Little Something (II)

This story is a sequel to Little Something (I), Ay, de mi Lorona and Gracias a la vida that you can find on my page.

The inflating mushroom had disappeared. Erwin shook the book, and checked underneath the cabinet. Did the mushroom slip out when he wrapped it? He crawled towards the fridge and under the shelves. Nothing.

"A lady is asking for you." Ida was standing by the door, arms crossed. "Can't you arrange those meetings elsewhere? It's a working place here."

Erwin rolled his eyes.

Liz was staring at the decorations by the nougat counter when he arrived. He dragged her outside and told her what happened.

"Hm. Can't you order another one?"

"The dough needs three days to rise - we need the mushroom back tonight."

Something was strange about her eyes. But he couldn't say what.

"Hm. My neighbour works for the police, I'll leave him a message. And while he investigates, we can figure a plan B based on the equipment in the warehouse."

The warehouse hadn't been used in a decade, but it was clean. And huge. Erwin realised how little he knew about the town and its people, unlike Liz, who seemed perfectly at ease. He'd have to become more like her if he wanted to run a successful patisserie one day. Liz opened a large door to their left, inside was the fabric the tailor had delivered. It looked gigantic, just like Erwin had imagined it.

"See the inflating pumps over there? Unfortunately, you can't use them for cookies." She turned back and laughed. She looked familiar. Her phone rang - her neighbour was calling back. "Hm, I'll ask him. Erwin, who has access to the kitchen and who knew about the mushroom?"

"Nobody knew about the mushroom but the whole staff had access to the kitchen. Peyton, our boss, did go to the kitchen this morning and I know he checked through my stuff. Luke was there too and Ida had been there since dawn."

"Any way Ida saw you collect the mushroom?"

"Doubt so. She was busy this morning. Also, Zazie, who resigned yesterday, might still have access to the building."

"Any reason for them to sabotage the contest?"

Sabotage. Erwin was so focused on getting credit for his ideas, gaining credibility within the team and winning the contest, that he hadn't looked at it from that angle.

"Any politics or frictions within the team?"

Ha.

"Zazie left because she was overworked and unappreciated. She joked about Peyton losing the contest, so she may have wanted to get revenge over him. Peyton wants contracts, he has no reason to sabotage anything. Luke noticed I had impressed Peyton, and he is competitive - if he knew about the mushroom, he would have, without a doubt, stolen it. As for Ida..." He paused. He remembered her dark looks, her bitten nails, her sweaty face and her failed attempts at catching her bosses' attention. Now that both Peyton and Luke had acknowledged him, she had plenty of reasons to sabotage him. How silly that he had let her bad temper impact their collaboration. He shouldn't have kept her out of the cookie project on purpose. How short-sighted. But, well, Ida was also dutiful - she covered up for Luke's lie when Peyton dug into their lab analysis strategy. Could she sabotage the contest when she worked hard everyday to keep the shop running? Probably not. Unless. Unless, Luke had asked her to.

"Luke, Zazie and Ida could sabotage the contest." Erwin summarised. "Luke and Ida knew I was still working on the inflation process. They could have inspected the kitchen while I was away talking to the mayor over the phone. Ida does all the cleaning in the shop, she could have mopped around and found the book. But she would have called me out on -"

"Hm. Would she also clean behind the cabinet?"

"How do you know the book was behind the cabinet?"

"You told the tailor." Liz smiled. "Should we also add him to the list?"

He had indeed told the tailor. And the tailored had told Liz. Erwin felt stupid.

"Yes. No. Wait. I had my call with the mayor near the backdoor and Ida was taking care of the shop, he couldn't have sneaked in."

"I was kidding, Erwin." She laughed. "Why would the tailor steal your mushroom? People steal things only because they have a reason to do it."

Liz ended the call and showed him the heating system. This, paired with the tailor's fabric, could make the dough rise even with normal yeast. Erwin agreed to bring over the dough, although he knew they wouldn't win the contest with that technique.

Ida was cleaning when he entered the kitchen and she gave him a dark look.

"What have I done again?"

She threw her sponge into the sink.

"Who was that teenager? 'Candied violets', for 'tonight', 'it's on me'. What were you thinking?"

Ida and her paranoia.

"I'm talking to you." Her hands were shaking. "Do you think you can invite your little gilfriends here? Offer them whatever they want?"

Better not to respond.

"I'll deduce those candies from your pay. You come in late, you never -"

"Fine."

"And where is the cookie? The deadline is Friday. And you? You flirt around, you -"

Erwin grabbed Ida by the collar and threw her against the fridge. He could have punched her. They stared at each other, she looked petrified on the floor. Slowly she broke eye contact, looking down at the mopped tiles. Slowly she stood up, avoiding his gaze. She deserved it. How could she think ... Why would she... She, idiot. Erwin looked away and heard her sob. That sound bit him in the chest, he turned back towards her, and she pushed her hands forward as if to protect herself. He wanted to say something but she grabbed her sweater, wiped her eyes with her sleeve and walked out. He punched the wall with all he had left inside.

"Are you okay?"

He turned around.

"The backdoor was open." Liz said as if she had read his mind. "I waited for you at the warehouse and you didn't come back."

"I, yeah, I -"

"Is this the cabinet you mentioned?" Curiosity burnt through her eyes - she wanted to see the book. He opened it to show her the newspaper. The mushroom was back inside.

"So, it was Ida?" She said and laughed. He felt even more shame, it shouldn't have never escalated like this. Liz was smiling.

"I'll tell my neighbour it's all sorted."

"I'm confused."

"Don't be. You have the warehouse, the heating system, your mushroom and press coverage for Thursday. You'll do great."

Now he knew. She reminded him of his ex-girlfriend, Ali. How come he hadn't seen it? Liz noticed something had changed in his eyes and, before he could ask a question, she leant forward and hugged him - her embrace was dry and smelt of pomegranate.

Ida did not come back to work. The cookie rose and grew, as planned, and even more. By now, Erwin knew they would win the contest but that victory was already meaningless. He had never hit anyone before. He couldn't believe rivalry had exploded so quickly between them. Even listening to his "Little Something" song, now, felt sour.

The journalist visited the warehouse on Thursday and Erwin set the stage for Charles and Peyton to shine with a glossy story about mushrooms, creation and team work. It worked.

On Friday, Erwin managed the cleaning, the shop and the orders while Charles, Peyton and Luke attended the contest. The phone rang with abnormal frequency - contracts.

"Did you see that?" Liz unfolded a piece of newspaper and gave it to Erwin. Charles, Peyton, with his medal, and Luke were smiling next to their giant cookie and a long article. "You did it!"

"We did it."

"No, you did. We should celebrate. Do you have plans tomorrow?"

He needed to rest but her eyes did not leave him a choice. That was the strange thing about them - they never moved.

"I was expecting more enthusiasm." She laughed. "Or you're not well?"

"I'm tired -"

"Even better, you rest tomorrow morning and we meet in the afternoon. It helps to process things out loud."

Her smile did look like his ex-girlfriend's.

"4pm at the warehouse?"

She left a cloud of pomegranate behind her. Something pinched in his stomach - something he had never felt before. Something not too pleasant but he was probably overthinking.

"Congratulations, Erwin." He turned around - Ida was standing at the entrance of the shop. Her hair was flat and her skin dry, but she looked more relaxed than usual. He followed her outside.

"You even invited journalists. That was a good idea."

"Wasn't mine." He stared at her and his gaze toughened as he did. Did he resent her for making him suffocate and explode? Was he angry at himself? At their team? Or embarrassed that he couldn't even apologise to her?

"I'm quitting," she said. He opened his mouth but she interrupted him, "best of luck." She stretched her hand and showed her teeth. He took it as a smile. He shook her hand back and forced a smile. As she started to walk away, his voice came back.

"One question, Ida." He approached. "About the teenager, why -"

"You shouldn't have asked her to meet you in the kitchen."

"Meet me in the kitchen?"

"When you were talking to the mayor. She came to the shop and said you had told her to meet you in the kitchen for your "secret project". I let her in even though it is not allowed. But when I saw her again in the kitchen in the afternoon, I -"

"In the afternoon?"

"Yes. After you left with the other woman."

"She broke into the kitchen when I was away?"

"Broke in? She said you had told her you'd give her free candies."

So, Violet, the tailor's daughter, had come three times that day: early in the morning, when he was talking to the mayor and when he was visiting the warehouse. He remembered Liz' words: "people steal things, only if they have a reason to do it."

Why would Violet steal the mushroom and bring it back?