Just for Tonight (2021 Watty's Winner)

Chapter One

Present Day

Scarlett tapped her fingers rhythmically against the counter, waiting for the morning rush. The city was creeping alive, she knew people would be coming in for their coffee or pastries. Her specialty here were her doughnuts. She had them lined up perfectly in the display case and the coffee brewed behind her. Scanning the doughnuts like she did every morning, she nodded in satisfaction. She had dozens of different flavors, all unique. Her favorite was the simple brown sugar one, she was never a fan of the ones covered in frosting. She loved seeing the little kid's who stuffed their face with her pastries, faces covered in her ingredients. She might not like the crazy doughnuts, but she was glad they did.

The television was playing softly in the background, a random interview of someone filling the air. She faintly recognized the girl as some up and coming singer but didn't care enough to listen. Instead, she watched as people hustled through the streets, of course, rudely shoving past each other. It was close to seven in the morning and she would be opening in about three minutes. Checking her watch, she counted down from ten in her head, knowing exactly when her friend would be showing up.

"Sorry, I'm late!" Maeve exclaimed, bursting through the doors. She was shoving her hair up into a ponytail, gathering it messily.

"You say that every time, at this point, you're on time for being late," Scarlett chuckled, tossing the lavender apron at her. Maeve caught it with ease, tying it around her wide waist.

Leaning against the doughnut window, she tilted her head. "Well, boss, at least I'm here."

"Your standards are low," Scarlett said teasingly, playfully slapping Maeve's arms away from the counter, not wanting smudges on it, "if you weren't my friend I'd have fired you the second day you worked here."

"So, not the first day?" Maeve clarified with a grin, raising her eyebrows. "Better than my last job, then."

"Aim high," Scarlett said dully as Maeve took her place at the cash register. "Hey, don't forget to be nicer today. Just because this city has it's mood automatically set to crabby, doesn't mean we need to be that way. Be sweeter than the doughnuts."

Maeve groaned. "But everyone in this city is so annoying."

Scarlett chuckled as she made her way over to the front of her bakery. She pushed the button on the window and her glitzy "Open" sign lit up. She couldn't help but smile, absolutely loving the way her bakery looked. The colorful sign shimmered as the set sequence ran its course. The lights would ripple in a rainbow of colors, constantly moving on the sign to grab attention. Something was extra-pleasing about the name of her bakery being lit up. She grinned in pride- she had made it. This was part of her daily routine, she couldn't help but be proud of what she had accomplished. When her father passed, he had given Scarlett money for her inheritance and she used that to open her bakery like he always wanted for her.

The door opened and a man on his phone came in. Scarlett opened her mouth to greet him before he began to yell on the phone. "Hey! I don't care that he's already had six meetings today. Tell Nate to suck it up and come in. This was his idea to begin with!"

The man reached the register and looked nearly frightened at what he saw and Scarlett couldn't blame him. Maeve had the largest smile she had ever seen plastered on her face. Her eyes were wider and she was waving enthusiastically. Scarlett's face immediately dropped, shoving her face into her hands and groaning quietly.

"Hello! Welcome to Scarlett's, what can I get for you this wonderful morning?" Maeve asked in an overly sugary-sweet tone, throwing in a fake giggle at the end.

"Uh..." the man trailed off, clearly not expecting such enthusiasm at seven in the morning. Scarlett frantically waved her hands behind him, begging her friend to tone it down. Maeve gave her a look as if to say, You asked for this. "I'll just get the 'Mason'."

A part of Scarlett's heart still skipped a beat whenever someone ordered that and said his name. She hadn't expected it to be her most popular item. It was just a doughnut with her homemade sugar glaze on it. When she noticed how many people ordered it, she had tried to change the name to hear it less often but customers refused to call it anything different. New Yorkers were stubborn, she had learned that in her time as a business owner.

"Oh, and a hot hazelnut coffee, nothing in it. Medium." Scarlett snapped from her trance, immediately jumping to pour his coffee as Maeve got his doughnut. She grabbed the light purple to-go cup and the white scallop-lined sleeve. Pouring the coffee in, she inhaled the smell of hazelnut. She grabbed the white cover and pressed it on firmly, turning to the man who was still on the phone.

"No, for God's sake, put Nate on the phone. Yes, I know he's with you," the man rambled loudly. Maeve and Scarlett both tried getting his attention to give him his order and have him pay, but he was too entrenched in his conversation. "Oh, how do I know he's with you? Maybe because you're neurotic, Suni."

He paused and the girls could hear a woman screaming on the other side of the phone. Scarlett tried to interject, noticing the long line of impatient customers forming behind him. "Sir, that'll be-"

"Yes! You're neurotic. That shouldn't even insult you, it's just a fact! It's just a fact," he repeated in a mockingly slow tone, hand waving wildly in the air.

"Sir!" Maeve screeched, completely dropping the nice act. The man jumped, startled by the outburst, lowering his phone timidly. Maeve huffed out as she forced herself to grin broadly again. "That'll be $7.45. We do accept tips."

Scarlett jabbed her elbow roughly into her friend's side, giving her a pleading look. "But we also try to maintain some professionalism here, don't we?"

"Not when there's a line out the door within two minutes of opening," Maeve replied between her teeth, gesturing to the line, still smiling. The man scoffed, dropping a ten-dollar bill onto the counter and taking his order without saying a word.

"Hey, it worked! We got a tip!" Maeve said joyfully, showing her friend the money.

"Thank you so much for choosing Scarlett's this morning!" Scarlett yelled desperately, but the man ignored her, walking out the door while still yelling on the phone. She groaned, turning to the girl next to her who was still ogling at the money. "You're fired."

Maeve let out a loud, quick laugh, slapping her friend on the back. "Ha! Good try, but no, I'm not."

"No, you're not," Scarlett admitted after a beat of silence, "but know what you are? A menace."

Before her friend could retaliate, Scarlett turned to the timid-looking customer who was watching the two with wide eyes. "Hi, welcome to Scarlett's, what can I get for you?"