"It's Thursday." James said as soon as I answered the phone.
"Nice to hear from you as well, James." I replied sarcastically, holding the phone with my shoulder and drying the dishes I was washing at the bakery. Harper was gone already and I decided to stay and clean so I didn't have to tomorrow, seeing as what James and I had planned out.
"Is everything sorted for tomorrow?" James asked.
"Yes sir. Harper has been very suspicious all day, so clearly she's got the cupcakes ready. She won't let me into the back fridge." I added. James laughed and then covered his mouth.
"Sorry, I'm in my car in front of the house so the boys won't hear me." James confessed. I laughed, tossing the rag into the small washing machine and washing it along with the small table clothes.
"Hey, want to come down to the shop? I can pick up some dinner from the cafe next door and we'll have the whole place to ourselves." I offered. James paused for a second.
"Sure, I'll just text the boys and head over in a minute." James replied.
"What should I get for you?" I asked. There was another long pause.
"Surprise me, you have good taste." James chuckled. I giggled and leaned against the bench, holding the phone to my ear.
"Well then I better go grab the food so I'm ready when you get here. Bye, James." I said.
"Bye, Liz!" James chirped. The line went dead and I took off my apron, tossing it in with the washing and starting the load, tucking the store keys into my purse and putting it over my shoulder, heading over next door to the small cafe.
I ordered a small and large serving of spag bol, carrying the warm bowls back to the bakery and set them on a table for two in the center of the shop. I left my bag on the bench and got some cutlery from the back, setting our places with napkins and putting our bowls down before going into the back and wiping down the counters with antibacterial cleaner so it would be all set tomorrow.
"Liizzzz?" Someone called out, the front bell tinkling.
"I'm in the back, one minute." I called back, tossing the paper towel in the rubbish bin and heading to the front.
"Hey!" I grinned, giving James a hug. We sat at the table, unlidding our food. James got to work on his pasta, taking breaks between bites to talk about what the boys and he had done this week in the studio. We'd gone to coffee on Tuesday and yesterday we talked on the phone for about an hour, but other than that we hadn't seen each other all week, which apparently the boys were upset about.
"I told them about the plan and Tristan was practically foaming at the mouth, he's so excited." James laughed. I giggled, twirling some pasta on my fork and eating it.
"So what do I do again?" I asked. James swallowed and then began to explain.
"Well I told the boys that you come down to the shop every Friday night and clean the whole place so that it's ready on Monday, and I said you usually go around six. So I got a key from Harper yesterday and she's made the cupcakes already, and I'm going to come in with the boys and we'll hide around the corner so when you come in you won't see us. I've got some speakers to play some romantic song that I have yet to decide, and you have to pretend to be all confused and come out from the kitchen and see us and be all adorable and surprised and then agree to be my girlfriend." James said, making gestures to go along with the explanation.
"Awesome. You should play that one song that's like- "God only knows what I'd do without you." I sang badly, "By the Beach Boys. I love that song ever since I saw Love Actually." I admitted.
"What a great movie." James mused, and we both took bites of pasta. "But I'll make sure to play that song." James told me, nodding.
"What colours are the cupcakes?" I asked curiously. James shrugged.
"I asked her to make them look like candy hearts." James said. "Because I know you love Valentine's Day."
"What a shame it's mid-July." I joked, and James laughed.
"What a shame." James agreed wistfully. I smiled to myself and finished my pasta, while James was still working on his seeing as his bowl was twice as big. "No wonder you're so tiny. I bet I could fit my whole hand around your bicep." James mused.
"Oh, give it a go! I bet you can't!" I shot back. James laughed, wrapping his hand around my arm while I held it out to him.
"I win." James laughed, and I pouted dramatically.
"Hey, I'm going to get us some cupcakes from the back because I think we've planned this out quite well." I said, grinning triumphantly. James raised a hand to the sky and I laughed, excusing myself and getting two of today's cupcakes from the fridge, spotting the cupcakes with letters on them. They were adorable, all done up with fondant, and looked just like candy hearts in pastel colours.
"James, those cupcakes are so cute!" I gasped, coming back to the table with our two cupcakes. One red velvet for James, one lemon for me.
"Good! We deserve these." James said, pushing his empty bowl to the side and holding his cupcake out to mine. We 'clinked' our cupcakes and then pulled the wrappers off, moving to take a bite. I took a small bite of mine while James smelled his, making a face.
"What's wrong?" I asked. James shrugged, looking up at mine.
"My icing smells a bit off." He said warily. I raised my eyebrows, waving for him to let me smell. James held it out to me and I leaned over the table, putting my nose above the icing and sniffing.
"It smells alright to me, maybe-" But I was cut off by the cupcake hitting me in the face. My mouth and nose were covered in icing and I flinched back, staring at James with my mouth wide open.
"Oldest trick in the book and I still got you!" James laughed, pulling out his phone and snapping a picture, which he posted on Instagram.
"James! Jesus!" I giggled, looking around for a napkin. James grabbed his and held on to my chin, wiping my face off for me.
"Come on, it was funny!" James laughed, wiping the last bit of icing off my nose and licking it off his finger. I giggled, pretending to be mad at him and taking another bite of my cupcake.
"So what should I wear tomorrow?" I asked, holding my hand under my chin to catch any crumbs. James thought for a moment before looking back at me.
"That pretty dress we got at Urban Outfitters last week, the lace one that's the different blue colours." He said, smiling at me. I nodded, putting together an outfit in my head.
"Okay." I agreed, glancing outside and seeing how dark it was already. "It's late, I should get home. Want to stay or did you need a ride or anything?" I asked. James shook his head, finishing his cupcake.
"Nah, I drove. I'll head out and let you get your beauty sleep, not that you need too much." James teased, and I blushed bright red. "You're too cute." James teased, smiling widely at me. I smiled back and got to my feet, collecting all of the trash together and putting it in James' bowl.
"Hey, before I go... Uh, since tomorrow is when we start 'dating,' you do realise we're going to have to, like... kiss and all that, right?" James asked. I blushed, but nodded, stopping my work with the trash and leaning my hands on the small vintage wooden table and facing him.
"I- uh realised that, yeah. Let's just not make it awkward. I think if we worry about it too much it will make it worse when the time comes, you know?" I said, dusting off my hands and crossing my arms. James nodded, doing the same.
"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow at six." James said brightly, giving me a tight hug and then waving as he left. I watched him go until his car drove off, then proceeded to throw away our trash, load the dish washer, and close up the shop. I drove home, excitedly tapping my knee. Tomorrow was going to be fun.
