Chapter 8
“Hey, girl, heeeeeyyyy!” Shaun singsonged as he sauntered into Bailey’s coffee and pastry shop, swinging his hips as he dramatically prissed himself up to the counter.
Bailey started laughing and looked up at him, shaking her head, unable to stop the grin that was plastered to her face. “What are you doing?”
“Making you laugh. What are you doing?”
“I’m waiting for six o’clock.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s going to happen at six o’clock?” he teased.
“Well, there’s this guy, and he’s really cute, and funny. Funny is the most important part. Anyway, he’s coming to take me dancing,” she said, doing a little jig to emphasize what she was saying.
“Is he, now?” Shaun asked.
“He is.”
“Must be a great guy. I’m pretty sure he’s a great guy.”
She finished putting the rest of the apple fritters she’d just made in the display case and took a moment to look him in the eye as she pressed her hands against her side of the case and leaned toward him.
“You know, I wasn’t sure at first, but he is.
He is just the best thing that I think has ever happened to me. ”
Shaun’s confident smirk slowly melted away, and he leaned forward to press his lips to hers. “I wasn’t always. I just want you to know that so you don’t think I ever misled you.”
“I don’t believe that for a minute. If you weren’t, it was because you were trying to do the best you could with what you had at the moment. I’m more than aware that everybody looks back sometimes wondering, ‘what the hell was I thinking’.”
“True. Very true.”
“You’re early. I can’t even begin closing up for another two hours,” Bailey said.
“Yeah, I ran out of things to do, and I missed you.”
“I missed you, too,” she said.
The bell above the door jangled and she looked up to greet her customer. “Welcome to…” she stopped when saw Remi and a new girl walking in like they owned the place, “Bailey’s,” she finished. “How can I help you?”
“Bailey’s? Thought it had a different name,” Remi said, his tone sharp, though his words were slightly slurred.
“It did. But since it’s completely mine now, I changed it. Would you like some coffee or something to snack on?” she asked.
“I’d like to find out if you make wedding cakes. Remi is impressed with your donuts, but I’m not so sure,” Olivia said. “So when he said we should hire you to make the cake, at first I declined, but then I thought, why not at least check it out?”
Bailey covered well from the surprise of the words ‘wedding cake’. “Oh, how wonderful! A wedding! Weddings are the best kinds of celebrations. Did you have a particular flavor in mind?”
“Yes, as a matter-of-fact, I did.”
“Okay, which one?” Bailey asked enthusiastically, wearing a bright smile.
“Whatever the most expensive flavor is. I want the most detailed, the most extravagant, the most expensive cake I can find. I doubt I’ll find it here, but Remi insists we look anyway to give this little hick place the benefit of the doubt.”
“It’s pretty good. Everything she makes is really good, actually,” Remi said.
“Okay, so, I’m thinking you’ll want gold flake on the cake,” Bailey said, her pencil already in hand as she started making notes in her order book.
“Is it real gold?” Olivia asked condescendingly. “I don’t want any yellow frosting trying to pass for gold.”
“Oh, no! I would never do that. You obviously have the most exquisite tastes. I’m talking 24k edible yellow gold flake.
We’ll apply it to the cake, which will be frosted in pristine white so that the gold is offset and accentuated perfectly.
Gold is perfect to highlight your sacred union,” Bailey said.
“Oh, and maybe pineapple filling to match the gold.”
“No!” Remi snapped. “I don’t want any gold at all. None!” he practically snarled.
Olivia’s face turned into a mask of anger. “I want gold! It’s my wedding, and you said I can have whatever I want!”
“Not gold!”
“Why not?!” she whined.
“It means something in my family and I don’t want it in our wedding,” Remi insisted.
“But I want it! You’re allowing your family to ruin my day!
I said yes because I thought that you’d put me first, and you wouldn’t have your family disrespecting me anymore, but I was wrong,” she said haughtily, attempting to cry, despite the fact that no tears were present.
If you can’t give me what I want in something as simple as a wedding, then I don’t want to do this, because you’re not going to treat me well on anything. ”
“’Livi, that’s not the case, and you know it,” Remi said.
“Really? Then what is this? Why can’t I have gold?”
“I just don’t want it,” he said.
“I heard somewhere that gold indicates soul mates, in some cultures anyway.”
Olivia’s mouth fell open. “Is that why? Your family believes that gold means soul mates and you don’t believe I’m yours?!” she demanded.
Remi flicked a hateful glance at Bailey who just smiled sweetly at him.
“I demand gold on my wedding cake. And I demand gold for everything in our wedding! In fact, I’m even wearing a gold dress!”
Remi closed his eyes and sighed before opening them again. “Fine. Doesn’t matter what my family does or doesn’t believe anyway. I don’t have a family anymore.”
Olivia smiled brightly and clapped her hands in front of herself gleefully before she leaned over and kissed him full on the mouth.
“It’s okay, baby,” she said through pouty lips, “I’m your family now!
They don’t deserve you.” She didn’t even wait to see if he agreed or not, she just turned back to Bailey and pointed at the order book Bailey had been taking notes in. “Lot’s of gold.”
“Got it,” Bailey said.
“Is pineapple the most expensive filling?” Olivia asked.
“They’re pretty close in cost, all the fillings, I mean.
But I’m thinking something with truffles and white chocolate, maybe some exotic fruits, too, like guava and passion fruit, maybe some dragon fruit.
We could make multiple layer cakes with each layer having alternating truffles and white chocolate with the fruits all placed on connecting pedestals of varying heights. ”
Olivia scowled. “I don’t understand.”
Bailey shot Remi an are-you-kidding-me look, but immediately went back to the customer service she prided herself on.
“Well, imagine eight or nine cakes, all layer cakes, with offset pedestals to hold them all at different levels, almost like different levels of a fountain, and on each level is a different flavor filling, along with the white chocolate truffles, and all covered in gold flake, of course.”
“Ohhhhhhhh, can we make it a fountain, like with champagne?”
“I guess we could look into it. I’m not sure it’s ever been done, but I can look into it.”
“That’s what I want. If you can do that, you’ve got the job.”
“Well, like I said, we’ll have to check, because you can’t allow champagne to contact the cakes, because then you’ll have soggy, piles of goo. But if we can manage it, I’ll find you a price.”
“Great! Because that is what we’re having. I’ll be the talk of everyone else ever getting married! Everyone will want to be there. Did you hear her, baby? I’m going to have a champagne wedding cake fountain!”
“Mmhmm,” he grumbled.
“And you said she had no talents or vision other than baking. She’s got lots of vision. She just needed the right motivation.”
“I wholeheartedly agree,” Shaun said, from his spot at the edge of the display counter where he’d been ignored since the moment Remi walked in.
Remi turned his head to glare at Shaun.
“Hi. How you doing, Remi?”
Remi simply glared a bit longer, then turned back to Bailey and Olivia.
“We’ll let everyone come. Oh, maybe we can charge them! Do you think they’d pay to come?”
“Oh, I’d definitely pay to see this,” Bailey said.
“See?!” Olivia exclaimed. “Oh, but you can’t come. You are Remi’s ex, but you can make the cake if you can pull off the champagne fountain wedding cake! You understand, right? I mean, who invites all the service people anyway?”
“Oh, I definitely understand,” Bailey said.
“Listen, here’s my number — it’s private, so don’t let anyone else see it. Do not call Remi. I’m making all the decisions, and frankly, I just don’t think there’s a reason for you to talk to him.”
“Don’t worry. We haven’t talked in a long, long time. We don’t have a single thing in common anymore.”
“I’m so glad to hear that! One less person to run off!
” she said, laughing and waving as she dragged Remi out of the coffee shop.
“You were so right, baby! I’m so glad you made me go in there!
But just between me and you, we’ll never tell anybody where we got the cake.
How would that look? Remi and Olivia got their most exquisite cake from Remi’s ex.
Oh! I hope she doesn’t poison it or anything! ”
“She’s not going to poison it,” Remi drolled.
Olivia dragged him through the front door and out of view of the windows, with him giving no resistance at all.
Bailey looked over at Shaun. “Did he look wasted to you?”
“Yeah.”
“I just can’t believe he’s come to this,” Bailey said.
“You alright?”
“I’m fine,” she said, dismissively. “Doesn’t affect me at all.”
“Bailey, I know how much he meant to you. It’s not in your heart to just stop caring about someone. It’s okay if you’re upset. You don’t have to hide it from me.”
Bailey closed her order book and set it back under the back edge of the counter as she shook her head slowly.
“Really, I’m okay. If they’re getting married, I hope they’re happy.
I hope he’s happy and it’s all he hopes for.
I just hate that every time I see him, he’s drunk, or worse.
Is it worse? Is he involved in more than just drinking? ”
“I don’t know personally,” Shaun answered, “but I don’t think so. I don’t smell anything on him but alcohol.”
Bailey nodded. “At least there’s that.”
“Hey, how about one of those apple fritters to keep me from starving while we wait for six o’clock?”