Guidelines

2 | chocolate

After reciting his cry out loud because his beloved has been hit, his body falls to the ground in pain. I scramble up to my feet and brace myself. I slowly look down to see his face and realize it isn't the face that I was expecting to see.

Instead of facing my ex-boyfriend-who-said-he-was-going-to-come-talk-to-me, I stand in front of Mr. Handsome-who-almost-hit-me-with-his-car-this-morning-holy-cow-help-me.

I rush to help him get up from the ground and begin apologizing in full panic mode. "Oh my, I am so sorry. I am super sorry. I thought you were somebody else. I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to kick you there. I am-"

"Absolutely crazy," he cuts me off. He takes my hands off his arm, clearly rejecting my help.

"And I'm sorry for earlier, too. I didn't mean to-" I discontinue my sentence as I see flame in my peripheral vision. I realize that it is a pan that is caught on fire on the stove. I run to turn off the stove and put out the fire with the closest object at hand.

I swat at the fire with the object that was closest to me for a couple of seconds and realize that I can't take out the fire. At that moment, foam showers onto the fire and onto me.

I couldn't think straight at that very moment, but all I know is that the fire was put out, I tried to put out the fire with an unfamiliar folder which was halfway burnt, and I am currently covered in whatever substance is in a fire extinguisher. I turn around to the person with the fire extinguisher, breathless from trying to putting out the fire. I expect for him to look right at me because I probably look like I came straight out of a horror movie but something else caught his attention instead. His eyes zoom straight to the burnt folder in my hands and widens in horror. My eyes also travel to both of my hands and realization dawns upon me.

This is not my folder, this is his.

As the words of apology were about to flow out of my mouth, he grabs the burnt object from my hands, inspects it, and frowns. His eyes shoot up to mine and glares at me as he throws the folder onto the ground right in front of me. I feel his eyes burning on me, and I am terrified to the bone.

"You know what? I was going to forget all about this morning and this situation right now, but you just went over the line. You better call a lawyer because this," he points at the folder, "is not just any ordinary folder. And I am a person you should never mess with." Before I can say anything, he takes the folder from the ground and leaves the building.

And right then and there, five years of hard work just went down the drain, and I am officially scared for my life.

* * *

Mr. and Mrs. Evans comes back, and I tell them the whole story of what happened minus the parts with the guy in it and the suing part. They help me clean up the mess I made before my mom comes back to take a look at the cupcake shop. I sweep the ash-covered floor and pick up the coat on the ground.

"What's that, Emma?" Mrs. Evans wipes the stove and points at the jacket in my hand

I quickly squash the jacket into a ball and tuck it under my arm. "Oh, it's mine. I brought it here the other day, and it looks like it got caught in the chaos I made." I smile at her to make sure I didn't give any reason for her to be suspicious about me. I grab the broom and continue sweeping with the jacket under my arm.

I almost choke when I see the brand of his jacket because that piece of clothing costs like half of what I make in a month. I hope he's one of those busy rich people who will forget unimportant things, I mean I'm not worth his time, and he should have lots of other things to worry about.

* * *

"Emmaline! I need to talk to you!" My mom's voice rings through the cupcake shop. Did she find out? How in the world did she find out? I scan the room for possible CCTV's but didn't see a single one. I snatch the broom that was still on the ground and toss it into the cleaning cabinet. I run out of the almost-spotless kitchen to meet my mom.

"Yes, mom?" She points at a chair motioning me to sit down. I hesitantly walk to the chair and sit down while my mom sat down on the chair across the table. I prepare myself for the next words she would tell me just in case she found out the scene I caused.

"You and I are going out to dinner tonight with some guests because I bumped into Ana today! Do you remember her? She's also going to bring Alex with her!" She grins from ear to ear by just talking about her best friend and her son.

"It's been like 20 years since you've seen each other, right?" I vaguely remember Mrs. Ana and Alex because I was about five years old at the time, and Alex was about the same age as me or something like that.

My mom nods happily, "we have to be there before 7 o' clock, so make time for this, okay?"

* * *

"Emma, look at you! You've grown up to be a beautiful woman," Mrs. Ana greets me with one of those greetings where they press their cheek against yours and do the same on the other side. She hugs me then backs away to press her hand on my cheek. "I bet Alex wouldn't stop looking at your beautiful face," Ana claps her hands in happiness.

My face warms at her compliment, "Thank you so much, Mrs. Ana. You are just as beautiful as you were 20 years ago." Mrs. Ana's grin grows wide, admiring my comment.

"Dear, call me Auntie Ana. You're talking to me like we never were close! You were like my daughter!" She laughs along with my mom.

My mom looked around the restaurant and furrowed her eyebrows at Mrs. Ana, Auntie Ana I mean. "Where is Alex by the way?"

"Oh, he went to the restroom. He'll be back in a few. Let's go to the table shall we?" Auntie Ana suggests.

My eyes scan through the menu, while my mom and Ana chatters away happily. Their friendship is quite interesting to say the least. They met each other at a park where apparently I met Alex. Alex and I played with each other, and when both of our moms came to us to go home, we didn't want to. Both of our moms decided to let us play for a little longer and sat on the same bench while waiting for us. My mom and Auntie Ana both went through the same problem in life, our dads leaving them. After that day, the both of them became friends and soon enough, best friends.

The formation of the table is my mom and Auntie Ana sitting across from one another; this means that Alex and I have to sit in front of one another. The waiter comes by to give us the menu, and I start to scan it. I hear shuffling and a deep, familiar voice speaks, "Sorry, I took so long." I was about to look up, but the laminated paper in front of me catches my interest more. I've only eaten a cookie and pizza the whole day, blame me.

"Oh, Alex you've grown to be such a handsome man," I hear my mom say.

"Thank you Mrs. Everett, you look beautiful and looks like you haven't aged a bit," the voice who belongs to Alex, comments.

"Call me Auntie Becky, and you are just charming, Alex. I see that you and Emma still act the same," Auntie Ana and my mom giggles..

"Emma, introduce yourself, hon," Auntie Ana requests, startling me a little.

While keeping my eyes still on the menu, I stand up and put my hand out to his direction. I look up and greet him, "Hi, I'm Emma." As the words roll off my tongue, my breathing stops because I come into contact with the familiar green eyes.

Charming? As if.