Devil's Food Cake [✓]

9 | buttermilk pancakes

The afternoon had soon arrived and the customers had trickled down to a manageable number as was the case during teatime.

As I was placing a cup in front of a customer, I thought I saw a familiar figure walk past me, going straight to the counter to wait in-line.

I glanced over my shoulder and who did I happen to see but my favourite person in the whole world: Zachary (note the sarcasm).

Thankfully, he hadn't seen me yet, so I took the opportunity to check him out.

He seemed to be glaring down at his phone. Obviously, he must have received some bad news or, as I suspected, that may have been his normal expression. I felt sorry for him.

But I had to remind myself that they guy was the son of a billionaire, so what had he to be miserable about?

I headed towards the counter where Jonny was dealing with the customers. He was in a particularly cheerful mood today, perhaps because we were going out on a dinner date later. I noticed that he was telling me more jokes than usual.

I didn't know what was going to happen this evening, but I thought that I'd let events progress at their own pace and see what happened.

'One hot chocolate with whipped cream, Pooh bear,' Jonny said to me, as soon as he'd finished speaking to a customer.

I flashed him a smile to show that I'd heard while Jonny gave me a wink.

My dad had decided to try out some local produce from a nearby farm that had been recommended to him by one of his chef mates.

Apparently, the eggs the farmer sold were excellent, so my dad wanted to see if they made any difference to the taste of his pastries.

His second in command Marge was managing us this afternoon, but she usually popped in every hour or so at the most while the majority of her time was spent in the office, reading trashy romance novels.

Although, she was no pushover, just someone who was used to making people fall into line with minimal effort and fuss.

I hummed a little as I made the drink. Soon, I could hear the familiar deep, displeased tones of Zachary Malone.

Jonny's lips thinned as he listened to him. When he tried to speak, Zachary cut him off. I sighed.

What did he want now?

Zachary was pointing to me and I raised my eyebrows at Jonny, puzzled as to what he wanted. I couldn't quite hear over the music playing in the background.

Running a hand through his hair, Jonny came over to me, giving me a crooked smile. He glanced back at Zachary. 'Weird request, but the guy wants you to serve him. Stubborn bastard.'

I stared at Zachary who was leaning against the counter, tapping his fingers impatiently against the surface.

Who did he even think he was? I wasn't his personal slave - that was probably the only reason why he bothered to come into our bakery. To annoy me.

'Tell him I'm busy, Jonny.' I nodded down at my cup, not really wanting to spoil my mood by serving him.

'I told him that.' Jonny narrowed his eyes at Zachary, who was now pouring himself a glass of water, as was his habit, while he waited for me to prepare his order.

There was the sound of a wolf-whistle which made me almost overfill the cup. 'Why did you stop dancing, Candice? I was enjoying the booty shake."

I didn't know whether to shake him or not. A blush was spreading on my cheeks and I rubbed my palms against my cheek nervously. Jonny surprised me by wrapping his arm around my waist, almost as though... he was claiming me as his property.