“Do you honestly think that’s true?”
“No! It’s not my fault I asked for ten bowls of red gummy bears and they only brought me nine! I asked for ten!”
Wow…
I laughed and pulled her to her feet. “Let’s get started so we can get out of here earlier than last time. Okay?”
She smiled at me and looked as if she wanted to say something, but she turned away and headed into the kitchen.
There was no passionate kiss between us this time. She never let me get within five feet of her, and I gave up trying after my first two attempts failed.
Even though we didn’t talk much, I enjoyed simply being around her.
It was my second off day and I couldn’t sleep. It was six in the morning and all I could do was think about Selena Ross.
It didn’t make any sense. I didn’t know too much about her except that she was a celebrity, she should never ever be allowed around a karaoke machine, and she liked to eat crepes and red gummy bears.
She also admitted that she liked Autumn Wonder more than Starbucks—maybe that was it. Maybe that was why I was so fascinated.
I closed my eyes and tried to force myself to sleep but my phone rang. Barry.
“Yes?” I pretended to be half-sleep. “Do you know it’s six o’ clock in the morning here? Has headquarters burned down or something?”
“Get over yourself. We’ve figured out all the ingredients to every single pie except the cherry bourbon one. We’ve had seven different chef teams try to crack it and they’ve come up with nada. Our version still tastes good, but it’s not great. If we’re going to crush Sweet Seasons by the end of the year and turn up the heat on Starbucks, we need to figure it out ASAP. Could you send us three more?”
“Sure. And did you guys recreate that heritage coffee I sent? I think we should use that for the Valentine’s Day season.”
“Yeah, that was pretty easy. The board thinks we should roll it out in February too. By the way, is there a reason why I paid for fifty thousand tons of sand yesterday? Is there a reason why you used my personal account?”
I laughed. “Yeah, it was my way of saying thanks for volunteering me for this ridiculous assignment. I really appreciate it…Oh, and the purchase is nonrefundable, just in case you’re wondering.”
“I see. Have you gone on any more dates this week? How about the lady that licked your toes over dinner? Could you bring her with you when you come back? I’d love to introduce her to the rest of the club.”
“Bye Barry,” I hung up.
I scrolled down to Selena’s name in my phone and contemplated calling her. I knew it was early and she might be sleeping, but I wanted to hear her voice.
By my checklist standards, Selena should have been excluded from consideration a long time ago: she had emotional baggage, she’d rejected me twice before, and she’d made our first two “dates” cleaning up a kitchen. Yet, I couldn’t bring myself to leave her alone.
I usually waited two to three days before calling a woman after a date, but I couldn’t do that this time.
She picked up on the third ring. “Hello?”
“Hey Selena…”
Why am I so nervous?
“Hello Ethan.”
“Sorry to call so early…Did I awake you?”
“Not at all, I’ve been up all morning,” she sounded cheery. “I’m making some signs for Sweet Seasons.”
“Why does it need new signs?
“Not new signs, they’re demonstration signs…It’s lost a lot of money recently so we’re going to have a fall sale and a rally…Starbucks weakened its’ coffee business a little when it came four years ago, but ever since Autumn Wonder moved in with its cheaper bakery and extremely similar menu, Sweet Seasons has lost a lot more customers…”
And I hope they continue to lose customers. Autumn Wonder needs to be number one in this town.
“Are you upset about that at all?”
“Yeah. It’ll be a really sad day if it has to close—especially for all the cherry bourbon pie lovers,” she sighed. “The customers can’t seem to get enough of it.”
“Hmmm. Since you’re temporarily working there, did they give you the recipe for that pie? Do you know the exact ingredients?”
“It’s my recipe and I’ll never tell,” she jokingly whispered.
“What? How is it your recipe if you’re not from Fayetteville?”
My intern’s report specifically says Texas…
“That’s another one of those things I changed about myself when I became a celebrity,” she paused. “I was born and raised here. Sweet Seasons is my mother’s shop.”
SHIT!
“It’s your mother’s shop?” I almost choked.
“Yeah. You didn’t see our family photo in the kitchen, or notice the woman who takes your lunch order sometimes? Everyone says we look just alike. She practically raised me in there. Sweet Seasons is like her second daughter…What are you doing?”
Wishing you hadn’t just told me that…
“Umm…I’m trying to rest my back from cleaning out all the ovens by myself. I think you gave me the hardest job on purpose.”
She giggled. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t sound sorry.”
“I am…If you’re not in too much pain later do you want to come over and watch a movie with me? Or since you claim you don’t really watch movies we could—”