Love for Dessert (Contemporary Romance) (7 page)

 “For sure.”

He winked once more before turning away. Anastasia gleefully turned around and smiled brightly at Ariana. “Oh my God! He asked me over to his place for a home-cooked dinner!”

“Wow, the boy moves fast.” Ariana laughed. “But he is
so
good-looking!” she gushed.

Peter shot her an amused look. “Too bad you’re engaged,” he said as he grabbed her hand and entwined their fingers.

“Yes, too bad. But Anastasia isn’t!” The three began to walk towards the exit of the park, chattering away. “So, what’re you going to wear tonight?”

**

Anastasia was home a little while later, still bubbling with excitement. She had to pick out the perfect thing. She turned on her television to the news, and was greeted by her own face. There was a reporter speaking, one that had interviewed her earlier. “Earlier this evening, the annual
So You Think You Can Bake
was held in the park. The second place winner, Darren King, made an excellent cheese bread. And the grand prize winner, seen with me here, Anastasia Emmott, made an incredible Heaven and Hell cake. So Anastasia, why did you enter the contest?”

She laughed as she watched herself speak on television. She looked so nervous, yet happy. “I entered to try to win some more funding for and also to promote my new bakery, which is opening tomorrow. It’s called Ana’s Sweets, and we’ll be serving many different kinds of desserts, like cupcakes, brownies and cakes. Please swing by if you can to our grand opening, tomorrow at nine thirty. We’ll be giving out samples of all our baked goods. And you can even try the Heaven and Hell cake that I made here today.”

Anastasia smiled as she saw how well the interview went. She kept it on in the background as she selected a simple black dress. “Hmm…” She pursed her lips and then decided that tonight she was going to have fun and her dress shouldn’t be so boring. She opted instead for a colorful gradient purple dress that showed off her long legs. The low cut of the top revealed a bit of her ample bosom. She had no plans to go far with Darren tonight, but there was no harm in teasing him a bit.

It was six fifteen, and all Anastasia had to do was put on her makeup. She did it quickly, what with her years of practice. She checked in her full-length mirror to make sure she looked good, before heading out and hailing a taxi. Darren lived in a small apartment building, and it was clear to her that he obviously wasn’t incredibly rich. But that was fine.

She knocked on the door politely and heard loud shuffling sounds inside. The door swung open and there he stood, in a nice open-neck silk shirt that barely concealed his muscles. There was a twinkling in his eyes of something she couldn’t place, but it excited her. There was a delicious smell in the air, and it made her mouth water. “Good evening.” His voice was low, and rumbling.

“Hi” was all she could say as she smiled widely, excitement taking over. “That smells really good.”

“Ah, ha-ha.” He laughed. “Please, come in.”

It was an odd apartment. It was obviously decorated by someone with little to no decorating skills whatsoever. There was a black couch with oddly colored green and red pillows. Little knickknacks lay on the coffee table. Several paintings were hung on the walls, of abstract pictures and shapes. There was a small dining table in the corner.

“Sorry, there isn’t much in my apartment since I live alone,” he said sheepishly as he scratched his head. “Please, take a seat.” There were plates set up already. “I’ll bring the food out.”

It turned out that Darren had made a full three-course meal, starting with the cheesy bread he had made as an appetizer. Anastasia ate as politely as she could. “Wow, this is amazing!” she said as she swallowed the cheesy substance, baked to perfection. “I can’t believe you didn’t win first place. I could eat this forever!”

Darren laughed heartily. “I’m glad you like it. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t win, I’ve already got a job at the bakery. You really deserve to win, plus you need the money, right? For your new bakery?”

Anastasia nodded, a light smile on her face. “Yes! Did you watch my interview? I think I looked kind of weird on television.”

“You looked beautiful,” he said honestly as he dropped his fork and stared into her eyes.

She could feel her cheeks growing hot and red as she returned his gaze. “O-oh…” she murmured. “Thank you.” She paused for a moment, trying to regain her composure. “W-would you like to come to the grand opening?”

Darren frowned. “Unfortunately, as much as I would love to, I have work.”

“Where do you work?” she asked curiously as she ate.

“At the bakery close to yours, actually,” he replied.

“Maybe I’ll visit you tomorrow, if I can.” He laughed awkwardly at her comment. She didn’t notice, and continued on happily eating her meal.

The rest of the evening was completely perfect. After dinner, they curled up onto the couch to watch a movie. He even let her pick which one, and she was surprised to find that he had several romantic chick flicks. He even got so bold as to wrap an arm around her shoulder halfway through, and she let him. Soon it was time to say goodbye, for she had to wake up early in the morning to bake. He kissed her on the cheek like a gentleman before letting her go, with promises that he would call her.

Anastasia fell asleep that night with a happy smile on her lips.

**

It was seven o’clock, on the day of the opening. Anastasia rubbed her tired eyes as she worked, not stopping for an instant. She couldn’t afford to, after all. Pretty soon there were going to be, she hoped, lots of people at the grand opening. The door jangled as Ariana came in, dragging a tired-looking Peter.

“Hey, we’re here to help out. Need me to mix stuff?” Anastasia nodded as she tossed her friends two aprons. They got to work, kneading, mixing, pouring, shaping and rolling. Pretty soon, the bakery was filled with all kinds of delightful smells. The sun was high in the sky by the time they finished baking, and it was nine o’clock, half an hour to opening. A somewhat substantial crowd of people gathered, and Ariana was still busy blowing up balloons.

The half an hour sped by as Anastasia rushed around the shop preparing everything. Her mother had promised to swing by later, to make sure that her money had not gone to waste. Typical. Very soon, it was time to open those doors. Anastasia was wearing comfy white Ked sneakers, with a very cute apron. She was ready to serve.

Peter had already set up small tables, with stylish chairs. Anastasia had long ago decided that her bakery would also be a sort of café, where customers could sit and eat what they had bought. “Are we ready to open, Ana?” Peter asked as he rearranged the tablecloths again. He and Ariana had brought matching aprons, and were ready to serve the hungry customers.

“Just one thing to do before we open.” Anastasia skipped gleefully over to the large stereo system, and fiddled with a couple buttons. A couple seconds later she pressed the big black button. Upbeat music filtered out of the several music speakers Anastasia had purchased a couple days ago. “Now we’re ready.”

She moved to the front doors and took a deep breath before pulling the doors open. “We are officially open for business!”

**

Though the day started off with not that many people, as the day dragged on, quite a large crowd made their way into Ana’s Sweets. Anastasia rushed around the kitchen like mad, making several different cakes at once, all of her ovens in use. There wasn’t a moment to spare as the demand was great. People tasted a sample, liked it, then ordered more. She was making so much.

As she worked, she caught comments that some patrons made on her food.

“This cake is delicious!”

“Wow, this is like heaven in my mouth, definitely not hell!”

“We need to come here more. Loving the drinks!”

Anastasia was glad to hear that last statement for she had just added in the drinks menu that consisted of typical beverages such as lemonade, tea, coffee, and others. Though it was a little odd to have drinks in a bakery, Anastasia thought her customers would appreciate having something to drink so that the baked goods would not dry their throats. She felt lucky that many people truly enjoyed the drinks. Peter was the one making them, for Anastasia had yet to hire an assistant. She couldn’t really afford to either, unfortunately.

“Seems like customers are really responding to this, Ana.” Peter grinned happily as he continued to make drinks.

“I know, I’m so happy!” Anastasia turned back to the cash register. “Hello, how can I help you?” She smiled widely at the two teenage-looking girls waiting at the counter.

“Two slices of the Heaven and Hell cake, please! And I just want to say, you look so pretty in person! I love your apron.”

Anastasia blushed as they gushed over her. “Oh, thank you so much.” She chuckled as she took their money and handed them their cake. “Thank you! Have a great day.”

It certainly was turning out to be a wonderful day, and Anastasia felt truly blessed to have this many people show up, friends and family included, to support her. Everything was going smoothly, and Darren texted her, letting her know that even though he couldn’t be there in person to support her, she was still on his mind and he wanted to see her that night. His sweet and thoughtful text put a silly girlish smile on her face. She quickly made arrangements with him to pick her up at eight.

There had been one small hiccup, though. During a short break she took, she headed over to the bakery across the street to visit Darren, but the sweet old man who ran the shop said that Darren wasn’t scheduled to work. It was odd that he would lie to her about it, but she pushed it away in her mind as something he had probably just forgotten or remembered mistakenly. No big deal, right?

The hours sped by and soon, it was seven o’clock, which signaled the end of the grand opening day. It had been a long day, and by the time she closed up and hugged Ariana and Peter goodbye, it was already seven thirty. She only had half an hour to get home and get ready for whatever Darren had prepared for them. Unfortunately, as she hailed a taxi, on her way home, Anastasia found herself stuck in a heavy traffic jam.

“Damn it,” she muttered as she watched the minutes tick by, getting later and later. It was seven fifty by the time she got home, and she was panicking. She was still in her slightly flour-covered apron and her hair was a mess. She quickly pulled on the first clean things she could find out of her closet, and ended up in a plain white top and light blue jeans. There was no time to change into anything else, only a couple minutes to lightly apply a thin layer of makeup.

Anastasia was only able to put on a bit of eyeliner and mascara before she was stopped by the loud ringing of the doorbell. “Crap, he’s here.” She headed to the door quickly as she grabbed her wallet and phone along the way. She pulled it open, and there he was. “Hi.”

He grinned as he saw her. “Sorry if I’m staring, you look beautiful.” She was so happy that he thought her still beautiful even when she wasn’t dressed up.

Darren had made reservations for them at a nice restaurant, and they had a wonderful time discussing the bakery, and Anastasia’s plans for the future, among other things. Anastasia was captivated by his kind eyes, his caring personality and his attractive body. She could feel her heart beating faster every time she saw him and she felt like she could tell him anything.

Near the end of the night, after they had just finished dessert and were drinking the last of their wine, Darren reached across the table and covered her hand with his. “Anastasia… I don’t know if this is moving too fast, or if it seems desperate, but during these past couple days, I’ve really grown to feel like we are incredibly compatible. You’re so beautiful, funny and smart. I haven’t met anyone like you before. Would you…” He paused, genuinely shy. “Would you be my girlfriend?”

She was so delighted that she giggled. “Yes, Darren, I will.”

**

Though it was still early in the morning, Anastasia awoke with a newfound joy in her heart. It was a nice feeling, to be wanted. She was excited to be working in her new bakery, and judging by yesterday’s turnout, there would be a lot of people coming. There was a morning text from Darren waiting for her on her phone, which made her smile.
Good morning, girlfriend, hope you had a good sleep. I miss seeing you already.
It was somewhat juvenile and reminded her of high school, but in a good way.

At eight, Anastasia opened her doors, looking forward to another day. It was nice being her own boss. The first couple hours crept by slowly with an average amount of customers. Many of them were friendly and willing to make small talk with her, which she enjoyed. But as soon as the clock hit three, an abundance of students poured in, for school had just ended.

They praised her baked goods loudly and happily, swearing that they would tell all their friends about this delightful little bakery. Anastasia couldn’t help but smile as she watched them enjoy what she had created. She was also looking forward to seeing Darren again, so she texted him.
Are you free tonight?

He texted back quickly.
Can’t. Have to help sort out mess at work. The old man who runs the shop… had a heart attack. He’s in the hospital. Might not make it.
I’ll have to work all the way until closing.

Anastasia gasped in surprise. He had seemed like such a nice man the time she had briefly met him and she hoped that he would pull through. The bell above the door rung as it swung open, letting in another big group of what looked to be tourists. There was no time to be thinking about the old man now. “Welcome to Ana’s Sweets!”