Bounded Souls

12.

"Thank you for coming!" Solana handed the customer a box of assorted treats.

The shop was filled with people for almost thirty minutes and was beginning to die down. They were having way more customers since there was construction going on along the streets down the block. Solana wasn't complaining, but it was hard serving all the customers when they were still renovating the shop. They started on the outside, making space for the patio that Solana wanted. The trees and the bushes alongside the entrance were now being replaced with small chairs and seats for guests to be seated at when the weather was nice.

Solana remembered hanging out in the bakery shop with her friends almost every day. Her, Kai, Allen, Nova and sometimes Sherrie would stay in the shop for hours, eating and talking about everything that came to mind.

She wanted it to be like that again. She didn't just want it to be a pickup and drop off shop. A shop where you grabbed your things and headed out. She wanted it to be a place where everyone was comfortable and had a good time.

"You guys are doing great," She assured her employees as she walked through the kitchen. Although the shop was always in high demand, they didn't have that many staff. Grandma Viv always wanted the shop to be ran by an intimate amount of people that she knew very well. While Solana wanted to keep that tradition going, she also knew that they were going to need more people. Three people in the kitchen and one person in the front wasn't enough.

The sound of music loudly playing from her office made her ears perk up. She didn't remember playing any music when she was there.

Slowly, she opened the door and peeked her head in to see her cousin; Sherrie seated at her desk with her feet up, her laptop open, and her phone in her hands. Her eyes were immersed in whatever she was typing, a mischievous smirk on her face.

"And, you're in my office...why?"

"Your seat is way more comfortable. I don't know what Mama was doing with that forty-year old chair. It was holding on for dear life." Sherrie shook her head with disgust. "I love what you did with the place."

"You're supposed to be helping me order the inventory for next week." Solana walked over towards her and sat on the edge of her desk. "Not on your phone with your feet on my desk. Who raised you?"

"The same person that raised you."

"What are you doing anyway?"

"So, I met this new guy on this app. No, I'm not meeting up with him-"

"I thought you were back with Ty?"

"I am.. This is business." Sherrie scoffed. "It's an app where people have to pay to talk to you and get feet pics. So, that's what I'm doing with my spare time."

"You don't have spare time, Sherrie. Inventory, please."

Sherrie rolled her eyes and went back to her laptop. Solana grabbed her cup of coffee and took a sip as she watched Sherrie. She typed slowly on her laptop whilst she looked at her cousin with smiling eyes.

"What?"

"What time are you going to Remi's party?"

"Um... I'm not going."

"Why?"

"I totally forgot about it and I'm gonna be at the shop all night working, so you have fun and give her the gift that I have for her."

Solana knew that it was Remi's party today, but she was still on the fence about going. The last person that she wanted to see was going to be there and she felt like it was going to be overwhelming for her. She meant it when she said she never wanted to see him again. It was enough that they already had a few encounters since she returned to Jersey.