Free Fiction River: Unnatural Worlds by Fiction River Page B

Like
the whole baking thing. You could bake but you didn’t bake for just
anybody, and you certainly didn’t bake for a guy friend. You just
never knew what would happen.
    Uh-huh. Yeah. Auntie could be a bit on the
paranoid side.
    “Are you listening?” Kesha snapped her
fingers in front of her. “He’s going to break your heart, boo.”
    “We’re just friends,” Cat said.
    “‘Uh-huh,” she said.
    Cat smiled as the lady came from out back.
She wore a white blouse and black slacks with her long, black curly
hair pulled away from her face.
    Maybe she should have gone to Publix. But no,
this was special. Everything else was ready for the party. The cake
was the last thing, and she even had little helpers to help her set
everything up. This was it.
    Cat walked up to the counter. “I’m here to
pick up the Falcons cake.”
    But the response was what concerned her;
there was none of that immediate reaction or recognition.
    Cat kept smiling. “The cake that has the
Falcons jersey on it. I’m supposed to pick it up today.”
    “I’m sorry, ma’am, did you have an order for
this?”
    “Yes,” Cat said, she dug in her purse for the
order form and for the receipt of the deposit. “Here it is. I even
sketched out what I would like.”
    The lady looked at it and rubbed her chin,
all the while the bell rang announcing the entrance of another
customer. “This doesn’t look familiar at all. We don’t have a cake
that looks like that back there.”
    “Are you sure? The lady who I spoke to—”
    The lady peered closely at the receipt so
that the paper almost met her nose and then put it back, “Ah,
that’s the problem. Dolores took your order. She’s gone now. Well,
we had to fire her.” She shook her head, “Precisely for reasons
like this.”
    “You wouldn’t happen to be able to whip up a
cake out back, would you?”
    “No,” she looked past Cat to the couple of
women—a mother and daughter—that were behind her. Cat looked at the
daughter’s hand. There was the engagement ring, but no wedding
band. Then she looked at the shop. She had thought it would be a
good idea to get the cake here because they made groom’s cakes and
wedding cakes, and groom’s cakes in the South could be just about
anything because it was supposed to represent the groom. Usually it
was chocolate, which worked with Brad just fine because that was
his favorite.
    “Excuse me,” the lady said, “I have an
appointment.” She gave the paper back to Cat. “I’m sorry about
that. Maybe next time you’ll keep us in mind.” She opened up the
cash register. “Here’s your refund.” She squeezed Cat’s shoulder.
“I’m really sorry about this.”
    “Sorry.” Cat looked at the cash wadded in her
hand. It looked alien there along with the laughter of the two
women with the baker.
    Kesha entered her view. Eyebrow raised.
    Cat held up her hand. “Don’t. All right? I
can just pick up a cake after work.”
    “You? You’re just going to pick up any ole
cake? From any ole bakery? You won’t eat mall chocolate chip
cookies.”
    “I can make them better at home. It’s a
waste.” The pat answer slipped out before she could take the words
back. She shook her head. “Look. Don’t worry about it. Just show up
tonight. Everything will be fine.”
    “Uh-huh.”
    Thankfully there were no emergencies at work.
She was out the door on time at 4 p.m. and made it to her car and
out to the interstate headed home in record time. Just like the
Waffle House, Atlanta had grocery stores with bakeries on just
about every corner. If she could just go to any old bakery.
Which she couldn’t. Because Kesha was right.
    Dang it.
    Hmmm. Berry’s Food City on Mt. Zion had good
cakes. She’d attended a wedding where they made the wedding cake.
Serviceable and on the way home. Just what she needed so that she
would still have time to go home and start the cuteification
process. Because she was going to prove to Brad that she was wife
material