every evening to be trained.
In the evening, they come in to bake what needs restocking for the next day.
Both of them being in culinary school has helped a lot because they picked up on everything quickly.
And Liv has been a huge help during the day when the bakery is open.
All the girls gather around the table, serving themselves each a little of everything. There is a local Chinese spot close to here that I’ve been wanting to try. So, I ordered that for tonight. I serve myself and take a seat. We’re all sitting around the table quietly eating.
“Thanks for staying later, Liv. I thought it would be nice for all three of you to meet,” I say smiling over the table. Liv usually leaves before the other girls get here. So, they haven’t had the chance to meet yet.
“Of course.”
The room falls painfully quiet. We’re all waiting for someone else to speak first, which I feel like it should be me.
I shift in my seat. “So, Cami and Brianna, did you two know each other before here?”
This is a question I have been wanting to ask because they seem to know each other more than they’re letting on.
Brianna swallows the lump in her throat and says. “Yes.”
I stare between the two of them, and there is an awkward guilt planted on their faces.
“Oh, did you two know each other before school?”
Cami looks at Brianna before looking over at me. “Yeah. We’ve been friends for a while.”
I don’t quite understand the guilty faces. “That’s cool.”
Both of their faces shoot over at me. “It’s okay?” Brianna asks.
“Is what okay?”
“That we’re friends working here and we didn’t tell you.”
“Why would that matter?”
Cami shrugs her shoulders. “Places rarely like hiring friends together.”
My lip curls down in confusion. I guess I can see why. Maybe in some cases if the friends aren’t mature enough to work together. “I don’t mind, unless it becomes a problem.”
“She’s a cool boss,” Liv says.
A huge smile wraps around my face and heart.
I’m glad Liv sees me that way. I was worried I’d end up being one of those bosses employees dread—someone they can’t fully be themselves around.
But with Liv, it doesn’t feel like she’s holding anything back.
She’s naturally bubbly and outgoing, anyway.
I’m still getting to know Cami and Brianna, but so far, things feel good.
“Thanks, Liv.”
“How long have you two been friends?” I ask.
“Since we were babies,” Brianna answers.
“Pretty much since birth, actually,” Cami adds while smiling over at her friend. “Our moms were best friends growing up, too, and then they had us.”
My eyes widen—not because they’ve been friends since birth, but because it pulls my thoughts back to my childhood friends.
I want to tell them to always look out for one another, but I know not all friendships end up the way mine did.
It still amazes me to think about what my friends once meant to me compared to what they mean now.
It’s nice to know that their parents stayed friends after all these years and even raised kids together.
I thought that’s what Rya and I were going to be.
It’s crazy how something so simple can drag my mind back to everything.
“Wow, that’s something that they’ve stayed friends, after all these years,” I say with more truth behind it than they will ever know.
“Yeah,” they both reply at the same time.
“We even got our first apartment together,” Brianna adds.
Hearing that makes my heart sting. I always wanted to move out and live with Rya.
Living with your best friends always sounds so exciting.
But we never got a chance to since our lives took us in different directions.
I never regretted it because I was always happy and content moving in with Zayn.
Now that I look back at it, I’m glad we never lived together.
Finding out how deceitful she’s been without me realizing it, who knows what else she would’ve dug her claws into.
“That sounds so fun. I wish I could move out and live with my friends,” Liv says.
“Why don’t you?” Cami asks.
“I have to pay my parents back for the semester of college they paid for and I dropped out of.”
I take another forkful of ham fried rice and think about how Brianna and Cami live together, finding it a little surprising I didn’t notice the matching addresses on the paperwork they filled out.
All three of them get into a conversation about school, and it makes me happy to see them getting along.
“Did you go to college?” Brianna asks me.
“No, school was never for me. I barely completed high school.” I snort out a laugh.
All three girls’ eyes grow wide.
“Really?” Cami says.
I nod.
“This is cool to see how far you’ve come.”
“Thanks. I’m pretty proud of it myself.”
“Is this what you’ve always wanted to do?” Liv asks.
I shake my head before I answer. “No. After high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I kind of just fell into this.” I take a drink of my water and look between Cami and Brianna. “What got you two into culinary school?”
They both start howling with laughter. “We moved out together and couldn’t cook at all,” Cami says.
“Like at all,” Brianna adds, rolling her eyes. “To the point where we even burned water.” All four of us chuckle. “We started watching videos on how to cook, and then it led us to going into culinary school.”
“We had so much fun doing it together. We actually want to open up our own place,” Cami says.
“I never would have guessed. You two caught on so well,” I say.
It’s amazing what hidden talents people have, and you never know until you try.
I never thought I could cook or bake. But getting married so young and not having money to go out to eat every night forced me to teach myself.
Just like them, one thing led to another.
I enjoyed it so much I turned it into a business.
We sit together, eating and talking among ourselves.
Everything feels light and almost normal.
Getting everyone together was a good idea.
It’s helped keep my mind off the things that have been tugging at my heart for far too long.
Laughter and conversation fill the space.
I let myself sink into it all. Because behind each smile of mine, I know sooner or later I’ll have to face what I’ve been avoiding.