Take What You Can Carry | Bucky Barnes

Family Feud

A full month has gone by since the last time I was at the Compound, both Bucky and I have been insanely busy with our own work that we only see each other in the mornings and late nights when he came home. The time apart didn't bother me as much as I thought it would be, probably because I have been so engrossed in preparing for the July fourth parade that Bucky didn't even cross my mind half of the time.

"Okay guys, we have less than 5 days till the parade and I can tell ya, it's not going to be pretty. So, let's start with progress" I said, sitting on a stool, leading the employee meeting at the store before we open.

"Well, logistics are mostly checked and double checked. There's a few stuff we need to reconfirm with the vendors but I say we can manage getting it done in a few days," said Tom, who was put in charge of logistics with two other people.

"Can you get it done by tomorrow?"

"I'll try" he nodded and jotted it down on his notepad.

"Okay, anyone else?" I looked around the room and Jessica raised her hand.

"Well, permit is cleared. Tom and I have been coordinating about the booth and I guess we got a pretty good one, our booth will be the one straight after the finish line"

"Awesome, what about the cupcakes?"

"We've come up with a few recipes and sketches of the main centerpiece, we can show you later and we have a few samples as well"

"Great! Okay, tomorrow we're going to get some more hands to help out with the parade, we will discuss the allocation of those help tomorrow. All right, now let's open up and the rest of you, stick to the schedule" I smiled and closed the meeting. A few of them are being put on store duty while the rest are on parade duty. I head to the back office and opened my laptop, securing the permit for the parade was the toughest one in the checklist, because the booths will be located literally on the edges of the Capitol, so getting them sorted was a huge weight lifted from our shoulders. I checked a few emails and rechecking the guest-list for any invites that might have not been sent, while simultaneously rechecking the recipes that are being used for this event.

After deliberating with the cupcake team and looking at our books to pinpoint exactly which few of our cupcakes that are our bestsellers, we decided on 6 different cupcakes flavors for us to sell at the parade. Once the cupcake issue is sorted, I was immediately pulled into another meeting about the booth decorations and the props that are going to be used.

"Ugh" I groaned and rubbed my face from all the stress. Times like these are when my anxiety levels are at an all time high. I was already pushing myself by entering the parade and now I feel like I bit more than I can chew because tomorrow, and the days after that will only get even worse.

"Hey Cath, do you still need me? If not, I'm gonna head out" Tom peeked from the doorframe with Jessica on his tail.

I sat straight and nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Go ahead; tell the rest of the guys they can go home when they're done. I'll close up"

"Alright, good night"

The next two hours were spent at my desk, eyes glued to my laptop. I kept looking over the books, trying to make a prediction for whatever future I have for this place. I know it's not the best thing to do, especially when I'm incredibly anxious like this but I want to feel like I have some sort of control over what happens to this place. I just wish the outcome would be a good one.

I looked over at the clock; it reads 20:56. The shop was cleared out a while ago and nobody really came in after that so I decide to clear up my desk and close up. As usual, I took the leftover cupcakes and put them in boxes before heading out and driving up to the Compound. With the day I had today, I thought seeing Bucky earlier would be a nice treat for myself and a nice surprise for Bucky.