Could It Be You? |✓

(24) New Loves, Old Loves - Part 2

Emma bends over the cabinet, slowly scanning the assortment of cakes. The aroma of piping hot pastries envelopes her, playing her olfactory senses and tempting her taste buds. Ethan's birthday is just around the corner, and she's doing what she does every year. She would always pre-order a nice cake for him, then have a meal with him on the actual day. If it falls on a  weekend, they may even movie marathon at his house. It's a tradition that has stuck over the years, and it hasn't changed even when they each had their other halves, something Emma truly appreciates.

She soon lays her eyes on a black forest cake and muses why she even thinks that she'd choose something different. The presence of choice is but an illusion; she always ends up picking the same chocolate cake. Emma lets out a giggle as she pictures smashing the cake into his face, a yearly ritual.

"Can I make a booking for this, please?" she asks the chubby teenage boy behind the counter. He quickly retrieves a jotter book from the drawer and nudges it over the counter. Emma flips it open and begins to scribble in her details.

"Hi, Emma! Wow, didn't expect to see you here."

Emma whirls around at her name. Her eyes fall on a tall lady in a black blouse and PU leather jeans. Her blonde curls cascade down her back like a waterfall, swaying slightly in the wind. She smiles at Emma warmly, her brown eyes bright and friendly.

"Sarah, hey!" Emma says, and they give each other a friendly hug. They aren't close, but they have been on amicable terms as far as she could remember.

Sarah's radiance is enviable, and Emma feels like an ugly duckling before a swan. "What brings you here?" she asks.

"Oh, I live near this place," Sarah explains. She brings a hand through her gold locks, and adds bashfully, "and I'm on a date, heh!"

"A date?" Emma repeats, surprised. Sarah turns behind, where a man in a green flannel shirt is making payment at Starbucks. He quickly jogs over to join them, and Emma recognises him too from the tabloids. Derrick. Contrary to the paparazzi photos she saw the other time, he looks much more refined and studious in person, with spectacles perched on his nose.

"This is Derrick, my boyfriend. Derrick, this is Emma!" Sarah introduces gleefully. She instinctively slips her hand into his, a quiet but none-too-subtle way of staking her claim, as he politely gives Emma a hi. Emma muses that this is such quick development, and couldn't help but wonder if what the tabloids reported were true then. Did Sarah have an affair? Was that the reason for the break?

A voice in her head tells her it's rude to jump to such conclusions. "Wow." was all Emma could manage. Sarah's picture-perfect smile is unwavering.

"Do you want us to write a message on the cake? Happy Birthday Ethan or something like that?" the boy interrupts, as he vets her entry.

Emma turns to look at the boy in alarm, bewildered that he has to mention this at this timing. Surely, it must be awkward to be buying a cake for Ethan with Sarah around. Oh, nothing, I'm not rubbing it in your face that I'm buying a birthday cake for your ex-boyfriend. She is flustered by the slip but tries to play it off calmly. "Oh, um. It's fine. We'd do without it."

The boy nods and proceeds to punch the order into the computer, oblivious to her panic.

"That's sweet." Sarah comments, catching on. "Wish him happy birthday for me!"

Emma gives a small smile. "I will."

"Don't worry about it, Ethan and me are cool these days," she says, as if to reassure her. "We're friendly. Derrick's okay with him too."

Emma nods. "That's nice to hear!"

She hands a credit card over to the boy and tells herself that this conversation isn't that bad. Really.