Blind Dates and Rivalries

      I cannot believe this is happening again. It is the Annual Festival and my small bakery is insanely busy. To the point that we can barely keep up with the number of incoming orders. So much for that date, I had planned tonight. Guess I will have to call my mother to let her know that I will be too busy for her blind date. I shook my head to refocus and began prepping the next order to go out. The smell of delicious cakes, icing, and sugar reached my nose, filling the bakery with the scent of freshly cooked cakes and donuts. We carried bread as well but since today was the Festival, everyone wants to purchase sweet treats for their lovers.

“Hey Amethyst, we have another order for the ‘Chocolate-Kisses’ Heart cake!” My employee, Lydia shouted back to me. “And a dozen ‘Heart-felt’ donuts.”

“Got it, Lydia,” I replied, decorating the donuts I just pulled out of the oven. “The wait will be thirty minutes.”

“You’re on a roll today, Amy. I’m surprised you can keep up with these orders.” John said from my side. “I barely pull the desserts out of the oven before you’re already at it. Each one more perfect than the last.”

           Instead of replying, I focused hard on getting the decorations correctly. John sighed and shook his head before getting back to work. Today was not a day to have idle conversations when we have so many orders to fill. Today, we have to focus on getting these deserts ready for the customers. A short while later, I took a break since we were all caught up on our orders, for now. Using my time wisely, I put in a phone call to my mother and looked around the alley behind my shop. I have been in business now for three years and my bakery, Amethyst Delights, is doing extremely well.

“Amy, what’s up?” My mother answered, causing me to jump slightly. “You had better not be can…”

“I’m afraid I am, mother,” I replied, not letting my decision waver. “I have work to do and my bakery is insanely busy. I told you to start with that this might happen.”

“Amethyst Harper, I’ve had this date planned for you for months now.” Her stern voice no longer held the same tone as it did when I was a kid. “When are you going to stop playing in the kitchen and date a man for once?”

“I told you that I can’t do that. I told you when I left that I was going to follow my dreams, not just go along with whatever it is you and father want for me.” I said sharply. “Now if you don’t mind, I have to get back to work. My love life isn’t your business anyway.”

           Without even waiting for a reply, I pulled the phone away from my ear and clicked the red button to hang up. I did not have time to think about my father and mother's plans for me when I had my own goals in life that revolved around my dreams. They were constantly pressing me to get married and settle down, and that my dream was nothing but childish. But my income was greater than my debt now, so I refused to give this up. I turned to look back at the backdoor of my bakery with a proud smile. It took me years to save up for this place, especially when I could not depend on my parents, but I accomplished it.

           I walked back through the doors and looked outside the door of the kitchen into the lobby. There were a few customers lined up receiving their orders while others were seated at tables near the grand windows that looked out over the festival. I loved the location of my bakery, especially when it netted my customers a wonderful view of the festival activities. I smiled before turning my attention back to the kitchen and pulling my apron over my head. Time to get back to work and finish up the orders we have taken since I started my break.

“Have any of you heard from Alastair lately?” My mood immediately soured at John’s words. “Sweetie, you’ll ruin your pretty face if you keep pulling that expression. I’m just asking because I haven’t seen his fine Italian butt in here for a while.”

“Why does it matter? I replied, pulling my blonde hair back up into a ponytail before washing my hands. “That man gets on my last nerve. I can’t stand it when he comes over.”

“Oh, come on, Amy. Even you have to admit he’s a handsome man. I mean those muscles, that dark hair, those piercing eyes. Oh, and he’s so tall!” Lydia countered, fanning herself with her hands. “He towers over all of us!”

“He is our rival, Lydia.” I countered sharply, refocusing on the oven as I waited for the timer to run out. “And though I do know how to appreciate a good-looking man, it’s too bad his personality is worse than a spoilt egg. Now, let’s get back to work.”

           Alastair Hunter, the rival to my bakery and resident jerk, though John was right. He has not been coming by lately, which felt odd because he often stopped by once a week just to rub in his business numbers. I can even remember the first time I met him. I sighed as I thought back to that day. I had not even been particularly rude to him, he just waltzed in and asked to speak with me. He was polite with my staff, but when I walked out there, his demeanor changed immediately, and he started acting like a child. Gone was the friendly man Lydia and John spoke of, in his place was an overgrown man-child.

           As the day finally began to wind down, however, my hopes were dashed when who but my nemesis walked through the door. Alastair had perhaps come to complain again about whatever, whenever, even on the happiest days, like this festival. I listened as he talked with Lydia politely, a frown on my face at his every word. Why was it he could be civil with everyone else, but not with me? The more I tried to puzzle out the answer, the closer I came to cleaning up the kitchen the more I realized I was running out of excuses to hide.

“Is Amethyst in?” His voice was deep, pleasant deep with a slight accent. “I was hoping to speak with her today.”

“She’s in the kitchen, Mister Hunter. Uh…” I heard the door swing open and there he was, wearing his usual blue work shirt and grey slacks. “Amy always cleans up the kitchen at this time. You’re more than welcome to…”

“It’s alright, Lydia. You can go ahead and go. I’ll show Mister Hunter out when I close up tonight.” I replied, though did my best to remain polite. “How can I help you today, Mister Hunter? Come to brag about your numbers again?”

           I watched as Lydia locked the door before she left and frowned when Alistair leaned against the counter and looked around my kitchen. It felt like he was scrutinizing every inch of my space before his eyes locked with my own as I scrubbed out my large mixing bowls. I hated being alone with him more than I hated talking with my parents about my love life. The thing that was currently keeping me quiet was the fact that he had not said a word, just stood there staring at me. I tilted my head confused, before shrugging and turning my attention back to the bowl I was scrubbing.

“I was your blind date tonight.” I froze at his words the water splashing loudly in the sink as I dropped my sponge. “I only found out a little bit ago.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I countered hotly, fishing the sponge back out of the bottom of the sink. “I did not…”

“Your mother and mine are apparently best friends. According to what my mother told me, your father and mine have also been discussing an arranged marriage between the two of us since we were little.” Alistair continued, cutting me off in a way that left no room for argument. “And you know, I think I should apologize too, at least, while I’m here. I’ve never been good with competitors, but I’ve never met a woman with cakes and business sense like yours either.”

           I could not tell if he was patronizing me or complimenting me, so I simply stayed quiet and turned off the running water. I closed my eyes slowly, considering what he said about me. It was hard to tell if he was speaking the truth or not. I placed the now clean dishes on the counter to dry and cleaned out the sink before drying my hands and turning to look at him, I sighed. If what he was saying were true, did he know from the start that I was my parent’s daughter? How long has he known who I am? Was he going to use this information against me to blackmail me for something?

“How long have you known?” I questioned, crossing my arms again, before locking eyes with him. “And what are you planning to do with the information?”

“Though it was delayed because of how busy you were today, I was hoping that you would let me take you on that date.” Alistair’s words surprised me so much, I leaned back to stare at him, mouth agape. “I know I’ve been rude to you and I can’t express how sorry I am for that. But for the sake of our parents, let’s at least go on the date we promised them we would.”

           It did not seem as though he were kidding or teasing me. I could tell he was being serious from the look in his hazel eyes. He was earnest if nothing else, but I was tired and ready to turn in for the day. My list of plans did not include listening to him tell me all of the ways in which I was running my business wrong or telling me that my treats were not good. I sighed, loudly, before lifting a hand to my head to try and stave off the incoming headache. As much as I hated to, I did tell my mother that I would go. I am not the kind of person that makes promises and forgets them. I just thought the date could be rescheduled.

“Fine. Let me run upstairs to get ready.” I replied, looking up at him. “As you can see, I’m not exactly dressed to go on a stroll through town.”

“Nor would you probably feel like it.” He countered, crossing his arms. “Look, you don’t have to dress up or anything. In fact, what you’re wearing under your apron is fine.”

           I tilted my head in confusion before looking down at my clothes. Since I was the manager, I did put in an effort to look professional every day, but this was still a bakery. There were flour patches on my black slacks and red frosting on my white button-up shirt. Surely, he could see all of that, but he still insisted it was fine? Was he trying to turn me into a laughing stock? I sighed, shaking my head before turning towards the stairs up to my apartment above my shop. I at least needed to put on some clean clothes and brush my hair.

“No worries, Alistair. I won’t be but five minutes.” I stated firmly, looking back towards him. “I’m not privy to going in public looking like this.”

“I suppose that is fair enough. I’ll be here.” Alistair said, leaning back against the counter. “At least for tonight, let’s not think of each other as rivals. I’d like to wipe the slate clean.”

           I could hardly believe my ears. Instead of replying, I made my way back upstairs to change. Since he said my slacks and a button-up were fine for the date, I suppose I will just grab a clean pair and brush out my hair. A few minutes later, I walked back into my bakery kitchen to find him standing there staring at his phone. If he could keep to that statement of us not being rivals, then maybe, just maybe, I could have a good time. It was the festival after all. When he looked up at me finally, he smiled slightly before tucking his phone back into his pocket. We made our way out into a city lit with romance and couples with happy smiles.

“So, why was your mom putting you up to blind dates?” He asked, offering me his arm so I did not get lost in the crowd around us. “Is it because you’re too headstrong to find someone yourself?”

“Haha, nothing like that,” I replied, gratefully taking his offer. “Mostly, she wants me to give up my shop and settle down to make kids who she then wants to run the family business.”

“Seems we’re in a similar boat. Maybe we should just get married to each other and combine our shops, just to prove to them that we’re chasing our dreams.” Alistair countered laughing. “If we could stop butting heads long enough to actually get along, that is.”

“Oh, mom would HATE that!” I laughed, turning my gaze up to his eyes. “It would be so funny though. They both expect us to settle because of our spouses only to then realize our spouses encourage us to follow our passions.”

           We ended up at a nice restaurant a couple blocks from my shop within what seemed like seconds. Once inside, I find out that not only was he prepared for the date, he even had a reservation for seating that took into account my shop hours. It made me wonder just how long he knew who he was supposed to be going on this blind date with. I narrowed my eyes as he pulled out my seat and offered it to me. I sat before watching him walk around to the other seat. Part of this was not adding up, especially since reservations for this restaurant for this particular time period were hard to get.

“So, when are you going to tell me the truth?” I started, after giving the waitress my order. “How long have you known who I was?”

“The entire time.” He stated, sighing lightly. “Well, since the date was brought up three months ago. I figured it would be a good opportunity to get to know you better and set the record straight.”

“I see,” I replied looking away. “Well, I suppose I can let bygones be bygones if you take back every bad thing you’ve ever said about my business.”

“I take it all back. You’ve worked hard to get where you are today, you’re a smart and extremely capable woman who has earned my respect.” Even though it was the same Alistair as always, I could tell he was being honest. “After making a complete a** of myself, I couldn’t just ask you on a date. That and every time we were at the shops, mine or yours, we always butted heads.”

           Wait, did that mean…I kept my eyes on his unwavering gaze. Did that mean that he stopped coming to the shop because he wanted to ask me out, but did not know how? The more I thought about it, the more sense it made until I knew I could no longer doubt him. We were both bakers with shops of our own. Was his family truly similar to mine as well? As the evening progressed, I ended up having a lot of fun, more than I expected. After our meal, on the way back to my apartment/shop, we talked about the future of our business.

“We could hold a collaboration project if you’re interested,” Alistair said as we came to a stop in front of my building. “And, if you don’t mind…maybe we could go on another date?”

“A collab between our bakeries would definitely make the local news since we’ve been fighting so long,” I replied thoughtfully before offering a small smile. “You’re not such a bad guy, Alistair. I suppose one more date isn’t too much to ask for.”

           It has been three years since then, though I often find myself surprised at just how wild things were back then. Careful of my seven-month baby bump, I navigated my way around the shop with a happy smile. Alistair and I ended up buying the buildings surrounding my shop to expand when the time came, so it was far larger than it used to be. We also merged with Alistair’s business when I married him two years ago, so now our name was Amy & Alistair’s Sweet Treats. I sat the plate down at the table of the couple who ordered it and placed a hand on a sore spot on my back.

“Amy, you should take a break.” Familiar arms wrapped around me, their hands resting on my belly. “If you strain yourself too much, the babies will not like it.”

“Alistair, I can do this much, honey,” I replied, leaning back into his arms. “Hard to believe where we were four years ago.”

“I love you, Amethyst Hunter. Let’s never fight again.” Alistair said on a chuckle, his lips pressing to my forehead. “For the sake of the twins at least.”