Arranged to be Yours

Chapter 9

I took out the script of the book I'd read through and placed it on the conference table in front of me. The room could hold at least 30 people but at the moment, it only occupied me and a young 17 year old girl.

I looked up to see her nervously chewing on her lower lip as she kept her head slightly lowered and anxiously glanced around her surroundings every now and then. She seemed so jittery, so on edge, that it was starting to make me feel nervous too.

I stood and made my way to the refreshment table that took up space in one corner of the room. Right next to it there was an entire wall of windows so I first opened the blinds a bit more to let the warm sunlight creep in and bask her body in a soothing glow, one that seemed to make her relax a bit considering the way her shoulders sagged down as she leaned back slightly in her chair.

"Clarissa?"

She jumped at the sudden mention of her name and turned so quickly that she nearly fell out of her seat. I raced to place a steadying hand on her arm to keep her from falling.

"Careful now, don't fall."

She gratefully stuttered out a 'thank you' before continuing to nimble on her lips. I however, went and took my travel mug before dropping in a teabag, a bit of sugar, warm water and milk, speaking to her as I did so.

"What's your favourite novel?"

"M-m-my f-f-favourite n-novel?" She nervously managed to which I nodded in return, starting my work on making a cup of coffee, a cappuccino to be precise.

"W-well, a few years ago, when I was much younger, I read this book called 'My Sweet Love Story'. I really liked it."

I lifted my head for a moment and glanced her way, seeing how she seemed to be lost in her own little world as she recalled the memories from reading that novel, before continuing to work on the beverage.

"I think I might have heard of the title before. What's it about?"

"It's about this girl that worked at her family bakery ever since she'd been a little girl. She'd made a good friend one day and they were always spending time together and she even taught him how to bake but sadly he had to move because his father got promoted at work. They made a promise to meet each other at her family bakery once a year but the day he left she got into a car accident and lost her memory so she forgot all about it."

"Sounds intriguing," I said, glad to hear she wasn't stuttering anymore.

"Yes, and so she went on to become a very good pastry chef and had a chain of bakeries all over the country and was even beginning to expand internationally when she finally met him again at a wedding. She was the maid of honour and he was the best man. Neither of them recognized the other until he heard her name and tasted the wedding cake, which she had made, before it hit him who she really was. When he was told about her amnesia, he tried to recreate all the times they'd spent together as children and since he was a successful businessman, he helped her expand her own baking business too. She'd finally gotten her memory back and in the end, they got married too. As cheesy as it might sound, it really is a fantastic story full of emotion. I drew me in from the first page. Sometimes the pastries were described in such a way that you could practically taste it in your mouth."

I took my travel mug and the cup of coffee before walking over to her and placing the cappuccino in front of her, making her eyes widen in surprise.

"Y-you didn't have to do that Mrs. Daniels, oh! I mean Mrs. Salvatore."

I took my seat and waved my hand slightly in the air, a comforting smile on my lips.

"It's alright, Clarissa. Besides, you can just call me Katherine. We don't differ too much in age so it's fine. Sounds like a good story, by the way. I'm glad you liked it."