She's the One [DISCONTINUED]

[3]

I hear the distant beat of my favorite song and roll around in my bed. I lie on my chest and try to bury my face inside my pillow to drown the sound out of my ears.

I must be having a dream. But wait...why am I dreaming of a song?

It takes me a solid two minutes to wake up fully and realize my alarm was ringing next to my pillow. Right, I think to myself and chuckle at my stupidity.

I wash up and get dressed before going downstairs. I walk into the kitchen and mom gives me a surprised look. "Wow, you're up early. Again."

"Yup." I rub the sleep out of my eyes and stare hungrily at the pan she's holding.

She puts the eggs and toast on a plate and places it in front of me. Like always, I waste no time digging in.

"Josh! You're gonna be late, wake up!"

I nearly choke on my food as I hear Chloe scream from upstairs. My mom and I glance at each other and burst out laughing.

Chloe walks into the kitchen and nearly drops her phone in shock. "What? You're up on time, again? Yesterday, I had thought it was because you had a nightmare and peed your pants or something, but two days in a row? What a miracle!"

Same old dramatic Chloe. I shake my head while continuing to stuff my mouth full.

"But seriously though, anything interesting happening at work? Did you get a raise or something?"

I freeze and look up at her. "Hmm? What do you mean?" I try to ask her but it comes out muffled since my mouth was stuffed with food.

"Ew, Josh. Swallow first." She grabs a plate and mom puts the food on it.

While the two of them chat for the rest of breakfast time, I keep thinking about what Chloe asked me earlier. Am I suddenly excited to go to work...just because Lydia's there?

***

As I get to the familiar big sign 'Roswell's bakery', I hop off my bike and place it next to the brick wall at the side of the building.

I walk in and see Steph sweeping the floor while Lydia cleans the top of the table.

"Hey," I greet them and reach for my apron.

"Hey," Lydia replies and puts her focus back to her work.

"So this is permanent." Steph nods slowly while staring at me with a smile.

"I hope so." I smile back, relieved to see that she doesn't have that disappointed look on her face this time.

I walk over to the fridge and Lydia follows after me so we can carry the ingredients together. I do the mixing while she watches me like she did the past three days. Remembering what I didn't get the chance to ask her yesterday, I decide to go for it now.

"So...you said you'll practice at home, how is that going so far?"

I look up at her and notice that she's giving me a grateful look. I quickly look down and focus on the mixer as I wait for her answer.

"Not so well. I mean I know all the steps and everything, but I just can't seem to...do it right."

"Don't worry. It's only your second day." I try to reassure her.

"You're right. Plus, I'm a really fast learner. I promise I'll get the hang of it soon enough." She did that oath swearing thing again, by placing her hand on her chest with a determined look.

I try not to laugh and succeed at it, but Steph catches the look on my face and gives me a knowing grin.

A customer walks in just as Steph finishes cleaning, and she greets him before taking his order. A few more customers come in and Lydia had to greet one of them and take his order. But she looks back at me after a moment and I immediately go to her rescue.

"He wants to know if we'll do a chocolate hazelnut truffle birthday cake with Nutella-flavoured buttercream topped with melted chocolate with his daughter's nickname written on top of it with a floral font," she tells me in one breath.

The man gives her a weird look, and I smile politely at him. "Sorry, she's new. What size do you want it to be?"

Lidya stands next to me and listens to our conversation as I take his order. She turns to me after all the customers leave. "Do not let me do that again before I learn every single flavour and types of cakes you guys do."

I chuckle at her embarrassed expression and continue to mix the flour and eggs.

Boss walks in after a minute, and Steph and I simultaneously glance at each other before looking at the door. 'We're open' the sign was actually turned correctly. We look back to Lydia and she smiles proudly.

Boss takes a seat on one of the chairs without any greeting. "Busy day, huh? I just saw some people coming out of here."

"Yeah, lots of people ordered today. And there are five more cakes over there ready to be delivered." Lydia reports excitedly.

"That's good." He nods and his face turns a bit more serious. "I talked to your mom."

Her smile drops and she looks back to my hands to focus on the cake I was making. I hide my curiosity and continue to do my job as the minutes pass.

Steph walks over to help me pour the cream on top while Lidia continues to watch. But then Boss stands up and looks at her. "Let's go for a walk."

She hesitantly follows him out the door and Steph looks up at me. "What do you think is going on between them? Lydia and her mom, I mean."

"Dunno, maybe they're fighting about Lydia getting this job. Maybe her mom reacted like my parents did when I told them I'll work here full time instead of going to college."

"I'm glad Mr. Roswell is talking to her privately right now because she clearly didn't wanna talk about it in front of us," she mutters putting the empty egg shells away.

Lydia and Boss still haven't come back after thirty minutes, and I try hard to keep my curious mind from wondering. I keep reminding myself, it's none of your business, Josh. It's none of your business.

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