Chapter 1
Kiddie Cakes
“Eggs, Bacon, Flour, Mi-”
Wait wait wait Bacon?
“What the hell, why would I need bacon to make a cake, come on Zhara get it together, you’re almost done.” and so i started over from scratch, looking over to my recipe book, I recited the ingredients one more time to make sure:
I did not leave out anything major like baking powder for instance OR
I didn’t add anything extra like my tired mind was trying to do.
“Okay then, in the oven you go my little cupcakes, may you finally rise to your fullest potential and make mama proud”, carefully and gently, resting them in the oven to bake.
“Imagine just hearing her mumble that without context, you’d think she was some type of psycho….” a soft voice whispered at the door of the kitchen.
“Guess she got tired of cake and decided to try children, I hear they taste just as sweet”, another voice teased in that same direction.
“The two of you know I can hear you right?” finally turning to the direction of said voices. I only saw Sydney's head poking through and Atticus was casually leaning against the open kitchen door, the two of them watching with such curiosity. Atticus and Sydney were my best friends. Atticus I grew up with and Sydney I met in Primary School,we were all introverted in our own little way, but we understood each other enough to be friends without any problems. They both help out at my parents bakery during vacation or on Saturdays when school is in process, like today. Sydney usually works the front counter taking orders, Atticus will do clean up and deliveries and I’ll work the kitchen with my parents.
Saturday’s for me are always the hardest, because I stay up late on a Friday trying to get all my assignments done, so I can just relax after work and on Sundays. I hate when school work piles up so the quicker it gets done the better for me. Unfortunately for me, I stayed up until four when I had to wake up at six to start preparing everything for ten when the bakery opened. To say I’m tired is an understatement, which is why I’ve been continuously mumbling and talking to myself all morning. At Least I’ll sleep well tonight with an added bonus of knowing some people find delirious Zhara to be soooooooooo amusing…..
Sydney let out squeak and literally ran back to the front counter when she realised she got caught while Atticus just looked at me with that idiotic grin he always sported.
“Don’t you have floors to mop and chairs to lay out?” I questioned with a glare.
“Done and Done, while you were muttering about children rising to their full potential, some of us were actually getting stuff done.”
“Just go away, I'm too tired to deal with you this morning”
“Are you sure you’re just tired Z……..and there isn’t some other reason for you being soo irritable, maybe it has to do with…..” he trailed off, Atticus was really starting to annoy me right now. Him and his damn assumptions, so what if he was somewhat right. I have my reasons for being this way.
“No it has nothing to do with him, Okay just leave it alone” trying to get him to drop the topic as quickly as I can.
“Now , I didn't say anything about it being a person now did I…. nothing’s wrong with missing your little boyfriend Z, nothing’s wrong with that, so give me the real reason you’re so grumpy this morning” the thing about Atticus is that when he thinks somethings off, he doesn’t leave it alone, one way or another he will find a reason or a way to pry it out of you. The only thing is I can’t bring myself to talk to him about this because I myself cannot define the situation that is seemingly getting worse from my perspective, so I just need to come up with a better excuse to get him to leave me alone.
“There is no other reason, I really do miss him. He’s been gone for 3 months and the lack of communication between us has me on edge, I'm just nervous to see him today, that's all” Hopefully that was enough.
“Okayyy, if you say so. I believe you. It’s 9:58, let's open the store, there are people waiting outside already”
Letting out a breath, I know he doesn't believe me 100% but at least he’ll stop asking. I’m the type of person who likes to deal with things on their own especially if they can. I don’t like asking for help even when it’s the right thing to do. Yeah, sometimes I may need a second opinion or someone to help me through it, but if I don’t need to involve anyone else in my silly problems, I Will Not. It’s better for me to do things alone that become a burden for someone else.
Walking towards the connecting door between the kitchen and the front counter, I stop when I bump into someone’s back.
“Wha- Att what’s wrong, why’d you just stop” Atticus was frozen, it’s like he was purposely blocking the entrance, like he didn’t want me to leave the confines of this small kitchen.
“Looks like a loverboy, came home a few hours early huh”, he said with a tone, I couldn’t quite decipher and a faraway look in his eyes.
Finally pushing through from behind my best friend, dead ahead was the love of my life, my boyfriend of the past three years, and Atticus’s least favourite person, Xavier Rosen. He stood there with his signature smile and the biggest bouquet of red roses I'd ever seen, before I my mind could even process what was going on, I was already wrapping my arms around him, ecstatic that he took the time to surprise me, that he took the time to lie and say his flight was delayed until tonight.
Oh how I’ve missed him.
So Much,
So much, That it’ll Hurt.
