Sweet Consumption

Chapter 5

        I step into the hotel and pause. The dark wood walls, high ceilings, and Flemish Masters-type paintings pull me out of the modern world into somewhere completely different. The doors open up to a beautiful entryway where shiny cream tiles lead to a green marble check-in counter. On the opposite side of the room, a large golden fireplace is surrounded by furniture upholstered in plush green velvet over wild print rugs. I keep thinking a butler in a black tuxedo will pop out at any moment and ask for my coat. 

 I take a moment to fully appreciate the decor, but then decide not to waste any more time. I made a plan before coming here and considering Collin is a high profile guest, I didn’t want to get thrown out on my butt by demanding entrance to his room. So, I made some very unique cupcakes and am wearing my old bakery gear with my company logo on it. I would pretend to deliver a special treat from the movie studio in hopes that I could either send a note or go up there myself. I’m about to walk to the concierge desk, when I see John lounging by one of the fireplaces, his fingers flying across his phone with his brows drawn together. 

 I take a detour and decide this is even better. He can not only deliver Collin the treat, but convey my message as well. 

He looks up as I approach and a smile instantly lights the frown that was in place. “Ms. Martin! What a surprise!” He pockets his phone, stands and bows formally to me. 

“John, it’s good to see you. How are you feeling today? Are you sore at all?”

He shakes his head. “No, I’m fine. What are you doing here?”

 “Well, I heard Collin was a guest here and thought I would---thank him for taking care of the car repair.” I nod down to the two white boxes that I'd carried in.

“Oh, I hope he didn't upset you too much by doing that.” He eyes the boxes with curiosity. "What are they?"

“I'm a pastry chef and thought I would bake him something sweet.” I lift one of the boxes out for him. “This one's for you.”

One eyebrow raises as he gingerly takes it. “They aren’t poisoned are they?”

I laugh. “No…well yours isn’t at least.” He glances up at me sharply. “I’m kidding,” I soothe. 

He narrows his eyes, but curiosity gets the better of him and he opens his box. I'm very proud of what I did in so short a time. Since John reminded me of 007 on steroids, I decided to make him a cupcake that reflected that. I made the two desserts pretty big, so they could fit the various small toys I had bought. John's has black and white icing in the shape of a suited man, topped with a small plastic gun and shades.

He laughs upon seeing my creation and carefully extracts the pastry from the box. “This is great! It looks almost too good to eat. You said you made this yourself?”

“Yes, thank you. Do you think you could give Collin his? I put a little note in there too, to explain what it means.” 

He cocks his eyebrow and eyes the box in my hand. “Do I get to see his first?”

I shrug my shoulders and hand him the box after he returns his cupcake to the safety of his own. He opens it and laughs uproariously.

“Well, what do you think?” I ask, innocently.

He wipes a tear from the corner of his eye. “Oh, I think he's going to hate it, then love it. He's in a meeting with his agent until three, then we have to head to the filming site and I don’t know when that will end. I’ll put it in his room for later.” He looks up at me with a mischievous grin. “I knew you would be mad that he paid for everything, but I didn’t think you’d be this mad.”