Day 3 of the 30 Day Writing Challenge!
Trope: Reunion of Past Lovers
Character Conflict: They are straight-up enemies
Katie's Kreations
The pink
frosting glided over the vanilla cupcake with ease. “There,” Katie said loving
her newest but final creation. She swiped her thumb from the tip of the icing
bag and licked away the sweet raspberry cream frosting. “Yum.”
The front
door rattled causing her to look up from the counter. “Oh, hey Paul.” Her
employee was wrapped in a navy pea coat, his hair peeking out from the back of
a black skullcap. The winter chill
followed him to the counter.
“Hey. You
want these over here?” He carried the white cardboard serving boxes she ordered
for her last hurrah as a cupcake shop owner and set them on the counter. He
placed a hand on her shoulder. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I’m
alright. Here taste.” She held open the icing bag and he took a small dollop of
sweetness to his mouth.
“Holy
mother.”
“Right? Wish I would’ve thought of this before the
store was closing. At least I’ll be remembered with this flavor.”
“You’ll be
remembered regardless. This isn’t the end,” he encouraged. He leaned back
crossing his ankles.
She
shrugged rinsing her hands in the sink and drying them. “I know. But this was
my first real adventure, Paul. And it was a failure.”
“It wasn’t.
If the owner of Cascade Properties hadn’t sold out to that redevelopment company
you’d still be here.” He turned to help place the cupcakes in the display case
for tomorrow.
“I know, but
maybe this is fate. Maybe I’m not meant to do this.”
He stood,
taking her shoulders. “You are. Besides the whole town is looking forward to
trying the last of your creations.”
She smiled.
He was wonderful helping her through this tough time. He even made suggestions
for new locations but the thought of rebuilding Katie’s Kreations in a
different spot just felt wrong. She would move on eventually. Just not yet.
Locking the
front door she pulled her scarf around her neck. “See ya, later Paul.” She
waved when he jogged to his car dodging the falling snow, leaving a thin layer
of what reminded her of frosting on the road. She chuckled. She spun to look at
her shop. All decorated for the holidays and ready for one more day of business.
Her heart sunk as she touched the glass to say goodbye.
***
The next
morning a line was out the door and curving around the corner of the building. So
thrilled with the turn out, Katie practically danced behind the counter as she
served her customers. Many of the other
businesses have since closed up their shops earlier in the week, leaving hers
to be one of the last. She bent over
into the display case to rearrange the remaining treats when she heard, “Can I
have a raspberry cupcake, please?”
“You’re
lucky. There’s one left.” She swiped it and looked up, stopping in her tracks.
Her eyes widened and a rush of excitement hit her veins.
“Hi Katie,”
Liam said with his smile as handsome as she remembered. Every blonde hair in
place and neatly groomed as it swept to the side. Was it possible for a man to
get more gorgeous with time? Her insides
hummed just being in his mere presence. Or maybe it was the sugar high from too
many confections.
She smiled
wide as she handed him a plate with a cupcake and fork. “What are you doing
here?”
He took it.
“Just thought I would check out your space. My boss raved about it so, I
thought…” he shrugged.
She bit her
lip. “Well, I’m glad you did.” Maybe things would be looking up. “Come sit.”
She left her post and ushered him to an empty table.
He stared
at her, his hazel eyes sweeping her face. “You look. Wow, Katie. It’s been like
five years, right?”
She nodded.
After college they went their separate ways. He returned to New York while she
came back to Bakersfield to start her company. The break up was difficult, but
she always hoped he would find her again. And here he was. “What have you been
up too? I mean who’s your boss?”
He hesitated,
forking a piece of cupcake from the plate. He looked down. “Mr. Clark. He
owns…” Bile rose in her throat and a sudden wave of nausea swept over her.
“Katie, are you okay?”
She inhaled
gripping the sides of the table hoping the room would stop spinning. “Yeah. I’m
sorry. I thought you just said your boss was Mr. Clark of Clark Industries. I
must’ve miss understood.”
He
grimaced, setting his utensils down with a clink. “I do work for Clark
Industries.”
She
furrowed her brow as her vision blurred from tears. “This was your doing, wasn’t
it? I mean, you bought up all these properties. How could you? All the
livelihoods of these small business owners, gone. Including me.”
“Katie. I
didn’t know this place was yours. I didn’t do the initial survey of the
location. I just…”
She stood,
the chair screeching across the floor. “Finished the deal. Took it all. Took my
hard work.” Her heart went from soaring on cloud nine to buried under miles of subterranean
within seconds.
He followed
suit, rubbing her arms up and down. “It wasn’t like that. I had no choice.”
Her eyes
shot up to him as tears tracked down her face. “Get out.”
“Listen to
me,” he whispered in her ear. “Even if I knew this was your shop I couldn’t stop
it from happening. Mr. Clark has had an eye on this property for ages. When
Cascade decided to sell, he jumped on it.”
She
shuddered tossing his hands off her. His closeness sickening her when in the
past it had brought her solace. “Just leave, please. Let me have my last day in
peace.”
He stepped
back. “Can I make it up to you?” He furrowed his brow with his shoulders
slumped in defeat.
“How,
Liam? You gonna buy me a new shop? Fund
me the losses I’ll have from the forced shut down?”
His lips
thinned. “I just thought maybe dinner to start.”
“Unbelievable.”
She stormed passed him and disappeared into the back kitchen. Her attempt at
slamming the double action doors, a failure–like her. How could the only love she ever had, hurt
her like this? It would have been better if he’d stayed away.
She covered
her face as she slid down the wall. It was over. And this was the first time
she was able to mourn her loss. The bakery was like a child to her. Her blood
sweat and literal tears built this place into something she was proud of.
Holding her
knees, the metal counters and convection ovens gleamed from her thorough
cleaning. She hoped the next owner would
cherish them as much as she did.
The door
swung open, lifting her eyes she watched Liam’s face fall with concern. He
crowded on the floor next to her in his fancy and expensive looking suit.
“Don’t,” she shrugged away.
“Please,
Katie.” He wrapped his arms around her and she fell into him. He smelled
divine. “If I had the power to change it I would.”
He was
right. One thing she knew about Liam, was he wasn’t an unkind person. She
believed he would have put up a fight for her even if it were futile.
“It’s
just…” She shook her head. “This is stupid. We don’t even know each other like
this anymore.” She went to pull away, suddenly uncomfortable.
He lifted
her chin. “I disagree.” Her eyes searched his. They were as sweet and caring as
she remembered. “Do you still like being
held?” She nodded. “Do you still like the color purple?” She nodded again. “And
do you still sleep with one foot outside the covers?” She laughed wiping her
nose with her sleeve.
“Yes…”
“See. This is
totally normal.” He smiled. “I make a huge–albeit terrible–grand gesture just
to get a dinner date.” She smoothed her
lips recalling the first time he asked her out. He’d sung Just the Way You Are at a karaoke bar off campus. His voice
borderline flat but his undeniable personality drew her to him. She couldn’t
say no.
“Yeah, you
are good at that.” She shoved his shoulder.
“What do
you say? Can we start over?”
She wiped her
tears. Start over. This was her
chance to do just that, in all things. Maybe it was fate that brought them back
together. She sighed.
“I’d like
that.”
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