All Chapters of You Taste Like Trouble To Me... : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Lotte took a big whiff of the area around her and almost started drooling. The cakes with their vanilla aroma… The pies and all of their sugary/fruity goodness… And those eclairs. It was almost enough to help her tune out the pathetic excuse of a ‘Karen’ standing on the other side of the counter. With a grin, she turned and winked at Julian, the bakery owner, attempting to help ease some of the tension brought on by a woman with nails long enough to double as chopsticks. Ms. My-Face-Froze-Like-This-Years-Ago, raised a pencil-thin eyebrow and pursed her lips. “You aren’t hearing me… My daughter is gluten intolerant, but I don’t want a cake tasting like ASS!” Julian, looking as if she were about to grow more white hair, tried again, “Ma’am, I assure you that your daughter’s birthday cake is going to taste just fine. We have great reviews when it comes to our gluten-free products.” Lotte finally had to turn her back to the whole scene or risk getting caught up counting the number of t

For Lotte, the whole ride to her favorite diner was like falling down a rabbit hole. This town looked exactly as it had this morning when she clocked in at the bakery, and yet it somehow also felt so wrong. Staring into the back of David’s head, she acquired this bizarre urge to stroke his feather-light hair a few times. In fact, the overpowering desire became so strong that Lotte had to force her hands to rest under her ass or risk making an incredible fool of herself. As if she were able to read her niece’s mind, Romy’s left hand suddenly appeared from the passenger seat and mimicked exactly what Charlotte had wanted. Her ruby nails even gilded down the driver’s neck a little, forming goose bumps that Lotte could see from her position in the back seat. In the rear-view mirror, the girl watched as David’s smile lifted just a bit more. For some reason - some insane reason - this made Charlotte’s stomach fill with jealousy… Followed by immediate shame. The Aunt and Niece never had an

The next morning, Lotte woke to the smell of coffee and the beeping of the microwave. Her back was hunched in a weird position, and her legs were aching for a warm shower. Giving a little stretch, the girl’s vision took several long moments before they were focused enough to realize the desk she had been slumbering over was not her own. With a sigh, she rolled her neck a moment and then turned to face the gaping figure standing by the pastry oven, a cup of coffee in hand. Jeffery extended said cup toward her, “Rough night?” By the time Charlotte was done sponging herself off in the employee bathroom and had worked her way through two chocolate-stuffed muffins, she was ready to ‘face the day’. Lucky for her, Jeffery had a spare shirt in his car that didn’t smell like pot or ocean water, and she was even able to find a spare pair of socks in Julian’s desk. “You missed a pretty delish meat loaf last night,” Jeffery teased. “Why for did we not come see our buddy Jeff when we needed a p

It was a relief when David joined them inside the apartment rather than taking off. Lotte had almost expected him to just disappear like all the other guys did after Romy started in with her bitchy attitude. Instead, the Doctor rolled up his sleeves as if he were about to perform a surgery, washed up his hands, and watched as Charlotte laid out the ingredients they would need for the ‘Dollies’. As she was always prepared for a bit of baking, Lotte had everything they needed stashed away in the upper cupboard where her aunt rarely checked. Of course, this was where she had to put the better snacks, else the woman would take all the ‘good stuff’ the next time she got high. Passing David the mixing bowl, so that he wouldn’t be left out, the baker added in chocolate chips, shredded coconut, butterscotch chips, and caramel bits. After pouring in the condensed milk, she gave him a spoon so he could start mixing while she crushed up some pretzels. Naturally, Romy wasn’t too happy to find ou

Romy was too drunk to say much as they let themselves into the apartment. Lotte blinked back tears as she tucked the older woman into bed and returned to the living room, where David was relaxing on the couch. Now that she had better lighting, the girl was able to take a good look at the notice, not that she hadn’t already guessed the reason. ‘Overdue Notice.’Two words that had followed Charlotte around for years. In the past, she had tried to convince Romy to let her take control of the finances… That didn’t last long. Soon, her Aunt was sneaking money from their bank account, lying about her pay, and even resorting to small theft. By the time Lotte was able to bail her out, the money spent doing so felt extremely ridiculous next to just letting Romy have control of their wallet again. “Is everything alright?” David questioned quietly. “Do you need me to speak to your landlord?” Lotte sighed, “Probably won’t do much good. It looks like we were three months late on the rent… again