Fitting in

Chapter 27

The rain continued into the next morning, and the patter of raindrops splashing onto the road was branded into Brett’s mind.  She had woken up to a glassy veneer over the window, and was watching rivulets of raindrops chase after each other when Jesse woke up.

“Good morning.” Jesse said smiling up at Brett groggily. Brett greeted her with the same saying, and got up to stuff her things into her duffle bag. The two of them ate breakfast, and chatted about casual topics over a pair of blueberry waffles. After showering and getting dressed, Brett rushed home to help Blake with last minute touches to her wedding. The wedding was literally less than a week away, and there was still so much to do. Blake was fastidious when it came to the minute details concerning her wedding.

“We still need to pick out a knife to cut the cake with, and the chair stoppers still make a horrendous sound when people scoot back, and the microphone needs a white cover, and-- “ Blake listed as her and Brett were driving to pick up supplies for the last items to make the wedding perfect.

“We’ll get everything done today.” Brett said placing a hand over her sister’s. Blake smiled sheepishly at her sister, and then slammed on her breaks. Someone honked at her angrily from behind and then swerved around her car.

“Wait! We have to eat at that store right there, they make the best little Spanish pastries I’ve ever tasted.” Blake said turning the wheel and laying on her gas to enter the store. Brett recognized the café, and realized it was where she and Simon had eaten the Spanish ensaimadas. She scanned the parking lot searching for Simon’s car, and realized it was parked to the left of the front door. She hadn’t prepared herself to tell a lie!

“Maybe we should eat at Starbucks or something.” Brett said glancing anxiously at Blake.

“Nonsense, you haven’t lived till you’ve tried one of these.” Blake said getting out of the car. Brett groaned and reluctantly followed her sister inside. The store was exactly as she remembered a little slice of Spain in the middle of a busy town.

            Blake walked up to the counter, and cleared her throat signaling someone to come take her order. Brett jumped from foot to foot hoping no one she recognized would come to the counter. 

            “Can I get two ensa, um ensa, well like those biscuit things?” Blake said giving up on her pronunciation of the word. The girl at the counter was a luckily a college student, and not Simon or his aunt.

            “Ensamiadas.” Brett said impatiently fidgeting. 

            “Yeah, um wow, how’d you know what I was trying to say?”

            “We learned it in Spanish.”

            After ordering, Brett tried to convince Blake to wait in the car for the food to come. But she wouldn’t have it, she wanted to enjoy herself at the tables for a few minutes. Brett groaned again, and tried not to look like she was having a panic attack. However, when she saw Simon walking over to them with an ensaimada in each hand, she knew their meeting was no longer inevitable. Brett turned her head towards the wall, hoping Simon wouldn’t notice her by her hair.

            “Dos ensamiadas por las chicas.” He said in a thick Spanish accent. Brett suspected the accent helped him with tips.

            “Gracias muchacho.” Blake laughed taking the plates. She dropped the pastry on the table, and punched Brett in the arm signaling her to eat. Brett sighed and turned around slowly to smile at Simon, then took a bite of her ensaimada.

            “Brett?”

            “Hey Simon.” Brett said between mouthfuls of food.