Cupcake Queens

by Darlene Everly

  “I’ll be back as soon as the part comes in,” I said, knowing it wasn’t enough and too afraid to do more.

  There was nothing else I could think to do.

  With all my stuff already in the truck, I couldn’t even delay by picking up tools. I turned to leave.

  “Theresa,” she said, and I looked back at her over my shoulder. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t able to fix all that you have already. So, thanks.”

  I nodded and left the kitchen. The smell of fresh bread and the sweet tang of the cupcakes she was making followed me out to the door.

  Normally, I would have bought something to take home with me, but even the scent of the bakery made me want to run as far and as fast as I could. The last thing I needed at the moment was to drag it all home with me.

  Plus, I had no idea how to stand there and make small talk with Marcus after I failed.

  Failure was too familiar.

  We had become a team. One where I kept doing all the work, and it kept winning.

  The worst group project ever.

  At the truck with all my bags piled next to me, the thought of going home made me want to scream.

  But the best thing about friends owning a restaurant was that you didn’t have to call ahead if you wanted to see them.

  I grabbed my phone anyway and shot a text to everyone else, letting them know I was going to hole up at Joe’s if they wanted to join me.

  Hopefully Katie and I could have a conversation and patch up whatever had gone wrong last time I saw her.

  And then I shoved all hope away as I drove through the streets of Seattle, sending sprays of water up from the rain-soaked pavement.

  Lately my track record sucked, and I didn’t want to risk jinxing it.

  Other people’s hope was like a shield for them from the negative things in the world. Mine was like an invitation for those negative things to target me.

  Hope and I were no longer friends.

  By the time I got to Joe’s and parked the truck, my knee was starting to seize up.

  I limped my way through the parking lot to the employee’s entrance. Technically, I wasn’t supposed to use it. But Olivia gave me permission when I was still on crutches, so I didn’t have to go all the way around to the front door.

  The kitchen of Joe’s was warm and, although it was bustling, there was a relaxed air to everyone in it.

  My shoulders slumped. The tension in my neck released from just being here.

  But the limp only got worse.

  It was like the closer I got to sitting in one of the alcoves, to being off my feet, the more my legs wanted to give out and be done for the day.

  Campbell almost bumped into me with a tray loaded down with plates as he made his way into the kitchen.

  “Hey, Theresa. I’ll be out in a second. Just sit where you want.” He kept moving, gracefully avoiding a collision with me as I attempted to pivot in my brace.

  “Thanks,” I said, hoping he knew I meant more than just the table.

  Once upon a time I was just as graceful, even if he could still beat me in a game of pool no matter how hard he tried to teach me and no matter how long I kept trying to learn.

  Along the wall closest to the kitchen was our table, the one I thought of as ours.

  My friends and I usually sat nearest to where Olivia and Campbell were working so we could distract them as much as possible.

  Part of me just wanted to drop into one of the chairs I passed—even though the alcove was close, and I really wanted the enclosed safety of it.

  I finally got to the alcove and collapsed into the cushioned booth, leaning against the back of the seat and closing my eyes.

  The sounds of the restaurant around me amplified at first, but soon they fell back to an undulating hum I couldn’t pick single noises out of.

  The volume changing buzz and the scent of pizza mixed with some of the newer menu items Olivia and Campbell added, made my stomach growl and my brain tingle with all the best memories. Which somehow made it all worse.

  “You okay?” Olivia asked, her voice low and soft, but still managing to break through the fog I was falling into.

  I opened my eyes, and she was sitting across from me, sliding a soda toward me and taking a sip of hers.

  “Did I take you away from something? You can go take care of your stuff.” I took a sip of my cold drink, looking down at the table.

  “That wasn’t an answer,” she said, her mouth pressed in a thin line.

  Maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to come here. Olivia knew me too well.

  “Honest?” She nodded and I sighed, dropping my head back to stare at the curved ceiling of the alcove above my head. “I can’t even say I’m okay, because I’m in a mood. But there’s nothing really wrong. Does that make sense?”

  Sneaking a glance at her, she gave a grim smile, and took a sip of her drink.

  “Yeah. I’m with you, actually.”

  “Wait,” I popped my head up and looked at her full on. The usual Olivia—the one deliriously happy since Campbell came along and her mom was declared cancer free—was gone. This Olivia looked like she was about to snap at someone. “What’s going on?”

  She sighed and rolled her head around on her neck.

  “Here’s the thing: Nothing is going on. It sounds stupid, and like I’m complaining when I have this great life. But I have plans, you know? Things I want to do. Things I need to make happen. And are any of those plans working for me at the moment? Big nope.”

  I nodded.

  Complaining about something wrong wasn’t really accurate for me. It just wasn’t exactly right. And Olivia was in the same boat in some way.

  “Brought you the usual,” Campbell said, putting a plate of Carmen Yucca Fries and the fruit dessert pizza I was currently obsessed with on the table. He paused with his arms outstretched and his hand still under the tray.

  “Are…” he started and swallowed, “You both look pissed off.”

  “No,” I said, shaking my head. Although I couldn’t quite make my mouth smile, which showed how not entirely true that statement was.

  “We’re not really furious at anything, it’s just a…” Olivia waved a hand in the air and looked to me for the rest of her sentence.

  “Communal madness,” I said, and it seemed right.

  She nodded and Campbell raised his eyebrows, looking back and forth between us like he still didn’t really understand.

  I didn’t expect him to, but there wasn’t anything else I could say to further explain this weird state Olivia and I shared for the moment.

  At least if I was going to be in this place in my head, I had someone else there with me— over different things, sure, but still. Olivia feeling the same way, even a little bit, at least made me feel less crazy.

  Ceecee

  “That’s all the coolers taken care of,” Marcus said, walking in the back door and shaking the rain off his coat before he hung it up on the day of the party.

  “Good. Thank you. Are you going to come with me for the delivery?” I asked, looking at the things left to sell that would just have to be put on clearance tomorrow if we both left the bakery at the same time during our normal hours.

  “Are you sure you want me to do that? Shouldn’t I stay here?” he asked, putting his apron back on and wiping the rain from his shoes one more time.

  I looked out the window at the downpour and the orange cones the construction crews put up to show people the narrow path they could use to get to the front door. It was right around where they now had cobblestones pulled out of the street and piled up to be put back later.

  “Chances are small that we’ll get much in the way of customers today anyway.” And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about the road work. Of all the times the area had been surrounded by construction over the years, this was for sure the worst.

  “You’re not wrong. And it’s a wet mess out there on top of it.” Marcus rubbed his hands
up and down his arms like the chill had made its way into his bones and he was struggling to warm up.

  “Mom used to talk about how after the earthquake in 2001—I was just a baby so I don’t remember it—the construction almost put her out of business. But looking at this I wonder.” Mostly how she made it through, but I couldn’t say that part out loud.

  “Oof, I don’t even want to think about how much of a mess that must have been. Some of the buildings were damaged, too, I read. I guess we can be thankful we don’t have scaffolding on the sides of the buildings.” Marcus shrugged and I did smile then.

  “Are you suggesting I need to stop with the pity party?”

  “Me?” He dropped his mouth open and put a hand to his heart in mock shock before he broke the illusion with a grin.

  “Ceecee, I would never tell you to put your big girl panties on and get ready for a party—especially when you know the girl that you’re into is going to be there. Nope. Not me.” He shook his head and I laughed.

  “Fine, you big turd. But when nothing comes of this except a delivery, don’t pin it on me.” I pointed a finger at him, and his laughter followed me down the hall to the office.

  Scooting my way inside, I was immediately back to a dark place no matter what Marcus did to drag me out of the worst corners of my mind.

  My clothes were balled up in piles on top of boxes and my laundry was in a bag at the foot of my mattress squished in the back.

  In this mess, I wasn’t likely to find decent clothes, let alone something that I would normally wear to impress someone.

  But I should probably at least try to find something that matched.

  Twenty minutes later, I was dressed, wearing great boots, my hair brushed, and makeup refreshed. Even though my jeans were too tight on my behind, I still felt better about being seen in general. Clothes had magical properties. The right ones, anyway.

  “Yes. Better. You look great. Now, are we taking your vehicle or mine?” Marcus asked, his eyes bright and smile wide.

  Marcus didn’t usually fawn over me, but he had a look where he nodded his head and his eyes widened, just shy of twinkling like he had some secret. That look was all over him right then.

  I took a deep breath, my smile finally full again, and nodded.

  “We have to take the van. Your car is too small, and you know it.” But I tossed him the keys and went to the kitchen. He locked up while I made sure the order was secure in its packaging, and that I could keep from dropping it out of sheer nerves.

  Theresa would be there, right? She and Olivia were close. But if that didn’t extend to Theresa being at Carmen’s birthday party, then all I could do was force Marcus take a picture of me in this outfit and hope to remember to wear it again one day.

  On the way to the party, the van splashing through the soaked streets, Marcus singing along to the radio, I was stuck trying to imagine what was going to happen when we got there.

  “Hello. Earth to Ceecee,” Marcus said, his hand waving at me.

  “Sorry, I’m just…” I didn’t know how to finish that statement.

  “Yeah. I know.” He didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t ask him to.

  I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to know what he thought he knew. Especially when I was pulling into the parking lot of Joe’s, and had no more time to prepare.

  “Ready or not,” I said, turning off the van and looking at Marcus.

  “No problem. We’re just going to a party. No big deal at all.” Marcus nodded and climbed out.

  Yep. No problem at all.

  I got out of the van and tried to stick his words in my mind, keep them there and act like they were true.

  “Small miracle, it’s just sprinkling right now,” Marcus said as we walked into the back door loaded down with the boxes of cupcakes.

  “Well, Mother Nature and I had a chat. Didn’t I tell you?” I asked, knocking on the door with a foot.

  He laughed and a second later the door swung open.

  Campbell was on the other side, his smile wide and his arms taking boxes from me before he even said hello.

  “Olivia,” he called into the kitchen, turning back to us and said over his shoulder. “Follow me. I’ll show you where to set everything down. Was traffic bad?”

  “No, everything was fine,” I said, trying to remember if I even noticed the traffic around us on our way here. At least I didn’t crash into anyone, because I was pretty sure I couldn’t remember any of the cars we had passed.

  “Hi.” Olivia bounced around the corner. The general hum of talking and an occasional outburst of laughter grew louder with every step we took further into the restaurant. “You are both staying, right? I want you to meet everyone.”

  She was so excited, talking faster than she usually did, and there was a pink flush across the top of her nose and cheeks.

  “Are you…blushing?” I asked, the words popping out before I could stop them.

  Olivia bit her lip and turned back to me, her blush deepening.

  We got to the dining area and the joy in the room was palpable. Whatever was making Olivia nervous, it wasn’t something I could see clearly from the people around us.

  Campbell set down the box he carried, kissed Olivia on the cheek, and went back to the party.

  “Do you need my help to set anything up?” Olivia asked.

  “No, but I do hope you tell me what has you rattled,” I said, as quietly and as gently as I could.

  Marcus raised his eyebrows at me and focused on laying out the cupcakes, turning to the side to pretend to give us space.

  Olivia smiled and shook her head, the blush going all the way from her neckline to her hairline now.

  “Well, Campbell showed his aunt an apartment tonight that he wants us to move into, and she told me I should just move in at their house so we can save money. I don’t know how to say no…” She shook her head and took a deep breath, the blush finally starting to clear from her skin.

  “Can you just move some things over there—not everything—and act like it’s taking some time? Give yourselves a chance to find the right place to move to where you can have privacy,” I said.

  Marcus gave a tiny nod, still pretending he wasn’t about to jump in if I gave what he considered bad advice. It was hard to keep from laughing, even though that was totally inappropriate at the moment.

  She took a deep breath and smiled at me.

  “Thanks, Ceecee. That might work. And thanks, Marcus, for pretending you weren’t eavesdropping,” she said, and then I did laugh along with them.

  Theresa

  She was here.

  Of course she was. I knew she would be, but…

  I shotgunned the rest of my drink and tried to remind myself that this was fine. This was what I wanted to happen. I wanted to see her again, here, at the party.

  And…nope. Didn’t matter that it was all true.

  My hands shook and I balled them into fists, shoving them into the pockets of my jacket.

  “What in the world is wrong with you?” Katie asked, bumping into my side and staring up at me with her eyebrows knit together.

  “Nothing. But, um, the cupcakes are here,” I said, trying to keep my face impassive.

  “Ah,” Katie said, her voice a knowing chirp, a grin spreading across her face as she looked back and forth from me to Ceecee.

  “So…they look yummy.”

  “Yeah.” Ceecee looked great. I had never seen her in anything but the frilly apron from the bakery, a t-shirt and leggings. Now, though, the sweater, the jeans, the boots…if I was able to shop for her, I would have picked out those clothes. “She does - I mean - crap - no.” Oh, lord, I was dying here.

  Where was Deacon to run interference?

  “That’s what I thought. So, you were just picking on me because you were hard up for a curvy, bakery-fresh tart, huh?”

  “Katie!” Someone had to save me. If I was Olivia, I would have been bright red.

  As it was, I yelled so loud people aro
und us turned to look.

  “You have to shut up now. I’m working for her,” I said, in a hushed voice, grabbing her shoulder and turning her to face me.

  Not only was she one hundred percent wrong in why I was short with her, but this was the last conversation I wanted to have in front of most the people we knew. And I was seconds from being way more mean than last time.

  “Geez, okay. Chill out. I won’t say anything. I mean, unless you want me to. I will totally find out if she’s into you at all. I’m good for that.” She went back to smiling and bounced with a wicked gleam in her eye as she offered.

  Whatever was going to happen, or not happen, between Ceecee and I, Katie was the last person I wanted getting involved. ‘Subtle’ wasn’t a word in her vocabulary.

  “Please don’t. It isn’t like that.” It was exactly like that, but what did I have to offer her? The part wasn’t even in for me to finish my work for her, and I knew she was in a tough spot and needed to focus on that.

  “Theresa, you are a terrible liar, but fine. I won’t meddle.” She stepped back from me and whirled around, calling over her shoulder. “But I am going to meet her.”

  “Damn it,” I muttered and stalked after her.

  Katie was little, and therefore able to weave through the people milling about better than I could with my clunky brace. But no matter how much I wanted to beat her there, if I tried to run, if I shoved anyone out of the way to get there first, I would make it all worse.

  Just as Katie got to the table, Ceecee, Marcus, and Olivia turned around to the rest of the dining room.

  The table behind them had all the cupcakes Ceecee made, artfully arranged, and the boxes were stacked on one of the benches next to it. There was nothing left to distract them from Katie.

  Crap, crap, crap, crap.

  I was too damn slow.

  “Theresa, hey, long time no see,” Samantha said, stepping in front of me. I wrenched my knee stopping too fast to avoid running into her.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, which was not exactly polite to just blurt out, but she was supposed to be at school. And, well, I didn’t want to see her.