Sweet Pleasures ✔︎

[24] 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒔

Status : Unedited

❦︎

Life goes on.

Jupiter expected to mope around last night's debacle, nursing her wounds and feeling sorry for herself. Maybe even indulging in a jumbo-sized bag of Cheetos. But being a business owner meant that you couldn't close for the day just because the man you loved was being a stubborn ass. If you could, female-owned businesses across the globe would probably be shut down for good.

So after a sleepless, tearful night on her lumpy mattress, she hauled herself downstairs at dawn on Sunday to prep for opening. Pale light filtered through the sky as she let herself into the bakery and locked the door behind her. Isabelle had texted that she was up in San Jose for the weekend, the message reminding Jupiter that both her sister and Clementine would be leaving for good soon.

She set her bag on the counter. An air of desolation hung over the bakery, though she supposed that might be partly due to her mood. The tables and chairs were stacked to one side, and all the wall hangings had already been taken down and stored. Tomorrow they'd close for a week so Eleanor Pendergrass's crew could come in and get the renovations work done.

Jupiter walked into the kitchen, focusing on getting things ready. She turned on the deep fryer and retrieved various batters from the walk-in refrigerators. She put tins of muffins into the oven and fried pâte à choux for the Declairs. As she started making the chocolate custard, a knock sounded on the front door.

She went to answer, surprised at the sight is Isabelle on the other side of the glass. She unlocked the door to let her sister in.

"I thought you weren't getting back until this evening," she said.

"I caught a ride with a girl who's going down to LA." Isabelle followed Jupiter back to the kitchen. "How was your museum event?"

Jupiter was tempted to lie, not wanting to relive it, but she didn't have the energy.

"Not great." She checked the timer on the oven. "I looked good, though. I looked beautiful."

"So what happened?"

"Nothing. That's the problem."

Isabelle plucked a muffin from the tray and lifted her eyebrkws. Jupiter turned back to making custard and started spooning it into a pastry bag.

"You might have been right," she mumbled.

"About what?" Isabelle asks.

"About me thinking there might have been some fairy tale between me and Josh."

Embarrassment rose in her throat. Isabelle traveled and blogged about love traditions throughout the world, but as far as Jupiter could tell, her sister didn't have any romantic notions about love. Maybe Jupiter should envy that about her too.

"There's never a fairy tale," Isabelle finally said.

Jupiter glanced at her sister. Isabelle was staring down at the broken muffin, her forehead creased.

"Why did you leave?" Jupiter asked.

"I never fit in here. And I never liked it."

"But that didn't mean you had to leave me and Mom."

"You were fine without me. You were so close, always happy at the bakery and watching your movies. I was just more comfortable with Dad. And there was nothing for me to do when we moved to Rainsville. I wanted to see what else there was."

Maybe it was time for Jupiter to do that too. She took paper liners from a shelf and handed them to her sister. Isabelle started layering paper onto the display baskets.