Story of Us

Chapter 16 : Avery

It had been a busy morning at the bakery. People making orders for different events, and the added tourists that started arriving for spring break.

"Thinking about my brother?" Damien asked teasingly, bringing Avery out of her thoughts.

She couldn't stop thinking about Philip since the night before, actually, she couldn't stop thinking about him since the gala. She was beginning to see a different side of him that she didn't hate.

"What?" she asked.

"Amber told me what happened at the gala between you two."

"Oh, did she now?" she glared at Amber.

"Sorry, Dad's waiting for me to pick up some ingredients with him... See you both later," she hurried to the door.

"I'm glad you and Amber are together," Avery said, trying to change the topic of the conversation.

"Me too... Maybe you can get Philip to see things differently- we've never seen eye to eye on most things, but since mom died, he let father dictate everything in his life."

"Yeah, I mean sometimes he's rude and others he's nice."

"Well, he spends a lot of time around our father, so it makes sense for him to turn out just like him."

"Nonetheless, I think your mother would be proud of both of you."

"Thanks, you remind me of her and I'm sure Philip feels the same. But now, I need you to cover for me with Amber, I want to bake a cake for her"

"Sure... Do you know how to bake a cake?"

"I can try," he mumbled.

Time flew by as she read, but her mind occasionally wandered off to what Damien said about Philip.

"Next time I'll do this, remind me to not put my face near the mixer," Damien complained, wiping the flour off of his face.

A faint smoke smell wandered through the air as they talked, so they rushed into the kitchen to find smoke coming out of the oven. Damien had left the oven preheat far too long.

Like every other day, Avery delivered the leftovers from the bakery at the orphanage, but as she went in, she caught sight of Philip playing with the kids and after their short visit, he insisted to walk her home.

"The kids love you a lot," he said.

"I love them too, in fact, I love kids so much that I wanted to be a teacher."

"I am sure you would have been a great one."

"And you? If you weren't going to be a King and all of that, what do you think you would be doing?"

"I never really thought about it; since a young age I've been taught that one day I would be King."

That's sad, she thought. Every kid should be able to fantasize about their future.

When they arrived at her house, she thanked him for walking her all the way home and invited him to the activity they were having the following day.