“So, we're breaking up today,” Jacob announced.

I looked across the bed at him and raised an eyebrow. Both of us were still completely naked and tangled up in his sheets. We'd been laying there all morning, simply enjoying laying in bed and playing on our phones together. Breaking up seemed like an odd thing to do at this point.

“Um, we are?”

“Not you,” he explained, holding up his phone. “Katie and I. We're doing it today.”

A small thrill went through me. This was the first step to Jacob and I being able to actually date. We would need to let the town settle down for a little bit after this, but hopefully I would stop getting mean looks from all the old ladies any time I even mentioned his name in public.

“How's it going to happen?” I asked him, leaning back in his very comfortable bed.

“At the bakery. Lunchtime.”

“It'll be crowded. Nice.” I nodded my approval.

“Want to come?” He grinned at me. “Katie says she's been practicing crying and she made special cupcakes to throw at my head.”

“Now I'm definitely not gonna miss it,” I told him. “I hope she doesn't miss.”

“Promise to help me mend my broken heart?” He gave me a sly smile.

I laughed. “I'll certainly help you with something,” I replied, tugging at the sheets.

“You must be starving,” Donna observed later in the day. “You've checked your watch three times since I said it was almost lunch.”

“Jacob is buying us lunch from Katie's Bakery,” I replied, trying to sound nonchalant. “I've been saving up my calories all day for this.”

Donna narrowed her eyes. “You and the doc seem to be getting friendly.”

“Donna, we went to school together. And yes, we are friends. We are also co-workers.” I smiled at her. “And besides, he's with Katie, right?”

“Right.” She nodded. “He would always do right by Katie. He's a good man.”

I tried not to do a little happy dance. He was about to do right by Katie.

Finally, the last patient left and we were able to take our break. Donna flipped the sign to closed as Jacob gave me a wink and a nod. I practically skipped the entire way to Katie's Bakery.

Jacob refused to tell me what exactly was going to happen. He said that he wanted to have an honest reaction from me. All I knew was what he told me: she was planning on throwing cupcakes.

I made sure to wear something easily washed. I noticed that Jacob was wearing his least favorite pair of scrubs.

Katie's Bakery was packed. It was the middle of the lunch rush and it seemed like everyone in town was there.

I couldn't wipe the stupid grin off my face.

We stood in line with Donna asking why we couldn't skip to the front. Jacob was dating the owner, after all. Jacob just said that it wasn't right.

We ordered our food, and that's when the show began.

Katie came out and pulled Jacob out of line. She looked actually pissed. They started out with whispers in the corner that slowly escalated into yells.

“I never said that,” Jacob growled.

“You're just jealous of my success,” Katie yelled at him. “You can stand to be the one not in the spotlight.”

“I think you're confusing yourself with me. We call that 'delusional' in the medical world,” Jacob shouted at her.

By this time, the entire restaurant had fallen quiet. Everyone had their heads pointed toward their food, but all eyes were on Katie and Jacob. I was having a hard time not smiling.

“How dare you,” Katie hissed. “You aren't who I thought you were at all.”

“That's because you're never here,” Jacob replied, his voice full of venom. “You've changed.”

“I've gotten better.”

“That's not what I'd call it,” Jacob sneered. “Delusional was a good word.”

That's when she chucked a cupcake at his head. The whole room gasped as it exploded with cherry filling all over his face.

“That's it!” he screamed at her. “I'm done!”

“Good. I never want to see you're face in here again. You understand? We're through! I hate you! I hate your stupid face!” Her face twisted with rage and she chucked another cupcake at him, only this time he ducked and it exploded on the wall behind him.

“Screw you,” he told her and stomped out of the bakery.

“Screw yourself!” she screamed at his back.

I looked around at all the patrons. Every mouth hung open in disbelief.

“Did they just break up?” Donna asked me, clutching her sandwich like a lifeline.

“I think so. It looked pretty brutal. Relationships don't come back from that kind of thing,” I told her. “He's pretty anal about his hair and she really got him with that cupcake.”

Donna just nodded, her mouth hanging open. I glanced around, making sure that several other of the Ladies' Bridge Club were present. Maybe this would convince them that Katie and Jacob weren't “practically engaged” anymore.

Katie quietly composed herself in the corner. “Sorry about that everyone.”

She then fled to the back room.

“I'm going to go check on Jacob,” I said to Donna, but she was still staring at the cherry filling on the wall in shock. A chunk of vanilla cupcake hit the floor with a splat.

I cut through the alley behind the Bakery and saw Katie leaning against a dumpster. It sounded like she was crying. I hurried over to check on her.

“Katie, are you okay?” I asked, touching her on the shoulder.

She turned and her eyes lit up with recognition. That's when I realized she wasn't crying. She was laughing. She was laughing so hard she could barely breathe.

She gave me a giant hug. “Jacob told me about you two. You're great for each other. I'm glad I could help.” She let me go and wiped the tears on her face, leaving big flour smudges on both her cheeks. “That was incredibly cathartic.”

“It was incredibly believable,” I told her. “I don't think anyone has moved inside.”

“Oh, I hope so. I had some of my LA friends coach me on what to do. You think the cherry filling was too much?” Her shoulders started shaking again as she thought of it.

“It was perfect,” I told her. I gave her one more hug. “Thanks for breaking up with him.”

“It was my pleasure,” she replied with a laugh as more tears streamed down her cheeks. I let her be as she laughed behind her restaurant and I hurried back to the clinic.

Jacob was waiting for me in the break room.

“Good?” he asked, his smile beaming off his face. “Was I believable?”

“You were perfect,” I told him. “I nearly believed you.”

“Good.” He grinned and kissed my cheek. “It's one step closer. It'll take some time, but Katie and I have agreed to be militantly hostile to one another for the next week. I really think this is going to work.”

“Dr. Matthews? Dr. Matthews are you in here?” Donna called, making her way to the break room.

Jacob and I took a step away from one another just before Donna came in. Her face was full of worry.

“Dr. Matthews, are you okay?” she asked him.

“I'm pissed,” he told her, sounding actually angry. “If you see her, you tell her it's off. I wouldn't be caught dead dating her. Do you see what she did to me?”

He pointed to the cherry filling coating his hair.

“Are you sure?” Donna asked him. “You two seemed so perfect...”

“Perfectly miserable,” Jacob finished for her. “And yes. She's willing to humiliate me in public. I can't be with a woman like that.”

“I'm so, so sorry Jacob.” Donna patted his arm. “If you need anything...”

“I don't want to deal with her,” Jacob growled. “She's no longer a patient here.”

Donna's eyes went big. “But, that would mean she'd have to go to a different doctor.”

“That's the point,” Jacob told her. “She's not welcome here. I don't care if she's bleeding. You call her an ambulance and let them deal with it.”

With that he turned and stomped into the bathroom, slamming the door shut as hard as possible.

“Wow. I think he's actually serious,” Donna whispered. “That's so sad.”

“Yeah. Definitely sad,” I agreed, doing my best not to smile. If Donna believed it, then the rest of the Ladies' Bridge Club wouldn't be far behind.

We were one step closer to being together.