The Ex

Chapter Five: Of All Damned Places

Chapter Five: Of All Damned Places

Just as I walked into the kitchen of Cupcakes and Coffee putting my apron on, Gaby came running towards me with her arms wide open ready for a hug. Gabirelle Donovan was one of my only girlfriends and I loved her as much as I did Darcy. We met at college in English class while we were in the back, hiding from our scary proffessor. She was my second in command here when I couln't make it to work and would cover for me when people asked who was the owner of this place.

"You're here! I thought you were going to work at the book store today. Thank God you're here or else I would've torn my hair out." She ran her hands through her hair, appreciatingly. She leaned in and whispered, "My hair and I thank you." At that I laughed out loud, making Jesse, the bus boy look at us.

"Mel, you made it." He gave me a smile and continued on doing the dishes. Jesse was Gaby's younger brother and he was good friends with my brother. They both had brown eyes but other than that they looked nothing alike.

"Yes, well I'm under some stress right now and need to do some baking to un-stress myself." I walked over to the bathroom and washed my hands before getting the ingridients to make my famous tripple chocolate cake.

I put the ingridients and stainless steel supplies on the marble counter and got to work. Just as I was putting the pan in the oven I heard the little bell on the door jingle, implying we had our first customer of the day. I whiped my hands on my apron and walked out of the kitchen to attend the cash register when I stopped short once I saw who it was.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," I said under my breath, when I saw Drew and a little girl looking at the menu. I closed my eyes and sighed. Once I opened my eyes again I put on a smile on my face and walked to the register.

"Welcome to Cupcakes and Coffee. May I help you?" I said as cheerily as I could.

"Yes, I would like a capu-" He stopped talking when he saw me. "Mel? What are you doing here?"

"I work here," I said furrowing my brows.

"I-I thought you worked at the book store place. What was it called-?"

"Barnes & Noble."

"Yeah that place. Why do you work here then?"

"I, um, I own this place." I answered reluctantly scratching the back of my neck.

He blinked once, twice. "Wait you're serious? You actually own this place?"

"Yes Drew, this is my place. I bake here, I attend the register, I open and close the shop everyday and when I can't, Gaby does. I pay the bills and the checks of the only two people who work with me. Those are my chairs, tables. These are my mugs and I made all of those with my bare hands and help from Gaby." I said exasperated. Was it such a shocker that I would own a place like this? Well, knowing how I was in high school and collage I'd be pretty surprised myself. "Why is that so hard to believe?"

He gave me a weak chuckle and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, ever since I've known you, you hated the kitchen and didn't want anything to do with it. Also the fact that you never looked like the kind of person that would own a bakery or like to bake." He paused a moment, as if thinking of something. "And the fact that you have to socialize." He said that part with a small smirk.

"Well Drew," I glared. "I grew up and realized that I'm not in high school anymore and that I have to face my fears. I love baking.." I looked at the little girl that was next to Drew and saw that she was oggling a Nutella cupcake with M&M's on the icing. "Who's that?"

"Ivy, come here." The little girl --I would say she's around three or four -- came runing and threw herself into his arms. Drew picked her up balancing her on his hip, and she gave me a wide smile. She had his same smile and eyes. Did he get someone pregnant?