Tim & Chuck

Ch 17:: Carly Wants Cake

Death by chocolate was a common demise in her bakery but death by male hotness? That was new.

These kinds of days were very slow for Carly. Not only was it the dreaded Wednesday- the midway point of every week- but she had been slammed with catering orders and wedding order requests for the last several weeks in succession. Now that October was only a few weeks away, red velvet, pumpkin spice and in particular her signature cinnamon applesauce cake flavors were in high demand.

But this was the first slow day for Carly in a long time. Trouble is, where other shop owners would welcome the break, she felt restless. There was one more hour to go until closing and Carly idly drew pine tree and leaf designs on some spare parchment paper.

She had checked her calendar and it was rare for her to have a catering-free weekend but lo and behold the upcoming Friday through Sunday was clear. Impulsively Carly wanted to text Alex and tell him that she definitely wanted to join for camping but every time she picked up her phone, her heart rate skyrocketed and with it, her anxiety awoke from its slumber.

By now, she was much more comfortable around Tim than she could have said a month or so ago. The thrift shop outing didn't count; she turned into another animal when bargains were involved. But this camping trip seemed laced with impending opportunities for Alex and Jen to mysteriously disappear at will to either get some action in for themselves or, to intentionally force Tim and herself to interact. She cursed the day that she had basically told those two conniving beagles that she had spent the night at Tim's home under the guise of nursing him to health. Well, it wasn't a guise, it had been a legitimate reason to go over but she knew what it looked like. Not that she was against it but as far as she knew, Tim was still unaware of her feelings and she wasn't sure if she could keep it to herself for much longer. Yet the idea of camping with the three of them still felt like a wonderful getaway regardless.

The bell above the front door rang and Carly looked over the top of her lowered glasses to see Liam the postman with many letters in hand.

"Hey Liam." Carly greeted, straightening up to stretch and to accept the mail he had brought.

"What's up, Car? Slow day?" Liam grinned, noting her weary face.

Carly sighed and nodded, "Yeah it's been dragging along. I should be grateful for a break given how crazy busy I have been lately, but these days are kind of boring for me, not gonna lie."

"Yeah probably, but I would like to remind you that I work for the post office. Wanna switch?" Liam's eyes twinkled as he leaned on the counter with a grin.

"Ha! I'd rather get my tetanus shot or walk on LEGO or something. No offense." Carly laughed, turning her back to place the mail in a cubby behind the counter.

"None taken. So, what are you doing tonight? The newest episode of The Escapee is on tonight, gonna watch?"

Carly hummed in thought. "I'm not sure, but if I don't catch it tonight, I will definitely watch it later."

"Well," Liam said, looking at her with a charming smile, "If you're bored and want company, I can bring popcorn."

Carly blinked at him, a little speechless at his straightforward insinuation. Liam was a very nice guy and she had never felt uncomfortable around him for the most part. But she also never anticipated that he would ever ask her out or want to be invested in her life romantically.

"Uh...well.." Carly stumbled over her words, a little flustered and trying to figure out what to say, when a deep rumble of a car sounded outside the door and Carly caught sight of a sleek, black Audi sports car slowly driving past the front. The windows were too tinted to see in but Carly lost all train of thought. That was her dream car.