Sweet and Sour

Chapter 16 - Friends?

The next day at the bakery you opened up as normal, yawning and stretching as you laid out everything you'd already baked in the early hours. You kept an eye on the door all day, expecting another visit from your mobster stalker, but there was no sign. Maybe he'd finally listened to you this time. Maybe it was over.

But you had a feeling it wasn't.

You went out briefly in the afternoon, asking Wanda to keep an eye on things while you dropped some cash off to pay in at the bank and picked up change for the register. You told her to call you if you know who made an appearance. It wasn't fair for her to keep fighting your battles.

You must've only been gone half an hour but were stunned when on your return you could barely open the front door. As you battled your way in you understood why - the bakery was absolutely jammed full of helium balloons. In every possible colour. They were squeezed into every available space, covering the ceiling entirely as the ribbons hung down to the floor. You could barely walk through the store.

"What the..." you spluttered as you fought your way to the counter.

Wanda cried out when she realised you were back. "Oh thank God!" she exclaimed as she untangled a rogue ribbon caught around her ankle.

"They showed up literally seconds after you left. I thought maybe it was Peter again after the minions y'know? But the delivery men kept bringing them in! They kept coming!! They said I couldn't refuse them as I'd already signed - I thought that was it but I'd only see the first batch..."

You groaned, snatching a small white envelope off the counter and tearing it open - like you didn't already know exactly who did this.

So you like balloons? Then balloons you get.

I'm sorry for all of it but I'm not giving up

- JBB

You rolled your eyes.

"This is ridiculous" you shout.

You wade through the mess of ribbon and navigate through the balloons to lean over the counter and pull out a pair of scissors. You begin to cut open and pop each balloon you encounter, clearing a path and scooping the deflated debris into a trash bag as Wanda watches on, amused.

"Pathetic dick measuring contest" you mutter.

"What have you got yourself into...?" Wanda sniggers.

"Don't...I cannot deal right now..."

Your phone buzzes in your pocket and you know exactly who it is. In spite of yourself, a small part of you is flattered by this over the top, excessive and silly gesture. Clearly, you have his attention. But you ignore that part of you.

"Doll. Did you get your gift?" a low voice purrs through the receiver. You shudder briefly, before snapping yourself out of the effect that voice has on you.

Before you answer him you snip the edge of the balloon you're holding, moving it to your mouth and inhaling deeply.

"What gift?" you ask, your voice comically squeaky with helium.

Bucky laughs at that and it catches you off guard. It's a genuine, unselfconscious laugh. A giggle if anything. Worlds away from the big bad wolf everyone sees him as. You soften slightly at that giggle.

But then you remember his coldness towards you. The woman in the bakery with him. Cancelling your date.

You harden once more.

"I told you to leave me alone" you hiss down the phone at him. "How is trashing my store leaving me alone?"

But he just laughs. Not the sweet laugh you just heard, but the mocking laugh he reserves for his cruelty. You sigh. You're exhausted from the emotional whiplash. Every time you see a glimpse, a glimmer of a Bucky you could like (maybe could even love?) it's extinguished quickly and the mob boss Bucky is back.