Garrett had just flipped the sign on the door to open and returned to the counter to tidy up when the first customer came in. It was a woman, probably in her forties. Her hair was elegantly tied up in a bow and she had the classic appearance of a secretary. She was probably there for her morning caffeine fix.
"Good morning," Garrett greeted her with his best smile.
"Good morning," she said politely, standing in front of him. "I would like to order a cake for tomorrow."
"Of course," Garrett looked for a notepad in one of the drawers. "What kind of cake would you like?"
"Well, I'm not really sure. It's for my boss, it's for his birthday," the woman answered.
"Oh, so do you need a big cake? Like for an office party or something like that?" Garrett asked, pen ready to start taking notes.
"No, not at all. Just a small cake, we're not having a party, but I thought it would be nice for him to have at least a cake," she looked thoughtful. "I remembered one of the secretaries ordered a cake for her boss not too long ago, and it was delicious, so I asked her where she got it."
"What flavor do you think your boss would prefer?' Garrett asked.
"I think something classic would be okay. He doesn't really talk much, so I don't know what he likes," the woman moved to take a look at the cakes Garrett had placed in the displayer earlier. "Maybe vanilla, with chocolate icing?"
Garrett wrote that down before he started to list all the possible fillings she could choose from. "Do you want me to put candles on it or are you going to take care of that yourself?"
"It would be great if you could do it for me," she smiled gently. "And could you maybe write something on it?"
"Like happy birthday?" Garrett wanted to know, scribbling down notes.
"Happy Birthday, Mr. Wallace would be nice, more personal," she said after a pause.
Garrett looked up at her with wide eyes. "Mr. Wallace?"
"Yes," she nodded.
"Wallace as in Nathaniel Wallace?" Garrett blinked in confusion. She frowned before nodding once again. "Nate's birthday is tomorrow?"
"Do you know Mr. Wallace?" The woman tilted her head to the side, looking at Garrett with far more interest.
"I--yeah I do," Garrett stared down at what he had just written down. "He didn't tell me it was his birthday."
"I only know because I was going through some files he needed me to work on and some of his personal information was there," she explained. Then, she extended a hand towards Garrett. "I'm Lucy, Mr. Wallace's secretary."
"Garrett, I'm his, uh, friend," he replied, shaking it, knowing it was better not to tell anyone from Nate's office what kind of relationship they really had. Lucy seemed a bit shocked, as if she couldn't believe Nate had friends. "I can't believe he didn't mention it."
"Well, Mr. Wallace is really reserved, I'm not really surprised. I've worked for him for almost two years and I still don't know much about him."
"I know, it's a lot of work to get him to talk," Garrett sighed, leaning against the counter. He observed the woman standing in front of him for a few seconds. "It's really kind of you to make sure he at least has something nice for his birthday."
"It's the least I can do," Lucy shrugged. "I feel bad for him, every day, and I wish I could do more. People at the office don't really appreciate him, I guess."
YOU ARE READING
A Cross Examination of a Disgrace and Syrup with Honey
Romance"Garrett Phillips stopped having grand dreams when he was nine years old. It didn't mean his dreams were irrelevant or that he didn't dream at all. It just meant that he had a new view about what the important things in life were. Losing your mot...
