4
“Hello, beautiful tree.”
“Hi, little dress shop, I might come to see you later today.”
“Hey there, my favorite bush with weird, purple flowers! You look nice today.”
“Hi, my favorite store - my biggest achievement in my thirty-one years,” Enya greeted her little specialized, healthy bakery as she opened the door.
The little copper bells hanging on the doorframe rang cheerfully to announce that the boss had shown up. Like a puffy little puppy, Karo, Enya’s assistant, jumped out from behind the counter to give her a bone-crushing hug. With her silver-white curly shoulder long hair, she did look a cute puppy or a dandelion; always so bright and cheerful.
“Happy thirty-one years and one day, boss! You look great today!” She peppered kisses on Enya’s face.
Enya could only hope that Karo was not planning to give her thirty-one plus one kisses. Still, she laughed at her own failed attempts of freeing herself from the arms of her over-enthusiastic assistant.
“Hello to you too, Karoline. I missed you, girl. I hoped that you’d show up at the horrific torturous gathering also known as my birthday party.”
Although Enya did not want a party in the first place, having Karo there would’ve made it less unbearable. But then, maybe it hadn’t been that bad. If Enya hadn’t left the party she wouldn’t have run into her street artist, or kissed him, or followed him to the roof, or…
Enya shook her head, bringing herself out of her fantasy and back into reality.
“Sorry about that, Enya,” Karoline said with a frown. “I wanted to come to your rescue, but Andy’s parents surprised us with a visit. Couldn’t leave them alone, they were in the city for one day only.”
“It’s ok, darling, we’ll have our own celebration here at lunch,” Enya winked at her.
Enya stretched, readying herself to work with an unusual smile upon her lips. It was her favorite time of day. The shop was not open yet and the two of them had nearly two hours to prepare and experiment in the kitchen. In those experiments lay the success of “Yum & Fun”. They never used fixed recipes. Enya’s whole idea behind creating their healthy sweet treats was giving freedom to their imagination and always making special custom treats for their customers. They would often choose a random color or flower as their theme for the day and start creating magic around it.
“Any ideas what sweets we’re making today?” Karoline asked.
“How about a starry night full of magic?” Enya’s words escaped her mouth before she could stop herself.
Am I really still thinking about last night?
“Oh, my goodness,” Karo prodded, “You are hiding something! Since when is a magic night your favorite cookie theme?”
“Since last night,” Enya confessed. “And there is nothing strange about that.”
“And why are you wearing a scarf?” Karo asked as she pulled at the garment hiding Enya’s neck. “It’s way too hot to be wearing a scarf.”
“Fashion! Now, shut up and bring some dates, cacao powder and almonds. Let’s get started.”
Karo narrowed her eyes at Enya, drawing a guilty smile from her employer.
“Sure boss,” Karoline quickly collected her messy bangs into a high ponytail and wrapped a white bandana around her head. “And I’ll pretend I cannot see that strange sparkle in your eyes, the beaming smile, happy satisfied face, and good mood. I get it!”
She smoothed her apron and disappeared through the narrow door leading to the kitchen. Enya thought to linger in the main hall for a little bit longer before joining Karo in the kitchen. She could use some time to make sure everything was in their proper places, to water the plants they kept by the window, to arrange the glasses. Anything to keep her occupied for a few moments in a hope that by the time she entered the kitchen, Karo would be so engaged in the magical process of creating sweets that would forget to ask one million questions about Enya’s very secret and very private evening.
The doorbell ringing brought Enya out of the trance she had fallen back into while tidying the front of her shop. She hoped it signaled early customers who would keep her busy for a little bit longer. However the doorway was not filled by customers but by her three very best and very traitorous friends. Each held a bouquet of colorful field flowers and an uncharacteristically guilty looks on their face.
“Early breakfast?” Enya cocked a brow as she opened the door and let them in.
Jenn, either the bravest or the guiltiest among them this morning, was the first to enter. She extended the oversized bouquet to Enya.
“We figured you’d be still mad at us... But you can’t be mad on flowers, can you?” Jennifer spoke.
Enya sighed and shook her head. She was already thinking about how she could use the pops of color to decorate the shop. Some could be also decorations for her desserts. Enya loved flowers of all kinds. Enya also realized that, despite her feelings earlier yesterday evening, she was no longer mad at her best friends either. If it hadn’t been for the disaster of a party they had thrown she never would of encountered her mysterious street artist.
“Forgiven,” Enya said, as she invited all of them in. “I’ll even be gracious enough to offer some coffee and dessert before you all have to return to work.”
Jenn rushed to her favorite seat by the small table at the window. That was the best spot to follow everything that was happening around the shop and at the same time enjoy the sunlight and view to the busy morning street.
“Forgiven? So quickly?” Emily lightly touched Enya’s forehead as if checking for a fever. “Usually you’d remind us about it for days until all of us are high on guilt.”
“Still can do that if you need me to!” Enya hissed.
Emily kissed her friend’s cheek and found her usual place next to Jenn.
“Truth be told, we hadn’t planned to hijack your party. I was getting ready to leave the for the bar when Brandon came home and insisted on coming along,” Emily explained. “C’mon, you’ve known each other since high school. Of course, he wanted to go.”
“Simon did the same when I was leaving,” Jenn continued. She was now looking through the menu. Jennifer was a hardcore sweet tooth; just looking at the pictures of the delicious desserts made her feel happy. “I guess he had talked to Bran and Nate about it.”
“So all three of us had a date for your party but you did not,” Lilly was now drumming with her fingers on the table giving away she was nervous telling the story.
Enya bit her lip feeling slightly guilty her friends thought she could be so scary. She never intended too. She knew she could be a bit bossy at times, but that was part of what made her a good entrepreneur.
“So, Simon and Bran called some friends that they thought you might want to see,” Emily continued. Enya tried to remember whether or not she had seen any friends there. Most of the people looked quite unfamiliar to her. “Well, then they decided to call all the single guys they thought you might like and before we knew it, your cozy birthday gathering exclusively for only best friends had grown into a party of over thirty invitees”.
“Alright, alright,” Enya interrupted them. “All forgiven and forgotten, really. Just one question left, who came up with the great idea to invite Jake?”
All three of her friends exchanged concerned looks. Jenn hid behind the menu as if the little booklet was a protective shield. Lilly’s drumming grew alarmingly loud and Emily was tearing petals from a poor flower that happened to be in the vase on the table.
With perfect timing, likely due to the eavesdropping, Karoline walked out of the kitchen carrying a big tray of various desserts and big mugs of freshly brewed coffee. Enya’s nostrils flared as the heavenly scent filled her. She took the tray from Karo, but withheld it’s bounty from her friends.
“So, Jake was the subject, if you need a reminder,” Enya said, her arms crossed over her chest.
“That’s the thing,” Jennifer’s voice came from behind the menu. It wasn’t but a whisper. “We’re trying to figure that out since last night. Nobody has any idea.”
“Someone intended to ruin your party, Enya… But it wasn’t one of us,” Lilly answered, finally stopping her drumming.
Enya took a sip of her coffee. So good, she closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the flavors.
“Whatever, he’s not worth so much of our time,” Enya smiled. “How about we just forget him and the disaster of a party we had?”
Lilly cocked her brow and Jenn finally peeked at her from behind the menu.
“I tell you,” Jenn mused. “She’s too quick to forgive us, no matter what. There must be something going on here.”
The three of them turned to Karo.
“You,” Jenn pointed at the little dandelion-headed assistant and smiled as Karoline flinched. “Did she tell you anything?”
Karoline shook her head. “I had the same suspicions, but she wouldn’t tell me anything.”
Lilly whistled. “Someone is keeping secrets from us.”
To add more oil to the fire, Karo subtly pointed at the scarf that was hiding Enya’s neck. Enya’s cheeks reddened and she grew cornered. She hated keeping secrets from her friends, but somehow her encounter felt so distant and ethereal now that she was only half-sure that it had actually happened. The silence between the five women was broken when the doorbell once again rang.
“I’ll get it,” Karo jumped from her seat.
Even thought she was head over heels in love with her boyfriend, Karo still had a thing for the cute postman whose name Enya couldn’t remember. All she knew was that it was something hot and very Spanish. Enya expected Karo to flirt with the poor man for at least five minutes before releasing him from her captivity, but Karo quickly returned with an elegant envelope cradled between her fingers.
All of the women’s eyes were locked on the envelope, four of the five secretly hoping that the contents would somehow out the secrets Enya was keeping.
“Hurry up and read it, please, Karo,” Jenn urged.
Lilly had resumed the drumming on the table, her nervousness returning. Karoline silently handed the envelope to Enya. Her heart skipped when she saw the silver stamp on the upper left corner.
“Silversson Industries,” Enya whispered and the words left tingly sensations on her tongue as if they were ice cubes. Enya swallowed the lump in her throat.
“Are they really kicking us out?” Karo asked meekly.
“We’ll find out later,” Enya shrugged.
She took the unopened envelope, folded it and placed it in the back pocket of her jeans. Enya was going to sit on it and enjoy her coffee and her friends’ company. She had been expecting to head from Silversson Industries sooner or later after the news broke of their expansion plans into the neighborhood where her shop sat. However for how, they could wait. Nothing, not even the biggest corporation in the city, was going to ruin her great mood. She’d think about how to fend off the ravenous big business sharks tomorrow.