Sugar Rush

- | before | ii

–

b e f o r e

(part ii)

WITHIN THE HOUR, the reception was in full swing. As always, the dessert proved popular at weddings. The platters emptied out almost as quickly as they came, and I'd already made two trips to and from the kitchen.

This was my third.

I stepped out with two plates balanced in each hand, and noticed the lift doors begin to close. "Hold the door, please!" A hand stopped the doors and I dashed in, only to stop short. "Oh, hello!"

"Hi." Parker looked just as surprised as I was. He glanced down at the plates and held out his hand. "Let me help you with that."

"Oh, no, that's fine—" I started to say, but he took one of the plates from me.

As the doors slid shut again, I watched as he undid one corner of the plastic wrap to pull out a macaroon. He popped it into his mouth, taking his time to chew, and shut his eyes briefly as though to savour it.

"Did you really want to help me with the plates, or did you just want another macaroon?" I asked in amusement.

He swallowed and met my gaze; his eyes bright. "Yes."

I smiled and shook my head at him. Who would've thought Parker Collins had a sweet tooth? "What're you doing down on third? Shouldn't you be at the reception?"

He shrugged and raised his other hand. I hadn't noticed it earlier, but he'd kept that hand well hidden behind his back. Now I saw that he held a bottle of wine. "It's for the bride."

I let out a laugh at that. It was obvious that he'd repeated exactly what I'd said earlier. "Someone's a fast learner."

"I had a good teacher." He raised the bottle as though to salute me, then asked, "What about you? Didn't you just bring a new batch of dessert up?"

"Two, but they're gone now. The macaroons and eclairs, at least. I don't think my meringues are good enough yet."

"They're good."

I stared at him in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah, I had some earlier. Had is not really the right word—I stole them off my friend's plate. I don't think he'll forgive me for that."

"Somehow, I think a friendship can overcome some cake thieving."

"I doubt so. Nolan is very serious when it comes to food."

I laughed again and followed him out of the lift. I was pleasantly surprised to find that talking to Parker was this easy. We'd barely exchanged a few words back in school and he'd always had this air of reticence that kept most people at bay. I almost didn't want to go back to the reception because we'd have to part ways. I hadn't seen him in years. Who knew when I'd meet him again?

As we headed down the hallway, Parker slowed his pace to match mine. He cleared his throat and I glanced at him. "A client of mine has a gathering here next week. If you don't have anything lined up then, I'd like it if you could cater for him."

"Thank you, but...I'm afraid this is my last one. I'll be closing the business after this."

His eyebrows rose at my words and I tried not to falter. Admitting that I had failed was never easy. Admitting that I had failed in front of someone I'd always looked up to was even harder.