Once Upon a Cheesecake

🍽 I: Cheesecakes are Everything 🍮

"Desserts are the fairy tales of the kitchen, a happily-ever-after to supper," -Terri Guillemets

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Once upon a time, I asked myself why everyone had to shower, get dressed, choose the same party venues and get caught simultaneously in the perpetually heavy traffic on the night before Christmas.

Was there a universal rule for everyone to do that so we would cause a massive traffic muddle?

I swiped on my phone to read another message from Wesley. My jaw clenched tightly before I pressed delete. He even had the guts to demand an explanation from me. If anyone had to explain anything, that would certainly be him. Except I lacked a speck of interest to listen.

"LQ?" came a masculine voice from beside me.

I turned to see the carpool taxi driver who's looking straight at the snail-paced queue of cars on the road to Jones Bridge. We've been on our way since seven in the evening and barely moved a meter from twenty minutes ago.

I raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"Lover's quarrel," he replied as if that justified why he was intruding my personal affairs. He faced me with an amused smile. "You're giving off negative vibes. I prefer my first rides to be light-hearted."

What?

I gawked at him in disbelief. Was he telling me I couldn't read on my phone in peace? Wasn't I allowed to feel my emotions anymore? I couldn't believe he dared to call me out when I didn't even make any sound.

"None of your business," I muttered dismissively.

I focused on the cityscape outside the window. He wasn't worth getting worked up on. Not after I had the worst night of my life yesterday. I was saving my energy for tonight's war.

It's the twenty fourth day in the calendar and I was running late for the annual party in our company where there'd be delicious buffet and free flowing drinks. Wesley would attend for sure.

December was easily my favorite month. It's my birth month, had the best festivities, holidays were longer and I got an excuse to binge on my favorite Pablo cheesecakes.

This year, the climax of the month had me soaring to the happiest peak when Wes proposed. . . only to plummet just as quickly when I discovered he cheated. I crashed down to an unfamiliar location. The aftermath left me wondering where I had fallen and which parts of me had broken.

But when you call me "Baby",
I know I'm not the only one. . .

I tensed and balled my fists as the song filled my ears, breaking the otherwise awkward silence. Last night's memories flooded my mind and reminded me of how naïve I had been for the past five years.

Then, the driver chuckled.

It's as if he knew what Wesley Xiu did to me. How that liar slept with Kate on the night of our engagement. How I found out from his wingman that those two monkeys had been fooling around since January. Or how my mom called me irrational for canceling the wedding because of baseless rumors.

"That's disgraceful, Ashley. What would your Auntie Vivian say?" My mom had chastised during dinner, defending her ex son-in-law-to-be.

"Perfect jam?" The man beside me had a teasing smirk on his face while looking at me.

Oh, this driver was doing it on purpose alright. It irked me that he's being too friendly when we're practically strangers. My eyes narrowed into tiny slits. Well, tinier than their usual slits courtesy of my Chinese lineage.

"Asshole," I spat at the driver. "Why are you doing this?"

"Huh?" came his innocent reply. "Doing what?"

"Is it fun for you to watch someone's misery?" I shrieked.

The sleeping anger woke up and burst uncontrollably. The hate, the hurt, the sadness, the frustration and all the crazy hormonal stuff decided to unite against me right then. Like super heroes, they conspired to tear down the strongest façade I had ever mustered.

Regrettably, they were successful.

Hot, salty tears and strangled sobs came pouring down like rain on my cheeks and bawling infantile critters. The look on his mortified face was priceless.

I crowned my newest most embarrassing moment now on the top list: Ugly crying in front of weird suavé driver in a strangely lavish black sedan taxi.

"Whoa," He brought his hands in the universal sign of surrender. "I gotta say, I'm far from being a sadist. Not a BDSM fan and it isn't my hobby to make girls cry."

I rolled my eyes at his attempt to be funny. The driver handed over a pack of tissues. Then, pulled a paper bag from his other side.

"At least, I make them cry for a different reason," he grinned confidently, placing the item on my midnight blue ball gown.

"I don't take alms or pity from strangers," I told him with full sarcasm, wiping my tears with the back of my hands. Damn, this crying feat was ruining my makeup. "I'm fine."

"Check the bag first," he persuaded, throwing a side-glance as he drove closer to our company building. "Go on, Ms. Grinch."

I quirked an eyebrow at his suspicious antics but inspected it anyway just to get it over with. "Pablo's. . ."

"Yep, cheesecakes are everything, right?" he confirmed casually, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

WAIT-How did he know that?

I diverted my eyes to intersect his mysterious brown ones. Just when I was about to ask him that question because this was seriously creeping me out, the guard from the building saluted him.

"Merry Christmas, CEO Lee."

The driver answered with a curt nod. I stared at him as the color on my face drained, matching his paper bag.

"Pleasant evening to you too, Manager Zhang," he smirked at me conceitedly.

This asshole was our CEO Ashton Lee? The lanky playmate I secretly had a colossal crush on when I was nine?

Ashton winked as if he read my mind. "At your service."

That's when the peculiar familiarity of his smiles and wordplay dawned on me. Then, I gasped. I called the CEO an asshole, totally annihilating my chances on that promotion.

Now, that's my cue to faint.

'Tis the perfect season, indeed.