High off of sugar

Fucking Janice.

Of course she's here. The pest. I aggressively continue piping the damn whipped cream onto the fucking raspberry cupcakes. The Bakery just down the road from ours, owned by fucking Janice! Always stealing our customers. Always taking the glory. And now she’s here, a few dozen feet from us! My hands twitch and I miss my line, making the decoration little crooked. Fuck it all. I curse and slam the cupcake onto the trash- waste I know, but I don't accept anything that isn't perfect.

"I'm going for a smoke!" I yell to my subordinate.

I stomp behind the tent, and light up a cigarette. I take a deep drag, and just stare at the sky for a few moments. It’s not a nice day. Not at all. The sky looks like it will soon curse us with its content. Who the fuck thought anyway that it was a good idea to have a holiday festival in winter, outside. But we couldn’t miss it. No matter how cold and shitty it is, we need more customers. I need more customers. At least the whipped cream doesn’t melt on our fucking hands. 

I stump my cigarette to the ground and walk back to the tent, just to be met with Janice’s ugly face. Who the fuck cares about her freckles. Or her perfect dark eyes, her chocolate syrup skin or her fluffy black curls. Not me. 

“Oh, Genna. I would say it’s a surprise to see you here, but it’s really not” she’s smiling like the fucking devil she is. 

“Janice. Don’t you something better to do than spy on me, like fucking up your almond cake?” her fake smile fell off.

“You’re never gonna let that die are you?” she leaned to the counter.

“Not a chance” I say dead faced, picking up my piping bag.

“At least I don’t serve hard bread” she tapped the counter.

“That was one time!” I start to pipe the cupcakes.

“Well I better get going. Wouldn’t want you beating me in sales after all, not that that would ever happen” I miss another. 

“Fuck!” 

“That would be 7,30” I say.

“7,30? For a coffee and a cupcake?” the customer asks. One of those. 

“That is the standard prize”

“Can’t you sell it to me for… 4 dollars”

“No, we won’t give any discounts. The prize is what it is, if you don’t want it, you can try another booth” I say, still smiling.

“This is unbelievable. Back when I was young, for that prize I would get the newspaper, a packet of coffee and a whole bread” he rambled as he dug his wallet.

Blame the economy, not me. He clicked his tongue, and threw a million coins on the table. Fucking shit.

I lean to the counter and groan after the damn man has left.

“How many customers?” Mike asks.

“21” I grumble.

“Oooh, that’s even worse than last year” he says as he pulls some more bread from the oven.

“And we barely even had money to bring all our stuff here. What you gonna do boss?”

I sigh. “I don’t know. At this rate we’ll be bankrupt before February” I say, like I definitely should say to my subordinate.

“Should I start looking for a new job?” he asks worried now.

“I’ll be honest with you. Yes, you should. Things are not looking great”.

He frowns, then puts a hand on my shoulder. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll be with you, all the way to the bitter end”. I feel so grateful for him, not that I would ever say that out loud. But a little smile still escapes my lips.

“Now get back to work. Take these” I shove a stack of flyers to his hands. “Go to the entrance and give these to people. Maybe that’ll get them to come”.

“Yes boss” he disappears from the tent. To be honest, I don’t know if we’ll last even to January.

“Hey I’ll take one raspberry cupcake and a latte” Janice appears to the counter a few minutes later.

“I won’t sell you anything” I glared at her.

“Are you sure? From what I’ve seen you definitely need the money” I want to strangle her. But regardless I start pumping out coffee grounds from the machine. Surprisingly, she just states silent. With free of her snarky remarks I can calm down myself. Count to five. Count to ten. I release hot air from the milk pipe. We are really in shit. I made -200 last month. This month is bound to get worse, and continue on until I lose all my money or end up in dept. 

“One latte and one cupcake. That would be 10,40” she takes out her card and pays. 

“Hopefully, I’ll see you here next year, So I can crush you again Genna” she winks. 

“We won’t be here next year” I say, looking at the counter.

“Why?” she asks, like a deer in the headlights. I would say I was amused, since not many things can shake her. But I’m not. I’m just defeated.

“I guess I have to admit to a loss when I face it. I have to close down my bakery” I say.

She just stares at me for a moment. 

“Oh… I see” she says nothing else, and walks away with her cupcake and latte. 

The following hour is as silent as ever. 

“Mike! Get the fuck back!” I hiss to the phone.

“What? Why?” he asks. “I was just getting started on the flyers-”

“There’s shit ton of customers and we need to prepare more stuff. Get here, now” I hang up and get back to the counter. I don’t know what happened. I really don’t. But just as I was about to give in and close the damn shop I got one customer, and thought, I guess I should keep it up for a little while more. Then I got another one. And another one. And then they started rolling in like we appeared from thin air and people could finally see us. I’m happy, of course. But it is strange. 

“I love these croissants, this is my second one already. Where is your bakery so I can come some other time?” a sweet lady asks as she pulls out her card.

“It’s at Gilloire street 24. You’ll also find us at our website www.Gakery.com” I smile at her.

“Thank you young lady” she says and let’s the next customer pay. Just then Mike appears to the tent a little out of breath. Without a word he checks what’s missing and starts filling the showcase with new products.

The day went on like that. More customers than we should be able to handle, but we were well prepared. I was already suspicious, so I quickly checked instagram if someone promoted us or something. And as soon as I opened it I see, that indeed, someone did promote us. Janice did. 

‘Unfortunately, we’re gonna have to close the booth early. But if you’re around the holiday festival down at Hillan park, and are looking for good pastries and charismatic customer service, head to Gakery! Our sibling bakery, just a few dozens of feet from our booth! Come and get yourself a nice cup of hot chocolate or some deliciously sweet strawberry cake before they run out! Love you Genna!’ and a selfie of her with a peace sign. My face burns as I crouch down in the safety of the tent. Love me? Love me?

“I gotta go” I say to Mike. “Will you manage?”

“Ye-yea. Barely!” ´he says panicked.

“You will” I say and run out of the tent. Maybe they’re still packing up the stuff, and Janice is still there. She must.

“Janice” I scream out. She turns around, and smiles at me!

“C’me here” I grab her and drag her behind their tent.

“What the fuck did you do?” I yell.

“Shouldn’t you be thanking me?”

“I don’t want your pity! How pathetic is that a rival bakery promotes me! Do you just wanna show off how well you’re doing?” I seethe with anger. She’s looking down on me, thinking I can’t do anything on my own, and saves me! I am so embarrassed!

“Of course I don’t pity you”

“Then why did you do it. It doesn’t benefit you in any way. Why, if not to make fun of me?”

Suddenly her lips were on mine. She was cupping my face with both of her hands and I melted into the kiss. 

“I honestly think your pastries are the best. They have the best texture, just the right amount of sugar, and amazing decorations. You deserve more. I just want you to have your change to shine so we can have a proper rivalry. For all the years to come” Janice’s still cupping my face. It’s not like I haven’t thought about this. If she wasn’t a rival, competition, I do think we could be friends. Or something more. 

“But I have to close the store” I almost whisper.

“I’ll help you. You can’t close it. You’re too good” this time we lean into each other together. Much slower, much gentler, we kiss. Feeling all the years that we’ve been chasing each other. 

“I will make the Gakery stand again! Just watch” I say as we part.

“I’m waiting to see that” she smirks at me. Ah, finally, I can finally admire her without shame or quilt. She grabs my hand and smiles.

“Let’s take this slow, ok?” she says, looking me in the eyes.

“Yea” I say.

“Look it’s snow” Janice looks up. And I do too. Little drops of white fall on my nose and on my eyelids. The sky is already dark, it is late after all, and the air must be cold too, but I haven’t felt this warm in a long time.