Breathe |girlxgirl|

*Two*

(Kendra's POV)

As soon as I get to work, the smell of fresh cookies wafts up into my nose and makes me smile.

Maybe today won't be so bad.

I put my purse into my designated locker and shove my phone into my apron pocket. I walk into the main kitchen with an aura of confidence and a bit of uneasiness when I remember I have to train someone. I suck in a breath and it catches in my throat when I see a girl standing at the large metal table, rolling out cookie dough. I feel as though all time has stopped. She is a bit taller than I am and moderately curvy. Her long ombré hair flows down her back in spiral curls. I'm not one to normally hide, but I do. I hide in the doorway and peek at this girl. She turns on some G-Eazy and starts singing alone to what I believe to be the song "Mad". She starts dancing and twirling and giggling to herself while she takes the flour and puts it all over the dough. The girl takes a cookie cutter and starts cutting out little flower-shaped cookies. I reluctantly clear my throat and this makes her jump, dropping everything and scrambling to turn off the music. In the process of shutting off the music, she dumps the container of flour all over her apron, hands, and shoes. A huge cloud of flour rises up and she starts coughing and waving the cloud away. A layer of the flour dust settles in her hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry! I was-I was just getting some practice so I wouldn't look useless. You can see how well that worked out..." She sputters, making the corners of my mouth twitch in amusement.

She pauses for a moment and draws in a breath.

"Are you Ashley?"

"No, my name is Kendra. Ashley called in sick." I sigh, noticing her face dropping.

"Oh..Maurice didn't tell me about you. I'm sorry, I'm making a terrible first impression. I'm Marissa."

Maurice is my boss's name. So this girl is the girl I have to train.

"I've seen worse." I retort. She winces. Shit! I didn't mean it that harsh!

"So, what do I have to learn? Maurice is having me bake." She says softly.

I glance at her cutouts, some of them covered in the spilled flour on them, while others are cut into perfect shapes and a few are even already iced to look like roses and lilies and sunflowers and a few tulips. She honestly looks like a natural. But I'm not going to tell her that. I'll keep it to myself for now.

"You seem to have the basics down. We should just start prepping and baking for now." I order, trying to make voice carry the needed authority.

Marissa nods, and starts cleaning up the flour while I pop some of her cutouts into the oven and mix together some more dough. She watches me carefully, analyzing my actions. I peek at her from the corner of my eye and the corner of my mouth draws back into a smirk.

"Can I help you?"

Her face goes bright red and she starts fiddling with something.

"N-no." She mumbles.

"Are you always this clumsy?" I sigh.

"You startled me."

"You were supposed to wait for me before starting."

"S-sorry; I was standing here forever and thought I should make myself useful for once."

I flinch slightly at what she says, but she doesn't notice. This stirs up emotion inside me.

"Are you saying that you aren't useful?" I grunt.

She doesn't respond. I snap my eyes up to her and notice her face is bright red and looking down at her bowl of dough.

"If you're going to work at this job here, with me, then you have to listen. When I ask you something, you don't ignore me." I breathe.

She looks up at me with glassy eyes. My expression softens.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be harsh." I sigh.

She doesn't say anything. For once, I honestly don't know what to say.

Think. Think. Think. Aha!

"What are your views on lesbians?" I blurt out.

What.

The.

Fuck.

I die inside.

I'm dead.

Done.

Lord almighty, please take me now.

Her frown curves upward in a small smile. She starts mixing her dough again.

"I don't mind them. I've only been with one before." She smiles.

Well. Okay....that went better than I expected.

Wait....she's into girls?!?!?