Whetted Appetites

by Kelley, Anastacia

  “Oh, no. We’re going out. I’ve made plans for us and you’re sure as hell not going to ruin them.”

  How dare he try to order her around!

  Victoria fisted her hands on her hips. “Well, excuuuse me. I didn’t agree to anything. I hardly know you. We barely spoke as kids. We sure as hell weren’t friends.”

  Travis’s laugh held no humor. “What, are you intimidated by my wealth? Is it that I have more money than God?”

  Victoria stared at him incredulously. “Really?” She looked down to study his shoes.

  Travis furrowed his brows. “What are you looking at?”

  Victoria glared at him. With a sarcastic tone she couldn’t help but use, she stated, “Well, it doesn’t……appear you’re walking on any streets of gold. Or that you ever will. I do know He wouldn’t be whining like a pompous little ass, either. Let’s leave God out of it, shall we? Because I clearly see the devil in you right now, Travis.”

  Travis pursed his lips. “Quite proud of that little speech, aren’t you, Victoria?” He moved closer. “Just go and get dressed.” He reached for her but Victoria swiftly side-stepped him.

  “I’m not getting dressed and I’m not—repeat NOT—going anywhere with you. Now get out of my house!” Her mouth twisted in disdain. “With all of that damn money, I would at least think you could afford some manners.”

  “Why, you little bitch. You shouldn’t use those words. Not very lady-like.” He pointed a finger at her as if she were an unruly child in need of discipline.

  Victoria marched over to the door and opened it wide. “Well, here’s a little something more un-lady-like: Get the HELL out!”

  Travis was fuming as he marched to the door, giving her a foreboding leer. “This is not over.” He stepped outside her door.

  “Yes it is,” was all Victoria said before slamming the door in his face, hoping she hit his snobby, holier-than-thou nose.

  Victoria walked shakily to the couch. Her adrenaline was pumping madly through her veins. Her heart was beating erratically.

  Where did he get off? He had some gall coming in here like he owned the world. Like he owned her!

  She got the suspicion that he didn’t get turned down or confronted often. Or not at all. Until now. Did he actually think he could get everything and anything he wanted when he wanted it? Just because he had money? And when he didn’t get his way, he sulked like a baby and then went berserk.

  “’This isn’t over’,” he had threatened. What did he mean by that anyway? That he wasn’t going to take no for an answer? Did he thrive on being rejected by her again? And again? Did he get off on an impossible challenge?

  Victoria shook her head as if trying to clear it of Travis. Well, she shrugged; her morning was shot straight to hell.

  She trudged into the kitchen to make herself a strong, much needed cup of coffee. And after lacing her veins with caffeine, she’d get a hot shower.

  She figured she had an hour or two before her mother called, either wondering how the date went or why she blew Travis off. She’d bet on the latter. Travis would inform her mother about how plebeian she had acted, according to him. He’d pretend to be distraught over it all, too. She’d bet her week’s salary on it. True, she didn’t know him well, but she’d bet her savings that that was exactly what he would do. He’d use a calm voice and hoity-toity words to make himself feel better.

  Why was it that a fair number of men in Travis’ position needed to have their bottoms pampered? She wasn’t looking to be their mother. The umbilical cord should have been cut right out of high school.

  She didn’t dread a call from her mother this time, she thought as she plugged up her percolator. She was looking forward to it.

  Melissa was already at the bakery when Victoria drove up. It was a dreary Monday morning. The clouds, threatening to burst at any minute, had cast a dark covering over the town. The skies looked a lot like Victoria felt. Miserable.

  Victoria walked into the store thirty minutes before opening.

  Melissa took one look at her and knew something was wrong. Victoria always came in before she did. She followed Victoria into the office. She sat down on one of the chairs.

  “Okay. What’s wrong?” Melissa’s eyes clouded over in concern. She narrowed her gaze. “Did Dalton do or say something to upset you?”

  Victoria sat down before answering, “Oh, no. Dalton’s great. I imagine I will be hearing from my mother soon.” The somber look on her face held no question on what the conversation would be about.

  Melissa gave her a knowing nod. “Ah, that explains it. What happened?”

  Victoria leaned back and propped her ankles on her desk. “You know about that call I received from Travis Duncan, right?” Melissa nodded. “He came by ready to take me out to brunch. You see, I never agreed to go. My nosy mother set this up behind my back and told Travis that I gave the affirmative for him to pick me up on Sunday. I explained all that to him in the nicest way possible and he didn’t take it well. In fact, he went all psycho on me. We got into a heated argument, and then I threw him out. Not bodily, mind you. Although, if I could have I would have. I tossed him out with an attitude and a few words.” Victoria smiled, pleased with herself.

  Melissa smirked. “What did you tell him to make him leave?” she wanted to know.

  Victoria repeated what she had told Travis and Melissa burst out laughing. “That’s a good one,” she told Victoria appreciatively.

  “That, however, was after he told me I wasn’t very lady-like, so being the gentleman he was, he called me a bitch.”

  Melissa’s blue eyes widened and her mouth twisted in repulsion and outrage. “What a douche bag.”

  Victoria made a noise of agreement before continuing. “He also threatened me, telling me that it wasn’t over. That is, right before I slammed the door in his rude, sanctimonious mug,” she added blithely.

  “You go, girl!” Melissa held out her hand for a high-five. She turned dead serious a few seconds later. “He threatened you. Don’t you think you should have something done about it?” She was worried about the confrontation between her best friend and some rich wacko who thought he could get away with messing around with Victoria because he had a fat wallet.

  Victoria shook her head, placing her feet on the floor. “I’m going to ignore him. Why add fuel to the fire when water can douse the flames?” she said philosophically.

  “Wise words, oh great one,” Melissa quipped as she got up to start the ovens.

  Victoria chuckled. Melissa continually knew how to make her laugh. She was going to need every ounce of humor she could afford if Travis came back around. She had to admit that she was astounded her mother hadn’t called to give her the third degree.

  Victoria just stepped out of her office when Melissa came running to her, the look of uneasiness etching her pixie face.

  “Victoria,” she whispered. “Your mother just pulled up.”

  Victoria’s eyes widened in shock. No wonder she didn’t receive a call from her. She planned to chew her out in person.

  “Why did she have to come here of all places?” Victoria walked out to the front in time to see her mother march in.

  She was angry. Victoria could tell by the grim look set in her features and the way her eyes froze over.

  Great. Just great. This was precisely what she needed to make her day simply peachy keen.

  Melissa came up and greeted her politely. “Good morning, Mrs. Bradley. How are you?”

  Mrs. Bradley barely glanced at Melissa and gave her a scant nod as if it was blasphemous to talk to a commoner, as she branded them.

  “Mother,” Victoria said with false cheerfulness. “What brings you here?”

  Mrs. Bradley narrowed her gaze at her daughter. “You know very well why I am here, Victoria.” She sneered at Melissa, then asked Victoria none too politely, “Can we have some privacy?”

  Victoria held herself in check. Her mother had intentionally directed that low blow at Meliss
a.

  “Come into my office.” Said the spider to the fly, Victoria finished mutely and with absurdity. About as absurd as this meeting is going to go, no doubt.

  Victoria pointed to the back and her mother preceded her while Victoria caught Melissa’s eye and mouthed “I’m sorry” to her. Melissa shrugged as if saying it was no big deal.

  But it was a big deal to Victoria. Her mother had no right whatsoever to try to make Melissa feel inferior.

  One of these days…..

  “You had no right to treat my friend like some second class citizen,” she chided.

  Her mother simply shrugged as if it wasn’t important enough to waste her time. Victoria bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming.

  They sat down and Victoria decided she would have to start off on asking why her mother was here. “Why have come here, Mother?”

  Her mother got straight to the point. “Travis came by to see me last night,” she stated as if that explained everything.

  “And?” Victoria crossed her arms.

  “He was absolutely devastated at your demeanor towards him.” Mrs. Bradley was staring daggers at her.

  Bingo! Victoria knew she was right. Travis was such a conniving little snake.

  Mrs. Bradley put a hand to her heart. “He said you acted so uncivilized and sordid. I can’t believe my very own daughter—a Bradley—could behave in such a manner. He said you used some pretty foul language that he didn’t care to repeat out of respect for me.”

  “Respect?! Hah!” Victoria exclaimed doubtfully. “Give me a break, Mother,” she said dryly while balling her hands into tight fists. “Travis wouldn’t know respect if it hit him with a hundred dollar bill. That guy is just a bush-league prick.”

  Her mother gasped theatrically. “That guy is Travis Duncan,” she reminded her as if his name meant everything.

  Like Victoria really gave a rat’s rear.

  “So,” Victoria shrugged. “I don’t care if he’s Krispy Kreme. I’m still not taking the bait, so reel your lure back in.” She laced her fingers and held them close to her raging gut. “At any time during his pathetic sob story did he mention how he threatened me? Or the fact that he called me a bitch? Huh?” Her mother was silent. Victoria sniffed angrily. “No. I didn’t think so.”

  Mrs. Bradley looked like she was on the verge of having a stroke. “Victoria,” she admonished. “Do you have no shame? Did I not teach you to act more refined?”

  Victoria let out an exasperated breath. “If you want refined, buy a pound of sugar. Look, I don’t mean to be harsh, but I am so tired of you trying to live vicariously through me. Just because your life didn’t go the way you wanted it to doesn’t mean you can change it through me. I am not going to be a man’s wallflower or arm ornament,” she ground out.

  “Well, I never,” her mother huffed.

  “And I never will, either, Mother. Be happy. That is until you let me find someone who’s right for me. Not you. Me!” She pointed to her own chest.

  Mrs. Bradley eyes Victoria suspiciously. “You’re seeing someone, aren’t you?”

  When Victoria hesitated, her mother shouted.

  “I knew it! Well, who is he? What’s his name?” her mother asked almost too casually.

  “Don’t you mean, where does he work and how big is his bank account?”

  “Of course not. Really, Victoria,” she reprimanded, patting her expensively styled hair.

  “Oh, Mother. You’re not fooling anyone. And I don’t have time for this. I have a bakery to run.” She got up without waiting for her mother’s reply.

  Her mother marched out of the bakery without so much as a good-bye.

  “I guess you heard that, huh?” Victoria asked Melissa when she joined her in the back.

  Melissa nodded her head and gave her a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry, Victoria. I couldn’t help but hear that.”

  “It’s all right,” she reassured her. Victoria swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. “Can you believe it? She took the word of an unhinged degenerate over her own daughter’s.” She closed her eyes. “I told myself that I didn’t care. That it didn’t hurt. But guess what?” She opened her eyes. “It does hurt. It does matter.” She didn’t want her mother’s words to hurt, but they could cut harder and with much more precision than a doctor’s scalpel.

  Melissa walked to Victoria and put her arms around her and squeezed. “You did the right thing, Victoria. I just don’t see why you didn’t do this a long time ago. I mean, yeah, she’s your mother, so there has to be a modicum of respect. But the same goes for her. You’re her daughter. Same rules apply.” She hugged Victoria tightly and gave her a peck on the cheek. “You’re a tough cookie and you know it.”

  Victoria gave her a watery smile. “Thank you, Melissa. What would I ever do without you?”

  “Wander aimlessly in search of meaning,” Melissa quipped.

  Victoria rolled her eyes as if she were saying, “oh, brother”.

  “It was a rhetorical question.” Victoria guffawed.

  “Oops. My bad.” Melissa laughed as she shrugged her shoulders.

  “I’m going to finish up the rest of the desserts for Bloomberg,” Victoria informed her. “Can you wait on the customers for me? It shouldn’t be too hectic, since its Monday,” Victoria pointed out. “It’ll be a lot easier when we hire some more help.”

  “I know. I put the ad in the other day and I just made it through the door before they closed.” Melissa wrapped an apron around her slim waist and went up front. “Yell if you need help. If I’m not waiting on customers, I’ll be glad to give you a hand,” Melissa called to Victoria in the back.

  “I will, Melissa. Thanks.” Victoria tied the apron securely around her waist and fixed her chef’s hat to her head.

  Thanks to Dalton, she was just a little ahead of schedule. The party was on Wednesday at five and she could complete the rest of the baking and packing today.

  She got busy making the truffles. As she chopped rich, dark Valrhona chocolate, her mind wandered to Saturday. She got heated remembering Dalton, clad in an apron and hat. He had looked sheepishly at her until she approved of the way it fit him.

  She dumped the chocolate into a large glass bowl. She walked over to the stove to heat up the heavy whipping cream. Once it started to steam, she poured it into the chocolate. She reached for a rubber spatula and stirred it until it was glossy and had the look of fine satin.

  The scent wafted to her nose. It was heavenly. This scent could definitely evoke some wicked, sexy fantasies. Fantasies of Dalton painting it on her blazing body. Spreading it over her breasts then taking his time licking her clean. She’d return the favor and drizzle it over his hard, throbbing shaft followed by luscious whipped cream. He could be her very own sundae. A hot-male sundae. For flourish, she could even add a cherry on top. Her thighs quivered at the arousing vision.

  Victoria reached for her rectangular glass dish and poured her ganache mixture into it. It slid out smoothly; almost seductively. She scraped the remains with a spatula and set the pan aside to cool. She snuck a taste of the melted chocolate. Her taste buds sang in relish.

  She took a candy thermometer from a drawer and put it in the pan to keep up with the temperature. When it reached ninety degrees, she would mix in the butter.

  That done, she walked into her storage room and selected five square maroon tins. She had her tins specially made. The SweetTooth label was raised on the top in elaborate calligraphy. She looked at them with praise. She and Melissa designed each set of tins differently.

  Cooking, designing and artfully arranging food was their joie de vivre.

  Contrary to what her mother assumed, cooking was not a chore. It wasn’t tedious, menial labor.

  Victoria laughed. Sometimes she was mystified that she sprang from her mother’s loins. The immaculate misconception sounded about right.

  Victoria checked the thermometer. It read ninety degrees. She began to stir in the butter. After fi
nishing, she left the ganache to cool completely before scooping and coating. Her favorite part.

  Besides, all great cooks had to sample the goods before they were sold. She had to make sure they tasted delicious before she could sell them.

  That was her excuse, at least, when she ate more than one.

  “Whew, what a day.” Melissa leaned back in her office chair. “Murphy’s Law.”

  Victoria looked up from her ledger. “Didn’t expect a Monday to be that bad?”

  Melissa kneaded the knot in the back of her neck. “No way. I couldn’t believe the number of people coming in.”

  Victoria frowned. “Melissa. You should’ve called me. I would’ve stopped what I was doing. You know that.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Melissa said with a wave of her hand. “We’re hiring more people. I don’t mind a couple more weeks of hard work.”

  “I know.” Victoria patted her hand. “Wednesday is the bid day. After that, we’ll have two weeks before the next catering affair.”

  “Speaking of affair,” Melissa teased, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. “How are things going with Dalton? He’s coming to the party, which I know. Got any plan for the ‘big seduction’?”

  “Things are great.”

  “Plans?” Melissa asked again.

  “Like I would tell you my secrets,” Victoria replied, nonplussed.

  “Come on. We tell each other everything,” Melissa prodded.

  “Just because you volunteer your sex life doesn’t mean I’ll volunteer mine.”

  “You know you want to spill the beans. I can see it in your eyes,” Melissa accused lightly.

  Victoria gave in to a smile and told her. But not in too great a detail.

  “Wow,” Melissa remarked. “Dalton’s in for the sweetest—and naughtiest—time of his life.”

  Chapter Eight

  “Just look at all these responses,” Melissa said, holding a stack of papers in front of Victoria.