Love Is Messy, Love Is Sweet

Chapter 1

"Good morning, Naomi!" I said, greeting my good friend and fellow employee as I walked into my beloved dream come true.

My own bakery.

A dream I've had ever since I was a little girl; although my upbringing brings back mostly bad memories. I'm the only child to my parents but we were always the farthest from being a normal loving family. What little girl laid awake at night praying her parents got a divorce? Me, and thankfully it finally came true when I was fifteen years old. Ever since I could remember my parents fought and argued, fought, and argued. They're complete opposites who somehow before I was born became attracted to each other and got married, but that quickly grew to pushing each other's buttons.

Baking had become my escape thanks to my grandmother. She'd take me away into the kitchen to distract me from the irrational and constant bickering between my parents and she taught me to bake anything and everything there was to bake.

When I applied for college, I had my dreams and goals in mind. I settled for a state school and got a degree in French language studies. But that was only in preparation for the real thing. To study abroad at only the best of the best, the holy grail of culinary schools, Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. I landed an internship at a well-known patisserie and they hired me right out of school after that.

I knew the culinary business was extremely competitive but it was my dream, my passion, and I'd do anything to succeed. After working in Paris for three years, I decided the time was right to finally come home. I put the tools and knowledge I had gained to work and used every single penny I had saved to open up my own bakery. With the help of my best friend, Naomi and her kick-ass marketing skills, we've been honored and recognized in the city as being one of the top French-inspired bakeries around for three years in a row and still going strong.

"Oh no! I've seen that look before!" Naomi analyzes my face like she's reading a book, a quality she possesses and is far too good at.

"What happened?"

"Pierre happened!" I said, rolling my eyes, wanting to keep my love life vague and non-existent as always.

"What do you mean? I thought you guys were doing good?" she questioned, sounded surprised and I had to send her an eye glare.

"I know you don't get serious with guys, Sydney! But I thought this one was going to last! He's from Paris! You guys had a lot in common!"

"Naomi!"

"Ugh! Fine! So what was it this time? He ask you to go away with him for the holidays like couples do? He ask you to meet his family and spend Christmas together?"

"Worse! He said he loved me! In bed!"

"Ooh...well...I mean, sometimes it just slips out in the heat of the moment..."

"Nope! He elaborated! Completely! Said he loved me, wanted the whole big wedding, white picket fence, kids! I mean who says that after three months?"

"Someone who must be head over heels for you!" she retorted, unable to suppress her laughter which earned another sour eye glare.

"I'm telling you, Sydney, one day it will be different! This was the longest relationship you've had since I've known you!"

"Three months...you think that's enough time for me to all of a sudden change and realize I want to settle down with someone?" I shoot her another look and she rolls her eyes in response.

"Not me! I am not settling and ending up like my parents!" I added.

"Oh please! Your parents were the exception! Not everyone fights like them!"

"No, they are the norm! More than fifty percent of marriages end in divorce! The thing called love is the exception, Naomi! And I am not planning on wasting my time trying to find it! It just doesn't exist!"

"Don't you want kids? You're thirty! Your biological clock is running out!"

"My biological clock?"

"Kids! Don't you want kids? To start a family if you can't stand your own!"

"I've never thought about having kids! But now that you bring it up....no! They are messy and I don't do messy!"

"Sydney!"

"Ms. Wylde?" Another employee who's just recently been hired and trained calls over to me with a clipboard in hand and I look back to Naomi knowing she was still in the midst of proving her point.

"We are not done with this conversation!" she points her stern finger at my face.

"Yes, we are! Oh, by the way, have you seen Margie yet today? I wanted to talk to her about the charity event."

"No, she hasn't come in these last three days," Naomi answered, which was odd because Margie was one of our biggest supporters and frequent customers.

"Hi, Ms. Wylde," I go over to the young employee who always seems nervous around me. "I just went through the inventory and it looks like you'll be getting some extra money in your Christmas stocking this month!" she added cheerfully making herself sound like one of Santa's elves.

"And why is that?" I asked unamused.

"Because the inventory of ingredients is already pretty well stocked. We don't need to be ordering as much this month. That's a good thing, right?" the new employee said cluelessly.

But is that a good thing? Not in my eyes because it means we're not making the same amount of baked goods we were in previous months. And that means that we're not selling the same amount of baked goods as we once were! And with Christmas around the corner...that makes this twice as bad!