bakery
Bakery
“hello ma’am, how can I help you today.”
Whizzer Brown wouldn’t say working in a bakery was fun exactly, but it paid the bills. His boss was nice enough to let him bring his textbooks in as he worked the evening shift, allowing him to get a little studying in before his college classes the next morning.
The evening was almost always empty, the warm light from the shop spilling out onto the pavement, the cool blue from the street making Whizzer feel grateful that he was inside.
Usually there were stragglers, the workaholic husbands with the dark bags beneath their eyes who would only grunt in response to Whizzer refilling their coffee cup, the occasional teenagers out on an awkward first date, sometimes an older guy Whizzer would slip his phone number to.
Sometimes these would lead to a date, most times going back to their apartment, never seeing them again.
So there Whizzer stood behind the counter, staring at some random women sketching eyes in her margins as he leant his chin on the back of his hand. Trying to stop thinking. He stood up straight as the bell from the door sounded, and he rubbed his wrists, his forehead creasing as he saw the bruises.
Last night’s host hadn’t been the nicest. It became quite awkward to be honest, Whizzer would usually leave straight away, or share a cigarette in bed like a lesbian, but the guy from last night finished and then started crying. He felt bad, contrasting what people expected from him, he still had a moral compass, so when he saw this man, who was probably double his age, crying like a child, he stayed.
Something about a wife and not being gay.
He shrugged off the guilt, watching the women approach the counter. She looked exhausted, she also looked familiar, but he couldn’t place it.
“hello ma’am, how can I help you today.” He asked, smiling brightly.
“um…” she seemed spacy, her eyes scanning over the array of cakes “do you have any caramel cakes?” she asked, finally meeting Whizzer’s gaze.
The smile stayed glued to his face as he gestured to a cake above the glass screen, “ I have a caramel mousse cake?”
“and do you know when it was made?”
“oh, this morning. All our cakes are fresh out of the oven.” He was bubbly, feeling as though the women needed something to cheer her up.
“perfect! He hates caramel.” For the first time, he saw her smile and he froze, making an involuntary confused face before he smiled again.
He slowly reached into the counter, making sure he carefully lifted out the cake. “okay…” Whizzer held out the cake, showing the women the pale golden mousse top. “how’s this?”
“perfect thank you-“ she said, rooting through her handbag, “-would it be any trouble for you to pipe something on it?” she asked, freezing as she was about to hand over her credit card.
Whizzer kept a perfect smile “oh, no trouble at all. What would you like it to say.”
The women thought for a second, “good riddance.”
Whizzer’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. “you want it to say, ‘good riddance’?”
“would you do that for me?” She asked ,”I mean, I don’t want to force you to doing something you’re uncomfortable-“
“no no no, of course. Would you like to come back and pick it up in an hour…”
“I’ll wait.” Whizzer smiled, placing the cake down on the counter, curiosity officially spiked. “oh and can you add some flowers and hearts and just make it really girly and nice?”
“um… alright.” He went to the fridge, getting out a pink icing bag and in beautiful cursive, began piping onto the cake, looking up every now and again to watch the woman standing, tapping her arms crossed over her chest. “I’m sorry, do you want me to make you coffee or anything?”
“do you have tea?”
“I’ll make you a cup.” As Whizzer turned, he suddenly heard a broken sob and, without meaning to, instantly turned around to see the woman suddenly crying with her head in her hands. “oh god, what’s happening?”
“I am so sorry, oh my gosh.” She said, wiping her eyes as she quickly tried to compose herself.
Whizzer smiled, turning back to the industrial sized coffee machine and pressed several buttons, standing awkwardly as he waited for the water to boil. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to pry, but does this have something to do with the cake?” He asked as he added milk and a sugar cube, she struck him as a sugar kind of lady.
“my husband cheated on me last night. I’m using the cake to break up with him.”
“okay, here for the energy, loving it.” Whizzer said, passing the tea over the counter, “I’ll make it super passive aggressive.”
The woman smiled, her eyes red and bloodshot, “thank you sir.”
Whizzer kept piping, “if you want to vent, just go for it, my shifts almost up and I’m shattered, this may be the thing that keeps me awake.”
“you must be.” She muttered quietly.
“sorry what?” Whizzer asked, looking up from piping a flower in pale pink.
The woman smiled, but it was chilly, “you’re young, I’m guessing college student?”
“correct ma’am.” Whizzer smiled, “college, work and dating, that’s my life at the moment.”
“oh gosh, am I glad I’m not dating today.”
“it’s difficult, I end up with just one night stands usually, doesn’t help that I’m into older… people. I gave the person I was with last night, head, and then they just began crying, so I stayed the night, left early this morning. They had a double bed, it was nice.”
“oh.” The woman responded, her words thin and almost transparent like a ghost.
Whizzer went to the fridge, removing the chocolate hearts and white chocolate covered strawberries, arranging them with precision onto the cake, “how did you find out he was cheating?” he asked.
The woman let out a huff “I was meant to stay the night with my parents, but I left my anxiety medication at home, so I left my son at his grandparents, drove back and walked in on my husband asleep, another man lying next to him.”
“oh.”
“oh.” She repeated, a chill in her tone.
Whizzer continued to decorate the cake, waving goodbye to the final customer until he was left alone with the woman. “so he doesn’t know you know?”
“nope.”
“damn, wish I could see his face…” Whizzer said, smiling to himself.
The woman straightened up, “I could give you a lift home if you want, I live on the upper east side.”
“oh my dorm’s upper east, I would love that, thank you so much.”
He finished the cake, doing a quick wipe down of all the surfaces before he locked up, pulling the grate down over the front window. The drive was quick, and each minute Whizzer spent with the women, the more he recognised her, but still, her face was just out of sight, never sure how he knew her. They pulled up outside a house he also recognised, again, he wasn’t sure how.
“here, you can meet my husband if you want.” The woman said as she turned off the engine.
Whizzer got out of the small car, holding the cake box, and followed her to the front door.
It hit him as the door opened, he hadn’t exactly been sober the night before.
“oh fuck.” Marvin and Whizzer said in unison as they saw each other.
“I believe you’ve met my husband.” Trina said through clenched teeth. She pried the box out of Whizzer’s hands, handing it to Marvin, “this is for you, and this-“ She pulled her hand back and slapped Whizzer hard, her wedding ring leaving a mark on his face, “-is for you” She put up her middle fingers and backed out to the car, “have fun fucking each other.”