ACRID DESIRE

She wiped the counter as she watched the clock impatiently. As much as Brooklyn liked her bakery, she was tired and she was sure her workers were too. She couldn’t wait to go home and catch some sleep.                                                              She moved into the kitchen to remove the last set of cupcakes from the oven “two hours left’ she muttered as she placed the red velvet cupcake in the show glass.                                                                  The bell at the door rang as the door to the bakery opened, as a couple approached the counter.

         “Good evening’ she smiled ‘‘what can I get you?”

      ‘‘Babe, what should we get?” the female customer asked the guy beside her, it seemed like he was her boyfriend. When she got no response, she smiled at Brooklyn “don’t worry, I will order”. She looked around the large counter filled with lots of sugary goodness. 

“Uhm, I will get five chocolate cupcakes, two red velvet cupcakes and your pompom pie special.”                                                                          

     “Coming right up,” Brooklyn said with a smile, “wrap to go?”                   

        ‘‘Yeah, then I’ll have two servings of chocolate cookies and two banana smoothies.”

     “Okay, please have a sit, we’ll serve you shortly”  

   She reached into the show glass holding a copious amount of mouthwatering cupcakes and other treats and grabbed the customer’s order. Placing them into the box, she ordered one of her workers to deliver it to the customer. ‘‘Brandon,’’ she called out. ‘‘Please drop this at table six, then come back to get their orders’’.                                                                 

  ‘‘Yes boss’’. He grabbed the box and headed to the table.

    

   She swiftly plated two servings of cookies as she made the banana smoothie. ‘‘Order up!’’ She rang the bell when she was done.

  Brooklyn glanced at her watch as she poured more brown sugar into her version of caramel sauce she had been trying to experiment.         

   Who needs sex when you can get pleasure from mouthwatering sweets right?.

   She dropped the sauce to cool, as she glanced at her watch once more. It was almost eleven, her employees left about an hour ago, but she stayed back to make the caramel sauce. 

  She was about to place the sauce in the fridge, when she heard the bell at the front door jingle, indicating another customer. Who could that be? She wondered as she closed the fridge and headed out front.

   ‘‘I’m sorry sir, but we are closed. I’m pretty sure I put up the sign out front,’’ she said. Her brows furrowed as she tried to grasp the face of the stranger who had a face cap on.

        ‘‘Not even a dick cake for me?’’ he said as he took off his cap, and immediately her face lit up in recognition.

   She quickly took off her apron, threw it on one of the tables, and ran into her best friend’s arms.

   ‘‘Whoa! You saw me like a week ago Brooklyn,” he said with a chuckle, “don’t be clingy, sheesh.’’

     She rolled her eyes and slapped him on the arm as she detached herself from the hug. ‘‘Don’t ever try what you did earlier again, Tegan Fawn, I was kind of freaked out.’’

   ‘‘I know,’’ he laughed ‘‘it was hilarious.’’

   ‘‘How did you know I was here though?’’

    ‘‘I’ve known you almost all my life Brook, please cut me some slack.’’ He grins “Anyways, I got you something.’’ He held up the bag for her to see the Juju’s drive-in logo.

She squealed and grabbed the bag. “With extra cheese, you’re the best!”

    She practically skipped to the table at the corner. She pulled out the box of fries and pushed the rest to Tegan who took a sit beside her.

   “They’re probably soggy now though,” he warned her.

     “Just how I like them” she replied as she shoved a handful of fries into her mouth and moaned at the taste “God these are so good. Anyways, I got a surprise for you”

    “Same here, a big one” he smiled “you go first”

      “No, you go first” then she froze, and leaned closer to him “did you finally ask Rayne!?”

    “No I did-”

  “Why didn’t you tell me!” she screamed “tell me everything. How did it go? What did she say?  I wasn’t going to tell you, but I have been checking some designs and it’s going to be like-”

   “Calm the fuck down” he grabbed her arms to get her attention “I haven’t asked her anything and besides, we are not dating anymore.” he shrugged.

    “Oh” she leaned back into her sit “what happened?” 

    “Just wasn’t working out” he waved her off “so what’s the surprise?”

   “Oh nothing serious, just wanted to tell you that I’ve perfected my caramel recipe” she smiled lightly “but are you okay though? About the break up and all?”

    “Yeah, sure.” He laughed “but you still get to bake a cake though”

       “I’m listening” she leaned forward suddenly intrigued.

   “And if you do good, you might even make bigger ones in the future” he smiled

       “Spill already” she groaned.

  “So as you know, I was just made the personal assistant to one of the new higher-ups at darkshaw films.”

   “Yeah, so how does the cake come in?” she asked

  “well his former assistant, Derry did a messy job before he was sacked, including mixing up details for several upcoming event and I spent most of my time arranging his mess” he grinned “but that’s not the best part. The best part is that I fixed one of the party on Thursday, and I managed to convince jacqueral stickman, my new boss to make the party extra special.”

    “And that’s where the cake comes in?” she asked 

   “Yes brook, that’s where the cake comes in” he smiled. “I know it’s kind of short notice, but I just thought that it will be a goo-”

  “Shut the fuck up bro, this is amazing news” she practically threw herself at him “thank you Tegan, you’re the best. I love you.” she kissed him on the cheek.

  “I know, now get off me” he playfully pushed her off him “anyways, I’ll send you the details first thing tomorrow morning”

   “Wait, what kind of party is it”

   “Only the after party of the biggest premiere of the season”

   “Holy shit!”

   “And I haven’t even told you the juiciest part yet” he continued “I told you that you might snag a chance to make a bigger cake right? Well, it just happens the star actress of this movie and the ceo of Kamryn Inc. just announced his engagement. So if you do a great job, you might-”

  “Wait Kamryn Inc.? what’s the ceo’s name?” she demanded.  

  

  No,there's no way it could be him.

                

   Tegan’s brows raised in confusion “uhm, they’re two actually, but it’s Jason Kamryn that just got engaged. What’s the matter brook?”

  

   Her heart began to pound as Tegan confirmed her worst fears. Throughout the years, Jason Kamryn and Brian Kamryn have been featured in lots of magazines after their breakthrough in the business world and she had done everything in her power to avoid them. Not that she had to try hard though, they were basically in two different worlds anyways. 

  “This is really huge, why are you not excited?” he snatched the bag of fries from her hands. “Look Brooklyn I don’t know what’s going on in your head right now, but this is like the greatest opportunity and you can’t let it slide. Baking Jason Kamryn and Cecilia Barry’s wedding cake, do you even know what that means?  That cake will be in every magazine at every check out point in the country, and your work can finally reach the height that it deserves.”

    

   Tegan was right, and she knew it. Although the bakery was doing well as small as it was,this wasn't what she envisaged the bakery to be when she decided to open one, she dreamt of something bigger. On the other hand, she knew that if she took this job, she was likely to run into him and in spite of everything, she wasn’t sure it was worth it.

     “Seriously Brooklyn, what is it?”

  

   She sighed. “I’ve been really avoiding someone for years and if I take this, we are likely to cross path and that’s the last thing I want at the moment” she spared a glance at her friend and she could tell he was trying to figure out the part she refused to say. Suddenly, his eyes widened “wait…the ex?”

  “Yes…him.” she sighed as she snatched the bag of fries back from him.

    “Wow, I thought you said he worked at a garage? And that he was going to take over the garage business when he graduated”. he scrunched up his face.

    

   Four years ago, she had spent many night drinking and crying to Tegan about the devil that broke her heart, but she refused to tell him the bastard’s name.

“Well, he did something else I suppose.” she shrugged

   “you must be mistaken dear, the chance of running into him is second to none” he laughed “ the only people you are going to be seeing there are; top actors and actresses, high ranked producers, directors, screenwriters, the sponsor which is of course, the Kamryn brothers and Jason's  wife to be". 

   She looked at him pointedly.

  

   His eyes widened as he coughed. “wait you dated one of the Kamryn brothers” he asked between coughs.

   

    She simply nodded.

   

   “Please don’t tell me it’s the one that’s about to get married” he groaned.

    “No ewe no” she scrunched her face in disgust “it’s Brian”

   “Brian Kamryn is THE ex?” he asked “as in THE Brian Kamryn?”

      “Yes.” she tried to avoid his gaze.

  “So you dated Brian and lost your virginity to him and you lied to me about it?”

   “I just didn’t tell you, there is a difference” she shrugged.

“Truth is, this is a great opportunity and you can't let your anger for some self-centered piece of shit rob you off that” he said. “And besides, Brian has never been a big partier, he might not even show up.” 

  

  Well he did have a point. Ever since she knew him, he was always the kind that preferred to stay indoors and read a book or two. he hated parties, always thought that it was way too noisy and crowded. But even after his pep talk, she wasn’t really feeling that motivated.

  “Come on Brooklyn” he groaned “don’t get me wrong, your bakery is okay at the moment, but is this where you see yourself for the rest of your life? This could be your only chance.”

   “Fine” she finally agreed. “But I swear, I shouldn’t be held responsible for what I do if I see him”

      “Fair enough,” he said. “Can you promise not to mess up the face though? Because damn girl.”

    She scrunched her face in disgust “let’s just go home, I’m so tired.”