329 Pies

December 18th 4 PM: 7 Days Until Christmas

"And then he just offered me a job!" I told Lizzy as I drove to the pie shop from school. "So, I guess I work there now,"

"What about that jerk you said worked there?" Lizzy asked.

"I guess I'll just have to tolerate him. He was so stuck up. I just can't stand him. Oh, I gotta go. I'm almost there. I'll see you tomorrow,"

"Bye!" Lizzy said.

I parked my car and carefully stepped on the payment. It had been snowing for the past few days so ice was everywhere. The big Mr. Mathews's Pies sign was covered completely in ice. I had been to this shop countless times but for the first time ever... I was nervous. Mr. Mathews was pouring salt on the outside porch. He waved to me as I approached the door. "Good afternoon, darlin'! Drew is inside. He'll have stuff for you to do." he smiled.

"Got it,"

"Oh and if he is bothering you come get me, okay?" he laughed.

"Will do!" I said. Jingle bells jingled as I opened the door. The shop was empty which I expected. It was only four o'clock anway. I looked around for Andrew. He was nowhere to be found. "Andrew?" I called out. I walked behind the counter and studied the photos on Mr. Mathews's huge photo wall.

Suddenly, Andrew burst out from behind the curtain. I screamed and tripped over my own two feet. "Are you okay?" he laughed. A grabbed my necklace took a deep breath.

"Not really! You scared the shit out of me!" I said. Andrew gave me a devilish smile. I let out another deep breath. Andrew stuck his hand out and helped me up.

"I'm sorry about that. Let's just start over." Andrew said.

"My name's Bailey," I said. I shook his hand.

 "Nice to meet you, Bailey," Andrew smiled. "So, today we are starting to bake pies for Christmas deliveries. The goal is to make 75 apple crumb pies by the end of today. I am going to be slicing the apples. You think you can handle filling the crust?"

"Yeah," I said tying up my hair. "Let's bake some pies!" I threw my fist in the air. Andrew scoffed.

"Come on I'll show you where everything is." he laughed.