Winning by losing.

Our story begins, in small town, in late November. Where a bakery opened up, down the street from another one. In a small town like this, that was big news and everybody knew and talked about it, and what it meant. Competition.

The bakery, that had been there for generations, had just been handed down, to the daughter, of the former owners, who had retired. Her name was Amethyst Thompson, Amy for short. She was 29 years old. Her parents had her, when they were quite old, having only found one another, later in life. Amy had worked in the bakery, all her life, as it was, and always had been, the family business. 

The bakery, had originally been opened, by Amy’s great grandparents, then passed down, through the generations and now it was hers.

She was proud and happy, but she also felt the pressure. What if she couldn’t do it. What if she failed. If she lost the bakery, that had survived, for three generations, before her... but that wasn't an option.

Amy had been running the bakery, for just under a year, when the new bakery, was opened, near by. This had never happened before, there were, and had always been, just two bakery’s, in the town, and they were at either ends of it, so they didn’t really compete, for customers.

Luckily, people tend to be loyal, in small towns, like this one was, so Amy wasn’t too concerned, for the immediate future, but further down the line, it could turn into, a real problem.

With the holidays coming up, and the annual bake-off, along with it, Amy’s bakery, was busy as ever, so she didn’t have, a lot of time to worry, about the new bakery. There was simply, too much to do and too little time, to get it done.

Though she was busy, Amy noticed, that there were less customers, then there had been, in the years before, during this time. She didn’t think too much of it, and even found herself grateful, for there not being so many. Leaving her more time, to deal with the rest. Like preparing for the towns bake-off. 

Her bakery, her family, had won the last three years, and she didn’t want, to be the one, to lose their streak. So she was working hard, to come up with something, that would get her that win.

One evening, she was closing up early, locking up and going home, to get some rest, when Amy saw, some of her usual customers, in line, at the new bakery. Wishing it didn’t, she felt her heart sink, to the pit of her stomach. So this was why, she hadn’t been, as busy as usual. She wasn’t angry, but a small part of her, felt like those people, had, in some way, betrayed her.

Knowing that she was overreacting, she pulled herself together, and continued home, where she went straight into the kitchen, more determined than ever, to win the town bake-off. 

She would prove to them all, that she was the best, even without her parents help and that hers, was still the best bakery in town.

The bake-off, was a three part and three day, competition. The first day, was bread, second day, small baked goods and the third day, was basically your chance, to create a masterpiece. You could make what ever you wanted, though most people made cakes, with many layers and colors. It was always worth seeing, even for those, who didn’t care much, about baking.

The one with the highest score, at the end of those three days, win. They win ten bags of free flour and a thousand dollars.

With her eye on the prize, Amy worked all night, perfecting her bread and small baked goods, and trying to come up, with something great, for the third days challenge, something, that would make sure, she would win.

Amy continued like this for days. Barely sleeping, and always working. She had decided on, what she would make, in the third challenge, now she just had to perfect it. She worked, night and day. 

10 days left, until the bake-off. It was December now. 

One week left. She was getting close, but it still wasn’t there.

Five days left. She was barely working in her bakery anymore, leaving the most of it, to the other employees. This had the be perfect.

With only two days left, she finally got it. It was perfect and she was ready. Ready to win and to beat the other bakery, and show the people in town, that she was the best and show those, who had started going to the other bakery, that they should have never stopped, coming to hers.

Feeling confident, she worked in her bakery again, like nothing had happened. She was ready. As she closed the store, the night before the first day, of the competition, she smiled to herself, before locking the doors and walking home, to get a good nights sleep.

When she got home and into bed, it suddenly hit her, that she didn’t even know, what the person, who ran the other bakery, looked like. She didn’t even know, if it was a man or a woman.

Laughing to herself, over the absurdity of this fact, she closed her eyes and went to sleep, ready for the day to come.

Waking up the next morning, to the sound of her alarm clock, Amy stretched and sighed, before getting out of bed. She stood up and pulled on her slippers, before going to the bathroom, to get ready for the day.

Having showered, dressed and eaten, Amy started packing up the things, that she would need, at the bake-off and double checking, to make sure, she had everything. She wasn’t going to lose, because she forgot something at home.

After having checked for the sixth time, she finally put on her overcoat and boots, and then she left. Walking through the town, to where the bake-off was being held, she met many of the other people, who lived in town. 

Smiling and waving to everyone, she made her way there and put her basket full of things, on the table, that she would be using, for the next three days and started to unpack her things.

After a while, some of the other contestants, began showing up, with their own baskets full of their own things, and placing them, on what would be their table, for the next three days.

Looking around, Amy only saw one person, whom she didn’t know and knew, that that must be, the owner of the new bakery. Amy was shocked, as the person before her, didn’t look anything like, what she had been picturing.

Standing before her, was a tall, young and beautiful woman. She looked kind, sweet and caring. Amy had been picturing a mean face and a cold heart, but, unless she was very much mistaken, the woman before hers heart, had never known a chilly day, in its whole life.

The woman, having spotted Amy, walked over to her, put out a hand and said, with a sweet and mild voice, “Hi, you must be Amy. We haven’t had the pleasure of meeting yet. I’m Abigale, but you can call me Abbey, if you want.” And she smiled at Amy, who came to her senses and took the extended hand and shook it. Finding herself unable to speak, Amy simply nodded and returned Abbeys smile, then returned back, to unpacking her things, not knowing what else to do. While, she unpacked the last of her things, Amy thought to herself: people don’t look like that in real life. And usually, they didn’t, Abbey was an exceptionally beautiful woman, who looked like she belonged, in a Hollywood movie, or somewhere similar.

About an hour later, the judges showed up and day one, of the bake-off had begun. The bread, was the easiest job for Amy, her great grandparents, had perfected a recipe, while they ran the bakery. A recipe that had won their family, the highest score, in the bread category, every year they had entered, the bake-off. Amy could bake it, in her sleep, if she wanted to.

The competition officially started, Amy tried to get in the zone, but for some reason, she couldn’t focus properly. No matter how hard she tried, her mind kept wondering and she kept thinking about Abbey. Why was she stuck in her head? Amy didn’t know her, she only just met her, yet there was something about her.

While Amy was thinking about Abbey, trying her best, to keep from looking at her, her hands and arms, were going through the motions, making the bread for her. Then all of the sudden, she felt a hand, on her shoulder and the touch of it, sent electricity down her spine, and she knew, without having to look, that it was Abbey and she jumped.

“Hey, I dropped my flour bag and...” Abbey gestured at the ground behind her and when Amy looked, she saw the flour bag, spilt on the ground and the white flour, laying all over the ground, slowly blowing away, in the wind.

“Oh yeah, no sure, have the rest of mine, I’m done with it.” Amy responded nervously, feeling her blood, rush to her cheeks and trying not to look her in the eye, and wondering why this stranger, made her so nervous.

Abbey smiled and grabbed the open bag of flour, on Amys table, said “thank you.” And left, to walk back, to her own table.

The time was almost up, on the first day, and all the bread, was in the ovens, so everyone were standing around, talking to each other. Amy was talking to an older woman, about her parents and how they were, when she, once again, felt a hand on her shoulder and knew, that it belonged to Abbey. Amy turned around, to see the smiling face, to whom the hand belonged and sure enough, it was Abbey.

Returning the smile, nervously and felling herself begin to blush again, Amy forgot all about the conversation, she had been having and the woman, whom she had been having it with, left the two of them, looking slightly offended.

“How do you think you’ve done?” Abbey asked Amy, still smiling at her.

“I did fine. I’m not worried, how about you?” Returned Amy, trying not to sound too nervous, but failing.

A grin appeared on Abbeys face, most likely because of Amys nervous tone, as she said: “You don’t sound too sure. I think I did well, I’ve always had a way, with bread.” With these words, Abbey put her hand, over Amys, which was laying on her table and Amy froze, not knowing, what to make of it, she didn’t move nor speak, hoping that she wasn’t imagining it and, that the moment would last forever.

Never having felt this way before, Amy didn’t recognize the emotion, for what it was. Or maybe she did, but didn’t want to openly admit to herself, that she was falling, for a complete stranger. Thinking, in the back of her head, that things like that, didn’t happen in real life, only in movies and fairytales, and that this was neither, no matter how much Abbey looked like a movie star.

Still standing there, it felt like they were the only two people in the world and that nothing else mattered and never would again, when suddenly, Abbeys hand closed tightly over Amys, and she pulled her away from the crowd. Amy felt powerless and that, even if she wanted to, she wouldn’t be able to fight back, against the pull.

Stopping in a corner, out of sight from anyone, with one last pull, Abbey was holding Amy, in her arms and for a moment, time stood still. And then Abbey kissed Amy. It was magical and it was perfect, Amy felt weightless and in that moment, anything was possible.

Pulling away from Amy, Abbey began to apologize “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me, I swear, it was like I lost control over my body. I am SO sorry...” She was rambling and Amy, was staring at her, not sure of what just happened, and then, throwing caution to the wind, she grabbed Abbey and kissed her. They stood there, in each other’s arms for what felt like hours, neither of them wanting it to end.

When they finally emerged from each other, they went back to the bake-off, laughing to themselves, until Amy spotted smoke, coming from her oven. She ran over there and opened it. When she pulled out her bread, she discovered that it was black. Burnt all over and completely ruined. But she didn’t care, after the initial shock, had worn off, she began to laugh again and, spotting Abbey, she began to laugh as well.

Amy dropped out of the competition, because she simply didn’t care, about some silly prize anymore. She had something way better now. She had a partner and she had finally found something, other than her bakery, that meant something to her, and that made her happier, than she had ever been. After the last two days of the competition, Abbey won the prize, having blown everyone away, with her masterpiece on the final day.

A year later, Abbey closed her own bakery and came to work, with Amy in hers, and they were more successful together, than Amys parents, grandparents and great grandparents had ever been.

Six months after that, Abbey proposed and Amy said yes. They got married, on their second year anniversary, as a couple. They even got the town, to push the bake-off, to one day later, so they could have their wedding there.

Abbey and Amy were happy, and they loved each other, until the day, they died...