The White Rabbit

4.)Betrayal

2 months later:

The bakery is a bustling place to be today, the entire store is filled with the smell of baked goods and sweat...lots and lots of sweat. It's July in the city and its been a hot one the last week or two. Ever since Tyler broke up with me and Dean ghosted me for his one night stand he desperately desired... I've been sleeping on Lyla's couch, working at the bakery, and searching for an apartment to rent.
It's so excruciatingly hard to find a decent place to rent in the city and they always get scooped up before you can even breathe their way. Seriously my realtor with reach out with a new listing and within the hour its pulled and has a to-be tenant underway. And it's so hard to just up and leave the bakery to go tour places. I miss my apartment over the bakery.

"Hey, once I get these cupcakes piped, I'm going to take a quick lunch break since it seems to be slowing down." I chime in to one of my employees who's manning the cashier.

She nods approvingly and continues bagging up peoples baked goods and checking them out. I continue piping frosting onto cupcakes and start spacing out.
Where did I go wrong with Dean? One moment, we can't keep our hands off each other and the next moment he can't get me out of his bar fast enough. And he's clearly ghosted me because its been two months and he hasn't stopped by my shop. We never got to exchange numbers so all he has to work with is my bakery name and he could drop by any time he wants but he hasn't. He won't. I should've know thats all it was to him. No one just meets at a bar and gets drunk together and it ends up this amazing romance. It was always a one night stand. I was just to naive to see it and accept it.

I haven't spoken to Tyler since that night either. Lyla, Kevin and I went back to my old apartment and got all of my things while Tyler was at work one day. He never reached out about it or even tried to talk about things anymore. Which is honestly shocking because majority of the things in that apartment were mine so that place looked ransacked when I was finished with it. On one hand I'm glad he never reached out because theres nothing left to say but on the other hand, I don't feel like either of us got closure. There's still this open wound left that isn't healed and I don't know if I ever will be. I should've just stayed that night and fought it out with him. I shouldn't have taken that cab to Gulligan's and met Dean because then maybe I wouldn't be so in my head about them both.

I finish piping the cupcakes and place them in the display case next to the blueberry crumble muffins that I made this morning. I wash my hands and give my employee and hand gesture that I'll be in the back grabbing a bite to eat. I walk to the back and melt into my chair from pure physical and mental exhaustion. I don't know what it is but this last month I have been so unbearably exhausted that I can barely function midday. And I have been heading home early and in bed at 8 to 8:30... so unlike me. I'm usually a midnight bedtime girly. It must be from the emotional roller coaster of this breakup and the stress of this bakery getting to me.
I pull out my lunch and start devouring it, shoveling bite after bite in before fully chewing the previous bite. Only a few moments later, my employee pops her head into my office with a concerned look on her face.

"Theres a man here asking for you...are you here or should I send him away?" She whispers pointing with her thumb backwards at the front of the store.

Dean... my stomach flips and instantly I am sick to my stomach with butterflies. I chew fast and nod that she can send him back. I toss my hair and look in a mirror hung in my office and pick anything that was in my teeth from my salad, out.

"You can tell him I'm here." I shyly say trying to keep my food down from the nerves.

She giggles and takes off towards the front of the store. I quickly sit at the desk again and try to look busy, unbothered, and official. I hear his footsteps grow closer and heavier before they stop at the doorway. I turn my chair around slowly with a smile.