Ellie

Ellie felt her cellphone under her pillows as the alarm awakened her she set. 4:00 AM. Ellie had to brave the cold weather and get up from bed, while most still snuggled on their beds.

She tidied up her bed, then went to the bathroom for a quick shower and prepared herself. After her shower, she picked up her phone and opened an app that showed her all the orders she needed to complete for the day. Today’s orders read: 1 two tiered cake for a baby shower, 3 dozen chocolate cupcakes, 1 dozen matcha flavored cupcakes, 2 blueberry cheesecakes. On top of these, she also needed to make sure that there are enough cakes and cupcakes for the display, so she needed to make 1 strawberry shortcake, 1 ultimate chocolate cake, 1 blueberry cheesecake, 1 dozen red velvet cupcake, another dozen chocolate cupcake and matcha cupcake, and 1 dozen cheesecake cups. Another busy day!

After reviewing the cakes and cupcakes she needed to bake, she headed to her tiny cake shop, a floor below her living space.

It was almost time to open the shop when she finished baking the cakes bases. She waited for them to cool so she could put icing or frosting on them when her staff arrived, one after the other. She hired 2 staff - a cashier and a server.

“Good morning, Ms. Elle.” They greeted her. To which she smiled and replied, “Morning Beth, morning Maya. There’s coffee in the pantry, and I also made pastries last night. Grab a bite.”

The three of them started the day, each with a coffee mug in hand. She held a small clipboard that details all the orders and deliveries for the day.

“I will deliver the baby shower cake. The chocolate and matcha cupcakes are for pickup. A delivery rider will pick up the blueberry cheesecakes. I already grouped them and made some notes as well.” Beth and Maya nodded as they took notes of her instructions.

“Also, there will be supplies that will arrive today. I have already separated the money in envelopes inside my drawer.” Ellie looked at them. “Did you girls have questions?” Both shook their heads.

With that, Ellie prepped the tiered cake for the baby shower, which she will deliver. It was a simple round cake on top of each other. The smaller cake on top had a cute baby stroller as decoration. It was simple and elegant, as requested by her client.

She placed the cake in the box, then loaded it to her carrier. She then placed the carrier in her car and drove her way to the address her client gave her.

Her client wanted to surprise her best friend, who was the mother to be with this cake. So she wanted her to arrive at a very specific time. When she reached the address, she messaged her client who then gave her the go signal to come up and bring the cake.

Her client stood by the door to welcome her and help her bring the cake in. All her attention was on the cake. She was very careful with her steps to ensure that she will not trip or topple the cake by accident.

She could hear everyone’s gasp as she entered the room, cake in hand. Then she placed the cake on the table. She then looked at the mother to be. She was teary-eyed, obviously happy. Ellie said her congratulations.

With a high-pitched voice from her excitement, she asked for her husband to come forward to help her slice the cake.

Color drained from Ellie’s face as her eyes followed the new mother’s eyes. The man walked towards them. He stopped for a while and looked at her, a little startled.

“Honey, look at this cake, isn’t it beautiful?” She looked at him with teary eyes, full of excitement and joy.

“Yeah,” he answered, but his eyes were neither on the cake nor on the new mother but on Ellie.

“Congratulations, enjoy your cake” Ellie’s words were shaky as she tried so hard to control her emotion.

She cried her heart out inside her car. “Bastard,” she kept muttering. She drove herself out, but instead of going to her store, she drove aimlessly around. She stopped in front of an abandoned building.

She rested her head on the steering wheel as she poured out her tears. “That bastard! That cheating bastard! It was not enough for him to cheat on me many times. He even got this one pregnant!” she continued to cry.

“F*ck you, Angelo!” she cursed him. Her angry cries sounded very pitiful. “Why does this always happen to me?” She asked between sobs.

Ellie had three relationships. Her first love was her best friend, whom she found cheating with one of her friends. Her second boyfriend was in college. He turned out to be two-timing her with another girl from a different college. And then this bastard, Angelo, whom she loved so much. She has forgiven him when he betrayed her trust many times with different girls. And today, she found out that he got somebody knocked up.

“You’re so stupid, Ellie!” She chastised herself as she pulled on her hair. It always ended up this way. It always ended up that she gets betrayed, lied to, cheated on.

“I’m done with love.” She declared.

“I will never fall in love ever again!”