Cake Kiss

Mistletoe Bakery

She was as elegant as fine wine, curvaceous and slender in all the right places. A glance was not enough to quench the thirst that the mere sight of her brought. Men stared at her like she was a full rack of ribs served to a starving hyena. Red lipstick lay on her smooth vibrant lips and every smile from those lips was as bright as a shining star on a cloudless night. Who could resist the joy that they reflected? “Good morning, Ms Rodgers.” She said as she walked into the Mistletoe Bakery. “Good morning, Miranda” a fair skinned, slender woman in her mid-fifties replied. Even she couldn’t resist to return a smile to the ever so beautiful Miranda. Miranda was a baker and she was the owner of a small bakery, the Mistletoe bakery. 

Miranda was walking home from her college one morning after she had decided that medicine was not her passion when she saw a sign post that read “For sale!” She was mostly fascinated by the fact that an exclamation mark had been placed on the sign as if to symbolise the urgency of how quickly they wanted to get rid of the building. Miranda decided to explore this little building. It was narrow and long, it had a leaking ceiling and rats squealed and scampered around as she walked through it. The building smelt of burnt paper and cigarettes. Clearly the previous owner was a smoker but for some reason Miranda was drawn to this little building. Something in it ignited her imagination and it thrilled her to have a business. However, she was uncertain of what kind of business she would establish. She jotted down the number next to the “For sale!” sign and left the building. She would spend the next week pondering what business she could establish that would bring her both delight and sustainability. 

Walking past the building that lay there abandoned, Miranda decided that an idea would follow after she was in possession of the building. She had decided at last that she would purchase the building with her lifelong savings and the money to rehabilitate the building would appear somehow. Finally, after purchasing the building Miranda had decided to start tidying and decorating her little project. As she purchased furniture she decided that whatever business she pursued it would have a section that allowed for interaction and so she bought a soft white sofa with red fluffy pillows. As she continued to decorate and rehabilitate the building, she decided a place to eat was necessary. Miranda suddenly started having cravings for sweets and one day as she was decorating she had decided she wanted a cake. She thought it would be a good idea therefore to buy an oven. From then on, as she studied various kinds of cakes and how they were baked, she had decided that she would turn her little building into a bakery. 

The mistletoe bakery, she had decided to call it, barely made profits, in fact the previous year it simply managed to break even. None of this was enough to break Miranda’s spirit. Her acquired passion for baking, mostly to succeed at a project, surpassed anything else in her life. Miranda baked when she was unhappy and baked even more when she was angry. And the consistency in her baking had helped her business stay afloat in any kind of business environment. That coupled with her beauty had collaborated well enough to attract various customers. However, Miranda was not aware of her beauty. And this actually worked to her advantage as it kept her humble and polite. Had she known about her influence on the opposite sex, she would have used it to acquire more than she had. 

Three months into her business a new competitor had taken camp in the next street. Miranda suddenly noticed that her customers were barely visiting her bakery despite having introduced new types of pastries. She had decided to find out what the reason for this sudden change was. She decided she would ask one of her honest customers about the sudden change in the quantity of purchases. It seems there was a fancier bakery that offered free complimentary services to keep its customers comfortable. This somehow made them stay in this new Bakery for longer periods of time. Miranda then decided it was time to visit this competitor who appeared from nowhere. As she approached this bakery, big letters glittered and spelt “Baker’s Hub and Mug”. She immediately felt defeated and was about to turn back, when a handsome rude and almost arrogant man approached her. “Beautiful, isn’t she?” Miranda barely said yes as he continued, “I don’t really like anything sweet but I have an eye for what kinds of investments can earn me even more money. I am simply great.” Before he could continue, she was already on her way back. Michael was surprised. He was used to having women gaze at him when he spoke. It was the lack of attention that attracted him to Miranda aside from her beauty and curves. He found himself drooling as he watched her walk away. 

Months had passed and neither Miranda nor Michael had spoken to each other since that encounter. But they both thought of each other. Christmas came and they all prepared Christmas desserts for sale. Due to the number of people on holiday, both businesses were able to sell enough to survive and they both made some profit. But this Christmas was going to be special. Miranda had vowed to work hard and to achieve exponential growth for her entire business as soon as she had returned from her Christmas break. Miranda had just decorated her Christmas tree and was going to travel to Ndola in the Copperbelt province of Zambia to visit her family. She had hired a car and was ready to have her solo road trip from Lusaka. 

The day of her travel had started just as any other day, and it was bright outside with beautiful blue skies. Miranda packed her small suitcase in her rented SUV and began her trip down the highway. Christmas carols played from the radio station and beautiful stories were told to keep up the holiday spirit. As she approached the half way mark of her road trip, her tyre burst and she hit into a tree. Because Christmas was around the corner and most people had already travelled for the holidays, Miranda was stranded for a good two hours. Her cell phone had no service and she did not know how to change a tyre. In an attempt to change the tyre she had managed to poke a hole in the spare tyre. Just as she was about to give up, Michael drove past her. He was determined to leave her there but he had decided that business was just that and was not enough reason to not help a person in need. Besides it was Christmas and it was the season to be jolly. 

Michael reversed his car and decided to help Miranda. She was not happy to see him but she was happy to be helped. However, there was no other spare tyre. Miranda would have to ride along with Michael. This did not sit quite well with Miranda and she hated the very idea of even touching anything that belonged to him because he valued material things excessively. But she was almost there. It wouldn’t be long before she was home. Thus she accepted to enter his Austin martin. Blue shimmery coats lay on the frame of his luxury sports car. It had white leather and a touch of red in the lines marking the edges of the seats where the exotic leather was expertly hand sewn together. Just the colour combination she would love. Miranda instantly fell in love with it. At this point she had even forgotten to whom the car belonged. 

 When they began their journey to the Copperbelt, Michael played some jazz music. Was he trying to initiate a romantic mood between them? Miranda quickly turned off the radio. Michael was very unhappy about it. “What is your problem?” he asked furiously. “Excuse me?” she responded. “What gives you the right to turn off the radio in my car?” he asked to ensure she understood his frustration. “I am so sorry, Michael but I am not interested in turning sixty by the time I reach my destination” she said sarcastically. Michael could not believe how forward she was. When had he lost his ability to charm women so easily? He decided he would have to play a tough game in order to woo this woman he could hardly resist. He decided to make a pit stop to buy her something nice to eat. It was this sudden turn off the road that landed them both in another predicament. As Michael turned into a nearby diner his tyres ran over a sharp object that caused the car to swerve and he rammed his head into the steering wheel. Miranda came out of this unharmed. She quickly ran out of the car to his door and proceeded to help him out. He had a cut across his forehead and for once she felt something other than dislike for him. She felt sympathy for this stubborn hard headed man that did everything in a hurry. She touched his head and asked him to step out slowly. The waiters from the diner came rushing out to assist them.  

“Are you alright?” Miranda asked in a concerned sweet tone. The mere feel of her skin on his forehead was enough to confuse him. He never thought that Miranda would lay her hands on him at any point in his life under the sun. Perhaps his unplanned accident was actually a good shot at wooing her. “I am fine, thank you for asking.” He barely managed to speak. The pain was so excruciating but it was all worth it he thought to himself. He managed to get up and the waiters assisted him into the diner. They washed him up and dressed his wound. They also offered them a meal which he and Miranda had both agreed to. As they sat down to eat, Miranda had become curious about this man whose character did not match his appearance. She wanted to know why he felt money was all that humans required to survive and be happy.  

“Tell me about Michael,” She started. “What made him the man that he is today?” “I believe that Michael is an investor and he owes his eye of potentially successful investment to his father. I grew up in a very competitive home in which innovation was instilled from birth. My father made sure we harnessed our talents and made sure we made money from them.” Michael paused to study her reaction. Miranda was finally able to understand that Michael was simply trying to please his parents and live up to their expectations. Perhaps this wasn’t even who he truly was. Dinner was finally over and they had decided to proceed with their road trip. Michael had hired a vehicle in the nearby town and his Austin martin was towed away. Miranda then became the designated driver. 

The rest of the trip was pleasant and cheerful. Miranda and Michael were enjoying each other’s conversations about what their Christmas traditions were. During Christmas Miranda and her family always dressed up on Christmas Eve and had all kinds of food including cakes and cupcakes. This Christmas would be the first one in which she would bake all the cakes and cupcakes to show her parents how she had managed to succeed at her bakery. Michael, despite only being a basic baker himself, had decided that he would love to join in her family’s festivities. Once they had arrived in Ndola, Miranda drove Michael to his family home to ensure that he got home safe and was well taken care of. After which she drove herself home.

Christmas Eve finally arrived and Miranda woke up very early to pick up Michael. Once she had arrived at his family home, she had called him on his mobile phone to ask him to come outside. Through the window she could see that he was playing with a little boy in a green romper. She was glad to see that he was good with children and she started to like him just a little bit more. “I think you are a man of many talents, “she said as he sat in the passenger’s seat. He smiled in return at her gesture. She's finally warming up to me, he thought to himself. It built up his confidence even more and he was now ready to go the extra mile to woo her. 

Finally, they arrived at Miranda’s family home where everyone was pleased to see that Miranda was with a nice handsome man. They all quickly assumed that she was dating the young handsome man. As Michael baked and interacted with her family he learnt more of how gentle and sweet Miranda was. He played and flirted with Miranda every chance he got to be alone with her and each time she seemed more open to it. He thought that he was a few steps closer to finally wooing her. 

Night time came swiftly, initially with bright stars before turning into a thunderous storm. Michael was conveniently trapped indoors with Miranda and her family. Fortunately for him, her family made it a point to ensure that Michael and Miranda stayed alone in the living room. They all gave silly excuses as to why they had to go to bed early. As they listened to the rain and the thunder, they talked about their dreams and aspirations while sipping on hot chocolate and biting away at the cakes that they had baked together. The night seemed so perfect despite all the noise and they were glad to be left alone. Michael finally managed to steal a kiss as Miranda gazed into his eyes and listened to his voice. They were happy in this moment and they did not want to be disturbed.