Temptations | ✔️

5

~Eden's POV~

"Where are you going?" Silas asked me the next morning as I was looking around the apartment for my keys to the car, sitting on the couch in the living room. I glanced his way and hummed, snatching the keys up off of the table when I spotted them there. "I have to work today." I told him.

He hummed and gave me a nod of his head. "Alright, then I'll see you later. I start work in two days, by the way, so I need you to let me know your schedule when you get home so I can drop you off at work." He said, as we only had one car that we had to share for the time being, which was his car. Before he came home, I used to take the bus around a lot because the car had obviously been with him, so I didn't have a way to get around aside from either walking or the bus. I didn't mind walking, but it wasn't really ideal considering I would've had to walk at least twenty minutes to get to work.

"Okay. See you later, Si." I chirped, adjusting my olive green cropped bandeau top as I left the apartment with my keys dangling from one finger. I took the elevator down to the first floor and went out to the black Escalade of Silas' that had been passed on to him after our dad passed away, beginning the drive to work. When I pulled into the parking lot of the bakery that I worked at, which was called Crumbl Cookies, I looked at myself in the rear view mirror and fixed the light green headband I had on my head, making sure the braids I'd put my long hair in still looked okay.

I hopped out of the car afterwards, my white low rise sneakers crunching spare pebbles beneath my feet as I walked across the parking lot. "Sorry I'm late." I apologized when I entered and saw one of my coworkers, Benjamin, was waiting there with an unimpressed look on his face. "I misplaced my keys and had to find them this morning." I explained, slipping said keys into the pocket of my very pale yellow colored pants with different colored shapes on them.

Benjamin just crossed his arms over his chest. "Behind the counter. Your apron is hanging in there still." He told me, pointing over to the little back room behind the counter. "Yes, sir!" I chirped, hurrying my way behind the counter and into the back room to put on my apron. I tied my apron around my waist, exiting the back room again to return to the counter.

For a while the shop was empty, well empty in comparison to how busy we got on the weekends at least. Most often people came in after lunchtime or after it began to get slightly dark to bring home. Eventually, though, more customers began to come in around lunch hour—like I knew they would—and I became incredibly busy, as Benjamin was basically just standing off to the side with me behind the counter, watching me work instead of actually helping out. Then again, that wasn't exactly unusual for him so I wasn't surprised. He was basically my superior, so I often got left with a lot of the work when we were on shift together, which was pretty regularly.

I didn't mind it, though, I guess. All I had to do was serve cookies, so it wasn't like I was doing some sort of grueling work. It did get busy at times and could be hard to handle on my own, sure, but what could I do about it except accept it and move on? Being mean or assertive wasn't really in my nature, so I always just let it be.

"Eden!" I heard Aspen's voice suddenly chirp my name as I was checking out a customer, handing them their box of cookies they'd asked for. I looked over and saw that Aspen was off to the side of the counter, where there was no line formed. Aspen came by sometimes for cookies for her little sister, because Crumbl Cookies was her favorite place lately apparently. "What's up?" I smiled at her after almost all of the customers had gone, letting out a sigh of relief as I leaned against the counter and met her gaze.

"You know, the usual order." She responded, placing the palms of her hands flat against the surface of the counter. I smiled and nodded my head, cocking up a brow at her. "Just the chocolate chip? We have funfetti this week, and you said before that she likes sugar cookies." I told her, causing her eyes to light up. "Yeah, some of those too, then." She decided, as the menu changed every week, so she knew that she'd need to get them while she could. The only item that stayed constantly were the chocolate chip ones.

After I packed her up the cookies she wanted and checked her out, she beamed at me, holding the two boxes in her hands. "I'll see you later, yeah, E?" She smiled, to which I nodded my head and waved her goodbye as she left, waving back at me.

"The counter needs to be wiped. There's crumbs." Benjamin told me suddenly as he exited the back room behind me, pointing a finger at a tiny crumb on the counter. I frowned, but I grabbed a cloth and some cleaner from the back room and began to scrub down the counter, making sure it was so clean that Benjamin couldn't complain even if he tried to. When it was clean, I put the items back and then washed my hands in the women's bathroom, not wanting any chemicals on my hands—especially not when I was handling food. That just seemed like a very easy way to get fired and nothing more.

"Is that good?" I asked Benjamin for approval afterwards, fiddling with the ends of one of my two braids. He hummed in contemplation and bent down so he was closer to the counter, narrowing his eyes as he examined the surface. Truthfully, I had never before met someone who needed to have control and say over such tiny little things before until I met Benjamin.

He straightened back up again after a few moments, thin arms crossed over his chest. "It'll suffice." He responded simply, causing me to cock up a brow at his wording but I didn't comment on it. I just returned behind the counter and continued the rest of my shift, impatiently waiting until I could go home.