“Darn it, Gran… What choice do we have?” I ran my fingers through my hair in exasperation. This was the fourth fucking time we’d had this conversation…

“I’ve already taken the check. And the party is this weekend. Reese and Tam have been putting in almost as many hours as I have, and without that money I have no way to pay them.” I turned to face her. “I’ve given my word. I’m sorry if you don’t like this. I’m not sure I do either. But the catering business is dying on its feet. I did what I had to do… just to stay competitive…”

“Don’t you swear when you speak to me, Emily,” she replied stiffly, struggling to put her feet on the floor. She gripped the handle of her cane with a gnarled hand. “I’m still your grandmother and you will mind your manners with me, young lady…” She stood from the bed long enough to finish her speech and then sat back down. “How can the business be in trouble? You just did the Peterman wedding a few weeks ago…”

“That was four months ago, Gran,” I said dully. “And there hasn’t been anything since.” I helped her slip her thin legs back under the blankets and fluffed her pillow dutifully. “After the rent, there’s barely enough left to get us through the month. This new job was like a godsend. I couldn’t have turned it down if I’d wanted to.”

“But to take a respectable business… one your own grandfather started and turn it into a… a…,” she broke off, unable to say the words.

“Los Angeles has hundreds of caterers, Gran. All competing against each other. It’s a different world now… from Grampa’s… even from yours. I had to do something, and do it fast.” I sat down on the edge of the bed and took her cool, dry hand in mine. “We have employees who depend on us. And your medicine to pay for…” I was silently grateful I’d only told her about the new uniforms… and not the details about any of the other changes…

She withdrew her hand and looked away. “Keep your medicines,” she said curtly. “And keep the profits of your indecent work. Don’t ask for my approval… I have none to give.” She reached for the leather-bound book on her nightstand and clutched it to her chest. “Now I’m tired,” she said dismissively. “And I still have to say my prayers…”

I took my time heading downstairs, pausing and holding onto the cold brass rail for support. Tam and Reese hadn’t even taken a break, but had continued working while I’d gone to tuck Gran in for the night. None of us would be quitting until nearly midnight as it was, and we had another four long hours to go. I leaned my head back against the rough brick wall, enjoying the darkness and the silence for a moment longer… My eyes were still closed when I heard Mrs. Williams on the stairs. She was our neighbor, Gran’s only friend, and a widow too.

“I know that look,” she said kindly, brushing back a wisp of her greying hair. She carried a paper sack from the market down the street. “Is Jussie having one of her bad days?” She put her hand on my arm. “This time of year is always harder for her, with all the memories…”

I nodded and smiled. “I know,” I said with a sigh. “Her and Gramps’ wedding anniversary is only a month or so away. She’s just never quite herself.”

“She suffered quite a loss when he died,” she said, patting my arm gently. “It’s a terrible thing to lose the love of your life. You know, she told me once, that Fall is the season for broken hearts…” Her watery blue were sharp, shrewd. “I know she can be very hard sometimes, but then maybe she’s suffered far more than we realize.” She continued on her way up the stairs, leaving me to wonder vaguely what she’d meant.

Gran and Gramps had married late in December. And he’d died in the summertime, almost fifty years later…

“Hey, Em… I thought I heard someone.” Reese opened the glass door that separated the stairwell from the bakery itself. Her red hair was tied back and there was a white smudge on her cheekbone that highlighted the tiny lines just beginning to form there. “We’ve got ninety percent of the baking done. If we can finish it up by tonight, we’ll have the rest of the week for nothing but decorating.” She rubbed her hands together and smiled. “God knows, I’ve taken on a lot of different challenges in my day, but none like this… I can’t tell if I’m dying with excitement, or completely terrified…

The uniforms came in today, by the way. I didn’t have the balls to open the box yet.”

“I know exactly how you feel,” I said. I took a sweet lungful of air and tasted sugar at the back of my throat. A fine silt of sugar and flour always hung in the kitchen, along with the sinful aroma of deep, dark chocolate and browning butter. No matter how bitter my upstairs life could be, it was always warm and sweet and tempting down here…

“I’m guessing Justine’s still not coming around?” Tam asked. She was twenty one, the youngest of the three of us, but didn’t look a day over fifteen. Her blonde hair was folded neatly into a hairnet, her sweet blue eyes were gentle and freckles sprinkled her little nose. She took an enormous bowl of buttercream frosting out of the fridge. “You always come back downstairs looking a little…”

“Judged?” I asked, nodding and biting into my bottom lip. “Imagine that…” I rummaged in a drawer and came up with what I needed. A razor to open the box. “No, nothing’s changed. I don’t think it ever will. She doesn’t want to see things change. And I think it’s gotten harder for her, since she’s gotten sick. But I doubt she’ll turn down the food it puts on the table.”

Reese lifted the box up onto the messy corner desk, while Tam paused long enough to wipe her hands on her apron and come over for the unveiling. I slipped the knife along the edges of the box and opened it, hating that my heart was pounding. Not just because I’d paid for the uniforms with money I didn’t really have yet, but because the idea of wearing one made me excited. Tingly in a way I’d never felt before. A way that I wasn’t fully ready to admit that I kind of liked…

“Holy shit,” Reese said, reaching in and pulling out a tiny black and white uniform. She peeled off the whisper thin plastic sheath and held it up toward me. The two women stood looking with wide eyes. ‘We’re really gonna wear these things…?”

I took the satin hanger and tucked it under my chin, spreading the tiny skirt across my hips and the even tinier bodice over my breasts. Candy pink letters rolled across my chest like a ribbon. The new name of our new adventure: Sweets and Classy. The word Sweets rested on my chest, the end of the S curling a gentle swirl right over the top of my barely concealed nipple. The word Classy was scrolled across the back of the little gathered skirt. Fluffs of white lace peeked out underneath and around the deep neckline. A little lace cap along with the predictable fishnets and pink heels rounded out the costume.

Tam took hers out and held it up, exchanging a wide-eyed glance with Reese. I licked my lips, tasting sugar. “I know it feels risky, and I’m just as nervous about this as you are. But I have a four thousand dollar deposit in the bank,” I said softly, listening to the sound of my heart in my chest. “And another five due when the party ends on Saturday night.”

I stroked the letters that rested like a promise over my heart. “And it’s all completely legit. I have it in writing… we provide the sweets and tend the bar, nothing else. The outfits are just for show… just to get our feet in the door.” I was breathing fast, talking fast… “No one at the party is allowed to touch us. And our sweets aren’t obscene… they’re just… erotic, but still in good taste. It’s a kind of art, really…” I stroked the dark satin and felt my pulse in my fingertips. “It’ll all be okay…

We’re still good girls…”