David's Bakery

David strode toward the centre of the market, his long brown trench coat billowing behind him in the wind, doing his best to disassociate himself with his sister, Mabel.

“Don’t you just love it here?!” Mabel slowly spun, arms out and face uplifted towards the falling snow. “It’s so romantic!”

“We aren’t here for romance. We’re here to prove that we’re the best bake shop in town.”

David had dreamt of owning a bakery and seeing his name on the awning since he was ten. He’d worked hard, he’d saved, he’d taken baking classes and even paid for Mabel’s cake decorating classes when she’d offer to work for him.

Only someone else had beaten him to it.

Rage. That was the only way to describe his feelings when, only six months before his grand opening date, a different shop called “David’s Bakery” had opened up two blocks down from his leased location. His own shop had to open up under the boring name “Cakes & Cookies”.

Mabel sighed and dropped her arms as she matched his pace. “Would you stop? Look at the lights! Smell the baking! Hear the bells! Who cares about the other David? He is just as entitled to the name as you. Besides, a little romance would do you good. What about that girl there?”

Mabel was always trying to play the matchmaker, and he would like to meet someone, but today he had a job to do.

He glanced in the direction she was focused on and shrugged, “There’s a kid with her. Anyway, like I said, I’m not here for romance.”

“What’s wrong with kids?”

“Nothing. I just don’t want to raise one that’s not mine.”

“He could be her nephew.”

“That’s unlikely though, and it really doesn’t matter either way. Please, just, focus, Mabes.

“On what? Walking to our stall? We’re prepared. We’re going to blow everyone away with our gingerbreads, shortbreads and sugar cookies. You have absolutely nothing to worry about. So, in the meantime, it doesn’t hurt to have some fun. Now, what about her? She doesn’t have a kid.”

David sighed, but his eyes inadvertently followed her nod anyway to a woman laughing as she held up a knit scarf at one of the stalls. At first glance, she did seem to be his type. Easy-going and friendly, if he were to guess by her smile and ponytail. He thought she was beautiful.

He let his eyes linger too long and Mabel gave him a nudge. “Go talk to her!”

“And say what, exactly? I’m sure she doesn’t need random strangers hitting on her every time she goes out.”

“True, but you might miss your chance. Just go offer her a flyer and a coupon, and tell her to stop by our stand when we open. Be charming. Even if you don’t get a date, you might get a new customer.”

That... wasn’t a bad idea.

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“Excuse me.”

The woman turned to him with a welcoming smile, and David hesitated. This was insane. How had Mabel talked him into this? He should be focusing on work, not asking out the first cute stranger he saw. Wait, no. No, he was NOT asking her out. He reminded himself that she was a potential customer, and he was advertising his bake shop.

He held out the flyer to her and made his pitch. “You seem to be enjoying the Christmas spirit. Please, stop by and taste our freshly baked cookies and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate. I promise you’ll be glad you did. We have the best desserts in town and everything’s on the house today.”

She reached for the flyer and scrutinized it carefully while looking somewhat amused. “I will definitely come check it out, thank-you.”

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“Look, here she comes!” Mabel grabbed his elbow.

David looked up to see who she was talking about. He had spent the last three hours helping kids pick out their complimentary Christmas Cookies (Santa or the Christmas tree was a big decision when one was five) and forgotten all about the woman that Mabel was trying to set him up with until now. He saw her walking toward the stand and admired her smile. She looked truly joyful, as if she’d been sent to the festival from the big boss at the North Pole himself.

Mabel was smirking at him. “We’re not here for romance, eh? Give me the bags; I’ll help the kids and you can take her order.”

He wanted to protest, to tell Mabel not to be ridiculous, but the woman gave him a friendly grin and he absentmindedly handed his sister the stack of paper bags he’d been wrapping the cookies in and went to greet her.

“Hey, you came!”

She shrugged with one shoulder, her eyes laughing. “I told you I would. Can’t wait to taste these… what did you call them? Oh yes, the best cookies in town.”

He handed her one shaped like an angel, biting his tongue to keep from blurting out some stupid angel-related pickup line as he did. He wondered if she’d know his choice in design was intentional.

She sampled the cookie, savouring it slowly as if she were judging it. She hesitated on her verdict, and David could see that she was teasing him with the deliberate delay. Finally she said, “These are actually really, really delicious! Maybe not as good as David’s...”

He cut her off, “Don’t even say it. I hate David. He’s my arch-rival.”

Surprise flashed across her face, and then amusement. “Really? Why? Just because it’s another bake shop in the same town? There’s a dozen others too, you know. A bit of healthy competition can be good for business.”

“It’s not that. It’s a lot more personal than that. He stole my name!”

“Your name?”

“Yes. Oh, stop laughing! I’m serious! My name’s David and I wanted to call my shop David’s Bakery since I was ten and he beat me to it.”

She was still trying not to laugh, and he wasn’t sure why she found it so funny. He should be annoyed at her, but there was something about her positivity and good-natured demeanor that made him feel genuinely happy. He grinned at her, “You are enjoying my sorrows entirely too much.”

“You’re right, and for good reason. Can you take a break?”

David glanced at the crowds lined up at his stall and felt a pain of guilt that he’d left Mabel to deal with it. Even his ever-cheerful sister was looking a little harried. He shook his head. “I really can’t. I’m sorry.”

Her eyes followed his to the line-up, and she nodded understandingly. “Fair enough. Go, do what you have to. I should probably get going myself. But I think we need to talk. Take my card and let’s meet up after closing. And please, do call. I know where you work after all. I may have to hunt you down if you don’t.”

He nodded and reached for it, selfishly letting his fingers linger on her soft hand for a brief moment as he did, and then watched as she quickly disappeared into the decked out crowd. Once she had disappeared from sight, he glanced down at the card in front of him to find out her name.

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“So...” Mabel inquired as David rejoined her, but he shook his head at her, his mood sour.

“C’mon. Let’s just finish what we’re doing and go home.”

“That bad? Lemme guess, she had a boyfriend.”

“I have no idea; I didn’t ask. I was selling cookies, not trying to get a date.”

“Oh, come on! I probably dealt with a dozen customers while you were over there flirting with Ms. Perfect-For-You.”

David put on a fake smile as he handed a gingerbread star to a girl in a yellow dress, but through his gritted teeth he said, “She’s not as perfect as you’d like to believe, and I won’t be seeing her again. Merry Christmas!” He directed the latter at the child and her father.

“Why not?”

“Her full name is Davida Davidson, and she owns David’s Bakery.”

“Oh.”

“‘Oh,’ is right. I can’t believe David is a ‘she’ and that she actually came to try our cookies without thinking to mention her identity.”

“What’d she say about them?”

“About what?”

“The cookies, of course!”

“That they were delicious,” he admitted. “Which they are, but what if she was secretly scoping us out? Trying to get our recipes?”

“Then she wouldn’t have given you her card. Oh, put your gloves back on before taking the hot chocolate, Sweetheart. The cup is scalding! What’d she say when she gave it to you?”

“To call her tonight.”

“Are you going to?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Then I will.”

“What? No! Let’s not drag the bakery into some competitive mess, please.”

“You’re the one who always makes it out to be a competition. There’s enough people with sweet teeth in town for both shops, and it’s not like she can change her name. Let’s face it; she won. You still have a bakery. Your dream came true. Is your name on it? No. That doesn’t make it any less yours. It’s been years. You need to get over this.”

“Don’t want to.”

“Now your just being childish. Do you like her?”

Silence.

“Do you like her? C’mon David. It’s not a hard question.”

David inhaled sharply. “I... might. Look, I don’t know right now. I did like her, for a moment, but I’ve hated for her for years without knowing who she was.”

Mabel gave him a sympathetic smile as she handed out a maraschino topped shortbread to an elderly woman. “Here you go, have a Merry Christmas! Listen, I get it, you’re feeling conflicted, but you won’t sort that out by ignoring her. You can’t actively hate her with the same passion you did now that you like her too, so maybe it’s time to change. At very least find out what she wants so you can decide. You never know, she might like you too.”

“I doubt it. I sorta went off on a huge rant about David’s cookies and how much I hated David to her.”

“You didn’t!”

“Oh, I did.”

Mabel laughed, “Well, that’s awkward, but call her anyway.”

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David looked around at the nearly deserted outdoor cafe where they had agreed to meet up. It was dark out. The market had shut down for the night, but the Christmas lights were still lit and the snow was falling. He spotted his arch-rival waving at him cheerfully and strode over.

“I didn’t think you’d come,” she said, taking a sip of her peppermint latte.

“I wasn’t going to, but my sister can be very persuasive.”

“Would you at least sit down?”

David sat. His heart skipped a beat at her friendly gaze as he did so. Part of him wanted to get this meeting over with, the other part wanted to stay here all night.

“So, you hate me, eh?”

David shook his head. “I want to, but I can’t. You’re too nice and friendly.”

“Would you prefer I was angry and mean?”

“Well, yeah. It’d be a lot easier, you know.” His tone was teasing, and he couldn’t help return her smile now.

Her shoulders visibly relaxed, and he realised that despite her easy-going ways, she had been nervous too. Of course she had! He’d been ranting about how much he hated her just before she’d given him the card and hurried off. But there was still a chance this could end all right.

“What about you?” he asked, “Do you hate me?”

“I should. I was upset and worried when you opened up right down the road only six months after our Grand Opening, but things are going well and I got over it.”

He hadn’t thought about it like that before. He supposed the situation hadn’t been ideal for either of them.

She continued, “I also hate the fact that, and I should not be saying this, but I hate the fact that your cookies are better than mine.”

David grinned at her, “Can I get that on a recording?”

“Absolutely not. The sad thing is, I can’t ever order them without becoming a traitor, can I?”

He laughed, “Tell you what, I’ll have some discreetly delivered to your home in a non-labelled box.”

“Why would you do that for me?”

“You like my baking more than you should; I like you more than I should. It’ll work itself out. Do you go by David or Davida?”

“Either or. My friend’s always called me David as a nickname growing up. It started out as a joke when I was in grade three because I joined the boys’ soccer team, but I get Davida a lot too still, especially from family. I’m not particular to one over the other.”

“I think I’ll stick with Davida then. After all, I always hated you as another David.”

She laughed, “I’m down with that. As for the shops, I wanted to tell you we could trade names. No one would notice the difference if we swapped shops completely. I’ll move my staff to your location, you move yours to mine.”

“You have the better name and the better location. Why the hell would you do that?”

“You’re right. It’s probably stupid, but I never dreamed of the name from childhood like you. I picked it because, no offense, I couldn’t think of anything better. Maybe the Christmas spirit is making me silly, or maybe it’s because I feel somehow guilty I took away your childhood dream for a name I don’t really care about. Chances are it’s both.”

David stood up and offered his hand to her. She thought he was going to shake on a deal, but he pulled her to her feet and gave her hand a slight squeeze. “It’s beautiful out tonight; let’s walk.”

She nodded, and he decided not to let go of her hand as they strolled along the quiet cobblestone. She didn’t pull away.

After walking in silence for a few moments, David answered her. “I don’t think I can accept the trade. It wouldn’t feel right.”

“Then we could merge them and run them together. We could be David & Davida’s Bakery. I think I’d like working with you.”

“You just want to sell my fantastic cookies,” he teased her, earning himself a laugh. “I should refuse. The idea is ridiculous.”

“Why? Businesses create mergers all the time.”

“Because you’re my arch-rival.”

“Fair enough.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

He stopped walking and faced her, his hand squeezing hers. “Would you go out on a date with me sometime?”

“Definitely.” She squeezed back.

“Good. And about the merger... let’s leave it at a maybe for now. I’d like to see where this leads before we discuss co-owning a business. After all, I’m still getting used to the fact that I actually like you, a lot.”

“Isn’t it a bad idea to date the competition?” she asked, a smile on her face.

“Yes, terrible.”

Davida stepped closer to him, putting one hand on the back of his head, and he caught his breath as she reached up and kissed him. “This is probably a bad idea too?”

“Definitely.”

“So we’re on the same page. That’s a good start.”

He laughed, “We have a lot to work out.”

“I’m up for it.”

“Me too,” he grinned, kissing her again.