The Spinster's Club

Romy: Two

The following day I had no choice but to consider opening my own business – I had just been fired.

Technically I had been let go because 'Millie's Treats' was now no longer financial enough to support my wages but that was just semantics. The end had been coming for months and I had desperately tried all I could to prevent it from happening; even if at this point in time I had come to resent the job I was trying to save.

In the beginning it had been fun to work for Millie Porter. Not only did I have the chance to bake the goodies on offer every day but I had been given licence to come up with new treats every other month, to keep the menu fresh. Then a year earlier Millie had agreed to add some of my chocolate delights as well.

They had been a winner all round with the regulars coming back more often, as well as spreading the word. It had reached a point where we needed help and so hired a pair of extra hands – Rachel's – and even went as far as outsourcing a realtor to scout out the possibilities for a bigger and more central location.

Things were really happening for the small business and I could envisage great things coming from an expansion. Unfortunately for me, three months ago Millie's husband Kyle left her and shacked up with his wife's younger sister. That was the beginning of the end in many ways, of what had once been a wonderful friendship – business and personal.

~*~*~

From the moment she fought and lost the battle to give her ex half of the business' worth, Millie had done her level best to make sure it wasn't worth a dime. Rather than see him get half of a dream that she had built from scratch and he had never shown the least bit of interest in, she put into action a plan that would see the business wasn't worth shit. In her sorrow and anger she never stopped to think that perhaps she was biting off her nose to spite her face; all she cared about was getting even with a philandering husband.

I had of course tried my level best to talk Millie around, telling her that giving him half had to be better than letting her dream die. Millie never listened; in her hurt and anger she had become hell bent on a destructive path. This attitude never stopped me or Rachel from doing all we could to try and salvage the damage being done, on the off chance that Millie would calm down and realize what she had been doing. It wasn't easy and in the end it hadn't worked.

Today it had all come to a head and I was working up the nerve to tell my boss I wanted to give two weeks' notice but it didn't matter because Millie got in first, letting both me and Rachel go.

"I really am sorry I. I realize now that there was probably a better way to go about this. Of course I didn't realize it until it was too late. What can I say, you were right."

I hugged my friend. Despite the fact that only two days earlier I had wanted to use the paring knife to carve out the older woman's eye, I felt bad for her now. "It's ok Millie; no point dwelling on it now. I'm just sorry it all had to come to this to start with."

"Thanks, love. I hope you can now go out and get the job you deserve. Hopefully with someone who can appreciate you and your talent more than I have. If you need anything, you let me know."


"I will. Thanks, Millie; for everything. I mean it."

"You're welcome love" was all she replied with, taking that moment as a chance to walk away before her younger friend saw her cry.

~*~*~

Having dropped Rachel back at her house, I continued home. What was I going to do now? It was barely 10am and usually at this point in the day I was up to my elbows in pastry.

I had been dreaming of this moment for so long but now that it was here, a little panic started to creep in. What if I couldn't get my own business up and running? What if I couldn't get a job with either of the other two bakers in Midvale, who seemed to be running perfectly ok with the staff they presently had? Taking a non baking job was always an option but as what?

"Fuck. 42 years old and no skills other than baking to your credit – way to go me" I chastised myself. I could probably teach myself to type but to what end? Packing groceries at the supermarket was also an option but most stores tended to hire juniors because they were cheaper to hire.

Crap. Crap. Crap.

By the time I got home and had unloaded all of my baking utensils and other work gear onto the kitchen bench, I was well and truly bummed. That meant that only one thing could cheer me up. Unfortunately I was all caught up on my Arrow viewing so I opted for my second favourite thing to do – bake.

~*~*~

Two hours later I was going over my financials as I knocked back a rather large handful of the little treats I had just made – mini 'kiss' shaped chocolate meringue's flecked with spearmint pop rocks and given a cap of white chocolate. They had always been a favourite. Popping another into my mouth I shook my head. 'Is it any wonder Amy calls you Hobbit high and Hobbit wide' I chastised myself in disgust. It didn't stop me from enjoying it however.

My friend was also right when she said that these things would be the death of her. The girls and I had gotten together for one of our usual bonding sessions and so I had whipped up enough goodies to put a small town in a diabetic coma. As we bonded over wine and nibbles, bitching over some guy who had just done one of us wrong, Amy had made the comment about death.

"Romy, you really shouldn't bring all these goodies with you, although we love that you do. They're going to be the death of us you know."

We had all laughed and joked about it and it had become a running joke ever since then. From out of nowhere, a light bulb went off over my head. Putting down the kiss I had just been about to nibble on next, I instead said out loud to no-one "that's it! Oh my god, that's it!"

Grabbing a pen I quickly scribbled a note to myself before heading back out to the kitchen where the remaining three dozen kisses were waiting – they suddenly had a new destination.

~*~*~

Once the treats were packed and a courier had been called, I grabbed a card. Tapping my pen on my teeth – a habit I really needed to get out of – I came up with:

"Amy
Thank you for inspiring me in a way
I never thought possible. Kisses to you
my dear friend!
Romy xx"

I smiled. One item could now be crossed off my list and I was sending the kisses to Amy so they could end up on her hips and not mine. Of course I had sent them to her at her place of work on the off chance that she would share but even if she didn't, I was happy to know that this day was going to end a lot better than it had started. Maybe life wasn't so bad after all.