Chapter 16 #3
“OK. OK. I like. I like,” Lyric praised as she removed the designer shades from her eyes and looked around the bakery.
“Hi, love.”
“I’m tired of having to pop up on you. When are we going to hang out? Don’t you miss me, too?”
“I really do. You have no idea just how much. But I’ve been so busy with the girls being out for summer, trying to get this place up and running, being somebody’s girlfriend, and making cakes every day. I’m very thankful, but honey, it is a lot.”
“Meanwhile, I be at home so bored that I’ve started knitting. Maybe I’m really getting old.”
“Or maybe you need to take your ass outside and find you a nigga!” Luca yelled over his shoulder.
“Oh, shut up. If a nigga wants me, then a nigga will find me. OK!”
“How if you’re always in the house?” I asked, genuinely interested in her theory.
“The same way your nigga found you.”
“Technically, I was outside when he found me.”
“I’m outside right now. Aren’t I? I give them a chance, they just don’t swing my way.”
“Lyric, you probably turning your nose up at every nigga that looks your way,” Luca butted.
“And, your point?”
“Not everybody,” I whispered, catching Lyric’s eye.
“Don’t even start,” she whispered back.
“My point is, it’s time for you to let that shit go and find you a nigga to spend the rest of your days with. I’m trying to have nieces and nephews running around, and Laike ain’t no hope.”
“He really isn’t, huh? He’s always in last place.”
“Always,” Luca agreed. “But on a serious note, it’s time.”
“I knooooow,” Lyric whined. “I just don’t feel like going through ten men before the right one comes along. I want to get it right on the first try.”
“It might happen that way. Just follow your gut. It’ll steer you in the right direction every time. Don’t ignore it when it’s giving you a warning, either. Or else, you’ll end up disappointed. Trust me, I know,” I told her.
“I did not come here for an intervention.”
“Well, too fucking bad.”
“Luca.” Shaking my head, I chuckled.
“I’m gone to the back.”
“Bye!” Lyric shouted behind him.
Once he was out of earshot, I put down the strawberries that were going on the cake and really looked at her.
“He’s right, Lyric.”
“I know, but he doesn’t have to know that.”
“Well, I know and I’m telling you that there is a really great man just waiting for you to be the woman of his dreams, and I’m not a fool. I saw the way you reacted to that guy Ken at the mall a few months back.”
“Yeah, but that would never happen. He’s their best friend. He’s known me since I was a kid.”
“And?”
“Have you met Laike and Luca?”
“I have.”
“Then that’s the end of that. Besides, he doesn’t look at me that way. He sees me as a sister.”
“Lyric. I saw the way he looks at you and it ain’t like no damn sister.”
“I didn’t see it.”
“Because you didn’t want to.”
“Whatever. What are y’all eating? It smells good.”
“Leftovers. Luca made fish and spaghetti last night. We have plenty if you want to heat up some.”
“Sure do. And, look at y’all. All in love and stuff. I love this for you.”
“I’d love it for you, too. What’s been up?”
“Nothing. I put in my two weeks’ notice. It’s time to kiss that $100k a year goodbye. It funded my shopping habits but with Luca home, the family needs me a little bit more.”
“I might be needing you, too. It seems like this business will blow up before I can truly wrap my head around the concept. I need to know where my money is going and how to reinvest it back into the business. I also need help pricing my cakes so that I’m getting my energy’s worth in addition to production cost.”
“You know I’m the girl for all things numbers. Do you have a list of the cakes you’ve already made and their prices?”
“Yeah. I have a picture beside them too so that it’s easy to remember what I charge.”
“What about how much time it takes?”
“I document that too.”
“Good. How much money do you want to make per hour? Like, if you were at your dream job, how much would you be compensated for your time?”
“Fifty to sixty dollars an hour.”
“Good, we’ll go with seventy-five. Send me the list, and I will create a spreadsheet for you. Have you finished the website yet?”
“Not yet. I wanted to finalize the pricing before I did so that I didn’t have to go back and change them. I have all the photos and everything else ready to go. Luca bought me a new camera.”
“What about the business Instagram?”
“I’m still not ready for that. Not with the whole Dewayne situation still lingering.”
“Don’t let him stop your money.”
“I don’t plan to, but using my whole name for an account is like handing him my information myself. The page would have all the bakery’s details.”
“Have you talked to Luca about this?”
“No.”
“Well, I think you should. He could tell you how to move forward, but I’m sure it’ll be with the social media accounts. That’s how most people find services these days, hashtags.”
“Yeah. I know.”
“I’m going to grab me some food. I’m starving. Where is it?”
“Already in the microwave. Just grab a plate and fill it. You’ll have to warm it up.”
“OK.”
I picked up the strawberries to resume my cake decorating, but kept Lyric’s words circling in my head.
Luca and I had tiptoed around the Dewayne topic, mostly because I wasn’t ready to have the real conversation yet.
But as more time passed and my mental and emotional scars began to fade, I knew it was coming.