The bell chimed over the door to the bakery and Marinette looked up from her spellbook with a smile.
"Welcome to Charmed. What can I get for you today?"
The girl at the counter peeked up at the young witch through her dark, purple-streaked fringe and gave her a timid smile.
"Um," she started, so quiet that Marinette had to lean across the counter to hear her. "I have a presentation to give in my class today and my girlfriend, Rose, said that you might be able to help me." Marinette gave the shy girl a kind smile and nodded, stepping to the side to gesture to the display case of baked goods.
"Of course. Just pick anything from the 'Confidence' shelf right here," she said, pointing to the top shelf that was covered in cookies, croissants, and danishes.
When Marinette's adoptive parents died in a car accident, they had left her their bakery. Being non-magical humans, they made their brand by making the best pastries in Paris. When Marinette took over the business, she added her own spin to it. She still used their recipes, but she charmed certain items to help give her customers a little boost when they needed it.
The 'Confidence' treats that the girl was looking at were meant to help with public speaking, general nervousness, and such. 'Good Luck' danishes were her best sellers, though, and they gave whomever ate them a boost of good luck for the day. All of the spells were temporary, of course, but Marinette knew firsthand how difficult life could be and she was happy to use her powers to help people when they needed it.
Once her customer pointed out a raspberry danish, Marinette bagged it and rang her up.
"You're going to do great with your presentation," Marinette said as she counted out the girl's change. She handed the money over with another smile.
"Thank you," the other girl whispered, returning Marinette's smile with a small one of her own and quickly making her way out the door and down the street. Marinette wiped the counter clean from the crumbs that had fallen on the glass and slid over to the sink beside the door to the kitchen.
She had just finished washing her hands and sat back down at her book when the bell chimed again. Looking up, she saw her best friend, Alya, make her way around the counter.
"Hey, girl," Alya quipped, grabbing her orange apron from a hook on the wall and tying it around her waist. Marinette closed her book and turned on her stool to face her.
"Hey, yourself," she replied, crossing one leg over the other and watching Alya bustle about to start her daily chores. She had gotten lucky to find a best friend that was so willing to help her with her business. Truth be told, Alya was much better with the bookkeeping part of business than Marinette had any hope of being, so they quickly decided to become partners in running the bakery. Giving their products a magical boost had been something that Alya had originally suggested after she confessed to wishing that she had powers of her own to fall back on if she ever needed them.
Alya was the human child of a fox shapeshifter and another human. She was confident, sassy, and Marinette's soulmate in every platonic sense of the word. Alya didn't need to have magic in her blood to be amazing, she did that all on her own.
"Has it been busy today?" Alya asked, washing her hands at the sink.
"Not really. It's been pretty slow. Lunch rush was pretty busy but that's about it," Marinette said, sliding off of the stool and stretching her arms above her head. "I've already got everything in the kitchen cleaned and I already did inventory, so there isn't much else for us to do but wait for customers at this point." Alya grinned, wiping her hands on her apron.
