Contact

Chapter 2 - The Girl and The Cake

The day was bright and beautiful, and the streets were filled with people. A couple of places still had their Christmas decorations up. Delicious smells wafted out from the various stores, and some of the smaller businesses were passing out free hot chocolate as a way of drawing customers in.

"Man, this is an adorable town," I sighed, looking into the windows of some of the shops. There were bookshops, and restaurants, and bakeries, and toy stores, and all of the things that set off some of my childhood nostalgia. 

"So, where do you want to eat?" Miri asked, "Everyone and their mother's opened up eateries down here, so if you want any kind of food, it's probably here."

I paused, as did Miri and Caz, near the door of a small bakery. Inside, there was one single girl working at the counter, her sleeves rolled up to her elbows, and her medium-length, curly hair back in a hair net. My face flushed a deeper red than it had been before, and Caz snorted as he opened the door to the bakery.

"Hey, let's eat here," he laughed, before casually stepping into the store. The girl at the counter looked up, and beamed. Almost instantly I felt every single organ in my body stop working, and I attempted a very unnatural looking smile.

"Hey there!" she exclaimed, "How are you guys doing today?"

"Good!" Caz and Miri chorused, while I managed a shaky thumbs-up. The girl stretched out her arms, and gently said,

"Well, I'm the only one here today, so your orders might take a while! Is that okay with you?"

Miri and Caz nodded, and once again, I managed a shaky thumbs-up. She laughed, and as we approached the counter, asked,

"So, what can I get for you guys today?"

We all placed our orders. After we finished, she stuck out her hand in my direction, and said,

"So, my name's Emersyn. You can call me Emi, or just Em. What's your's?"

I awkwardly took her hand, and asked,

"Uh, what's my what?"

"Your name," she laughed, her dark eyes glittering. I was still holding (not even shaking) her hand, and was also two seconds and some unseasonably early pollen away from an asthma attack. 

"I'm Stella," I barely whispered, still holding her hand. The most beautiful smile I had ever seen spread across her face, and I realized I had been holding my breath. She squeezed my hand once, then let go of it, and said,

"It's nice to meet you! And... don't forget to breathe."

She winked, her smile spreading across her face, and then stepped away to work in the kitchen. Caz, Miri, and I all sat down at a table, and sat quietly for a moment. Caz would look at me, then grin, look back towards the kitchen, and back at me, being entirely quiet the whole time.

"Caz, what do you want?" I sighed, pressing my cheek into the palm of the hand that had touched Em's. There was a prolonged silence from Caz, before he softly wheezed out,

"Stella, you useless fucking lesbian!"

I buried my face in my hands, knowing that it was turning a deep red. Caz continued to laugh, and his laugh was growing louder by the minute. Finally, he calmed down, and took a few deep breaths, then said,

"I'm very sorry, but that was absolutely hilarious, and I don't think I've seen someone be such a disaster since I met my husband."

"Were you the disaster?" I asked, adding, "That better have been the case, or I'm going to throw myself off of the roof of this building."