CUPCAKES
Did her mother have to choose today for her yearly physician appointment? It was Valentine's Day; a day where nearly every guy in the city had to buy his girlfriend or wife something yummy and sugary.
She pulled another cupcake pan out of the over and blew off some steam before setting it to the side.
She quickly glanced down at her watch on her left hand. 9:56amShe was left in charge of the bakery which was going to open in about 4 minutes. She quickly washed her hands and arranged all the cupcakes and sweets in an appealing order.
Finally at precisely 10 am she went and flipped the 'closed' sign to 'open' and waited patiently for her first batch of customers when she suddenly realized she had left the batter exposed in the back part of the kitchen. Throwing one backward glance at the closed door she winced as she ran into the kitchen not watching her step as she slipped on a patch of flour. She struggled to grab hold of the nearest object on the counter before falling flat which just happened to be a bag of fresh unopened flour. The bag opened as she ripped at it covering herself all in white flour. "Crap crap crap!" She ran and covered the exposed batter before struggling to clean herself up by dusting herself off with the few spare clothes.
"I'm dead!" She cringed as she opened the swing door to the front end of the bakery and saw the back of a guy with dark black hair. He was nearly 6 feet tall and had a good posture. Sighing she realized sooner or later she'd have to call out to him. "Can I help you?"
The guy turned then and she could tell he was fighting to hold back a smile. "I like the apron,"
She was surprised he didn't mention the flour on her but still she glanced down and checked which apron she pulled on this morning when she was still groggy. I'm as sweet as pie Her cheeks tinted pink as she forced herself to look into the customers eyes. "I"uhh yeah. Do you need any help?"
He shook his head. "Do you have a book of cake designs?"
She nodded and bent down to look for the book when the door chimed again and when she came back up she saw another one of her regular customers smiling widely at her, and then he winked.
"Here you go," she handed the book to the mysterious stranger before turning her attention to her regular. "What do you want Yuvi?" she hissed, not wanting the other guy to overhear.
Yuvi, dressed in loose fitting jeans and a button down white shirt shrugged. "I just came to talk."
She rolled her eyes. "About?"
"The proposal," He smiled as he leaned over the counter. "And the flour on you,"
She cursed at herself again before using the apron to wipe it off and then realized it was spreading even more. She gave up and stared him right in the eye. "What proposal?"
"My proposal," He winked before he opened the door to get behind the counter and bent down in front of her. "Twinkle, the queen of baking"will you marry me?"
"What?" Twinkle blurted out, her eyes threatening to pop out of the sockets. Her eyes darted from Yuvi back to the stranger who was looking at the two of them with a smirk on his face. "Yuvi"what are you doing?"
Yuvi got up and dusted off his pants. "Marriage? For the university project remember?"
Twinkle just looked at him and shook her head.
Yuvi sighed and explained. "Remember for our Social class? We have to team up with someone from the class and try to manage expenses and lives as a married couple."
It all clicked in Twinkle's head as she nodded. "Right"I doubt anyone would propose like that though,"
"I like being different,"
"I know," She grinned as she pushed him out of the area behind the counter. "Now go. I have loads to do,"
"Bye wife," He winked before he left.
"Bye," she laughed as she waved.
A few minutes later while she was still trying to clean up her appearance the stranger came up to the counter again.
"Have you decided?" She smiled.
"I did decide on what I wanted"but I think I was too late in asking."
Twinkle looked at him confused. "I'm sorry"I don't understand."
He smiled then and Twinkle felt her knees giving out as she grasped the counter with both hands. "I meant that I've been wanting to ask you out for the longest time, but you seem to be taken," He gestured towards the door from where Yuvi left.
Twinkle opened her mouth to speak but she didn't know what to say to him. He had been wanting to ask her out? She tried hard to think of where she had seen him before and that's when it hit. He was in one of her classes at the university. "I"I'm not taken," A sudden blush tinted her cheeks which made her friendly stranger smile.
"I'm Kunj,"
"Twinkle," she smiled.
"I like the name Twinkle," he winked at her.
She smiled back in response and didn't know why but she thought maybe she should be thankful to Yuvi for providing a catalyst in this whole situation.
"Can we go out tomorrow night?" He asked with a hopeful spark in his eyes.
Twinkle glanced up and smiled. "I'd love to,"
"I'll be here to pick you up at 7pm," He grinned. "Let's keep the flour away though okay?" He smiled again before he left.
Valentine's Day wasn't so bad after all, she thought as she put the book Kunj had handed her behind the counter again. After cursing this day for so many years she finally had a reason to look back at it and smile for years to come.