And Back Again

Chapter 6

*The Next Week*

"Oh yes," Emily said softly with a bright smile, "Homemade."

"All of it is this year," Zara added. "Family favorites, specialities, and," she noticed Bastian a few tables down. "One thing isn't homemade actually, we had someone donate a large order from Magnolia in LA."

The bake sale customer's face lit up and she hurried down the line to see for herself.

"I hate him," Emily grumbled.

"Yeah he's something else," Zara huffed. "Did that city business stuff really burn you guys?"

Emily nodded but quickly changed her opinion. "It did but it wasn't devastating. It was less about the money more about losing," she admitted to Zara in a whisper.

"Got cha," Zara nodded. "Well, if it helps, some people can see through the dimples and accent."

"Not many," Emily glanced over to see Bastian beaming at a few parents. "Look at that smile, if he wasn't business competition I'd probably like him too."

"He seems pushy though, he lays it on so thick," Zara said. "I get it, he's hot and generous but," she shrugged. Zara's opinion was influenced heavily by Bastian's interactions with the club and she thought better than to tell Emily about them.

"He knows what he is, hot and rich," Emily said. "He just doesn't hide that he knows it and that's the problem."

"Not for everyone though," Zara snorted. "The novelty will fade. Gotta play nice though, there's too much so called charity on the line."

"I didn't know you guys needed so much," Emily told her.

"I'm not gonna run around begging for the district," Zara said with a bit of anger. "They don't give a shit and I'm not going to put myself out to clean up their mess. If something is urgent, I'll find a way to fix it, if not I'll find another way."

"You should have become a nun," Emily joked. "I think you do more fundraising stuff for that school than teaching."

Zara rolled her eyes. "I know. I've been thinking about going back to school, maybe changing fields."

"Really?" Emily was very interested. "What's Angel think?"

"He'd support me cutting off my own leg just to be supportive," Zara joked. "But, no, he's really great. I know he'd tell me to go for it but he also knows I love teaching. He keeps reminding me of that."

"This is not teaching," Emily said to her. "If you went back, got another degree and switched your focus you could find a job anywhere, even beyond high school."

"Yeah, I'll be a fucking professor," Zara said sarcastically. "There's a lot of balls up in the air right now," she sighed. "It's not a good time."

"Angel still sick?" Emily asked.

Zara shook her head. "He's much better. Still foggy, sometimes he'll forget stuff minutes after I tell him, but the headaches and nausea have really improved." Lowering her voice, Zara moved closer to Emily to keep her words private. "He's not working though, like working working, and he's really depressed about his bike. It's like he has no freedom and that's not a good feeling for him. He's been living this wild life for years and he's happy that we've settled but now he's essentially grounded and asking for rides. It's a huge blow."

"That makes sense," Emily nodded slowly. "Maybe when he's back on his feet and doing runs again you can start looking at schools."

Giving a noncommittal shrug, Zara pulled out her phone to text Angel who was with Coco, Gilly and Creeper, despite telling Zara he'd be relaxing all night. He didn't feel too guilty, they were gathered at their house at least, but he hated being so vague. When the text came through he made it a point to tell her when she came home.