One Cookie Ahead

6:00 am one eye open, moving out of bed step by step, trying to grab my phone.

the sound of the birds coming near my window, a breath of sunshine penetrates my room.

I begin to get ready as I go out of my room, I smell my father's freshly baked toast,

"Morning sunshine," He says

a day is not a day without my father's smile, it is like the world is rewarding me every day.

"I have to go early today without breakfast, but do not kill me, please” I stated

“ Are you still participating in the same event?”

“yes daddy, I have to this time, won't let Gerry get away with it,”

“Well, darling what can I say? You got it”

“I will meet you near hyde park at 7:00 pm, see ya”

As I step out of the door I lean on my dad to kiss him, grab my keys, and ready to move.

London’s cold breeze always hitting me with so many memories I am fond of, not a day goes by without falling in love with this city more and more.

I head east towards my small little young baby, ‘Anna’s Bakery’, yep that is what I named it, a tribute to my late best friend Anna, this was our dream when we were in high school, we used to brag about how famous we will go and that we’d end up on Marie Clarie's cover one day, to have our shop, never thought I would have to do it alone, but I had to do it for us, Anna.

8:00 AM, entering my shop, getting ready for today, and today is not like any other day, it is the Festival day.

“Morning Miss Ella” Isabella greets

“Morning Iss, how are you feeling for the big day?” I said

“Nervous but excited at the same time, can you please take a look at this paper, I have added how many pieces we have for each item we baked”

“Perfect, I will check it, just please call Mike and let him arrive early so I make sure everything is ready and we are on time for the festival” I stated

Isabella and mike are one of the true people I get to work with, they are passionate about baking as much as I am, they did a lot to our Anna and I consider them my Anna’s Family.

“Yes miss, will do that” Iss Says

Checking the bakery as I walk through every aisle, making sure everything is fine, ready to pickup what we have for the festival to go.

Festivals come with warm feelings, a nice one, celebrating a day by day with your beloved ones, enjoying the music with your friends and families, also you get to meet new people every time this event comes around the corner.

But this time everything is different, Gerry Arnold is participating, and to be honest, I am not a fan of the guy, he runs a bakery mid- downtown and people are always amused when seeing him, I guess people love to buy from his shop only because he is Gerry Arnold, the young famous actor who is well known for his rule in some series that I don’t recall.

I only met him once someplace with my friends but didn’t fully get to talk with him, as I said, not a fan of the guy.

His fame is what giving his bakery a huge profit, he is planning on opening another branch, as my friends keep on saying that he is getting to expand all across London and I am not sure if this is something I should be happy about, I mean in the end he is my competitor.

As I arrive at the festival, everything looks magical and well, I head towards my booth to start placing my decorations and products, I have been looking forward to such a day for such a long time and I am sure it will be a memorial one.

“should we place the logo here miss?” Isabella says looking at the Table on my left

“yes, I will just take a quick tour to check the festival Isabella while you finish setting up this one,” I say pointing to the logo

As I walk down, I see a lot of participants offering too many mouthwatering delicious bakeries, and the festival this year is sponsored with different types of cookies.

Not a day goes by without a cookie, the crisp takes you to a different world with the special dough you’d die for and chocolate you’d get lost in.

As I walk down I stumble into a tall good looking man, I can only see his back but I can say, he is very tall.

As he turns around, I now know who he is. Gerry Arnold.

Wasn’t sure if I should say something or leave but- “Hey Ella, finally get to see a close up of you” he interrupts my thoughts

“Hey, well wasn’t looking for such a close up anytime soon” I ironically say

“Well then here you go, sooner than expected” he smirks

Well, he is trying to be catchy, I can see why he is expanding though.

“Nice to meet you, Gerry, I’ve heard a lot about you”

“Pleasure is all mine, Ella”

“So what are you getting out of this? Are you ready for some spiced up competing?”

“I don’t compete with anyone, I offer significant products of my own, far away from competing” I laugh

“so you are telling me that I should be worried”

“definitely” I state

“well a fair competition it is” he gets his hand out of his pocket ready to shake mine

“as I said, I don’t compete,” I say shaking his hands, looking directly into his eyes

He shakes mine, not dropping the eye contact for once, it is like he is enjoying staring and I found myself staring back. 

I officially got distracted.

“I like the confidence, suits you” he calmly says

Not sure what he is trying to do right now but It doesn’t feel right.

“Always,” I say

“I’ll see you around” I remove my hand

“yeah sure, absolutely” he takes a step backward

As I gather my head and thoughts all together I begin to move back to my booth, making sure everything is ready but completely distracted by what happened two mins ago, as I sit on my chair I begin to find myself thinking of Gerry, what was that look? What was that?

“We are ready Miss,” isabella says

“Miss? is everything fine? ” 

“yeah yeah everything is good, sorry I left my mind someplace” I smile

I caught myself looking everywhere for him, and I still don’t understand why

5: 00 PM we’re halfway through the day, running out of stock, tired from standing but happy with the love I see from the people, this is what I am for, giving back to the world.

As I began to get ready to leave I was interrupted by a tap on my shoulder and when I turned around it was Him.

“looks like you are sold out already,” he says

“yeah we are, was a pretty nice one this year,” I say

“do you mind discussing doughs over coffee?” he smiles

Woah. That was quick, I panicked. A couple of hours ago I did not like the guy, now what?

“funny you, I don’t take doughs outside my bakery” I laugh

“smiling suits you,” he says

And I instantly and calmly smiled, man that one was too sharp. How can a guy organizes his talk like that, I mean I freeze and words run out of my mouth on the spot.

“Rosslyn, shall we?” I say

“nice pick, after you, please,” he says

9:00 pm I ran out of time, I forgot that I had to meet my dad, I got lost in Gerry, in such a long time, it feels different to talk to Gerry, we look alike and act alike, he is nice, funny, understanding, gentle and kind, never thought I’d say this, as I never thought I’d spend too many hours talking with him,

I don’t fall from the first smile, but I guess I did.

“I have to go, I have to meet with my dad”

“Okay, I’ll see you again,” he says

“soon”

“tomorrow 1:00 pm it is” he smiles

Well yeah but the word “soon” wasn’t meant to be that accurate.

“Perhaps you can drop by for a cookie taste,” I say

“can't wait,” he says

I left shortly after, hiding my smile on my face, I never wanted to leave and I have too many emotions to process, what was all of that about?

As I go home, resting my head on my pillow, I began to recall every moment with him, and it feels so good, in such a long time.

I wake up the next day, heading to the bakery with a chance he might drop by, counting the minutes I’d see him again, maybe it was only me and he didn’t feel it, maybe he is just too friendly, but the eyes.. they never lie.

As time goes by I found him opening the door with a smile on his face, he sat and kept talking for hours again, he is nice, his handsome smile and his very beautiful heart, I can feel it. But I won't say a word.

I might be the smartest expert you will ever meet with hiding their feelings, I might have felt things to die for but would show you nothing, would act normal, and keep it all inside. I always preserve my feelings, afraid I might get hurt, or attached, you are weak when you are attached, you settle for less because you don’t want these people to leave, you accept less than you deserve convincing yourself that all of this shall change one day, but no, nothing will change, the people who are bad to us will always be bad to us.

He can't stop looking at me and neither do I.

“I have to go, thank you for the cookies”

“anytime, you know where to get them next time,” I say

“and I’d never get lost” he smiles

“by the way, what is your favorite color?” he asks

“black” I instantly reply

“perfect” he smiles

This feels real.

We have been hanging out for some time, feels strange, mixed feelings, I spend every day entirely with him, and I never get bored, sometimes I wish if we were in the same house, so all the yearning would go away.

“You look so happy, it has been here for some time, or since Gerry,” Isabella asks

“Not sure if I should worry or keep going” I nervously say

“Do what your heart tells you to do, its happiness we keep living all our life looking for,” Isabella says

“What if we end up losing ourselves in the middle,” I say

“We never lose ourselves, we get to experience a new version of ourselves with every feeling we get and every person we meet, this is how we grow up, let your soul go free searching for others coming back with a new chance for ultimate happiness,” Isabella says while resting her hand on my shoulder

She is right, life is a big risk I should be afraid to fall in.

“What is he like? Tell me I am curious” Isabella asks

“that is an elusive question” I laugh

“ I like myself when I am with him, I like the spontaneous me, I get indulged with the ultimate reassurance when I hold his hand or rest my head on his shoulder, looking into his eyes, from the very first scent, penetrating my vessels moving to my blood carrying shivers, the way he talks is not so different from pride and prejudice's captain Wentworth, wasn’t intending to bump into the modern version of an Englishman but I guess I did” I calmly get it out with a smile on my face

“Then Wentworth is very lucky to have found his Elizabeth,” Isabella says

This is love, a devoted feeling that controls your heart, it spreads without any notice, you just find yourself in the middle of it, it controls you, makes you happy, assures you, makes your life look and seem more worthy than ever, you’d wish you can live more and more with this person, you start to realize that what matters the most is their happiness, not yours. Because if they are happy, you are happy too.

I went home and when I entered the room I found a package with my name on it, it's Gerry.

“downtown at 7:00 pm,” he wrote with a black flower attached

I kept searching in my wardrobe for a nice outfit, picked out a light skirt with a simple pullover, I’d go for my black coat along with my over knee boots.

I was on time, waiting for Gerry, wondering what he has to say this time, I nervously shove my hair behind my ears. As he comes from the back of my shoulder, I turn around and I instantly find myself smiling.

“ you look amazing,” he says

“thankyou” I softly say

“you always look amazing, in every time you smile, in every time you say something funny, when you are angry or mad, when you are happy or sad, overwhelmed and loved, from the very first moment I looked straight into your eyes, you were amazing.”

ii- he interprets me

“ I love you, Ella, I want nothing but to do spend the rest of my life baking cookies with you,” he says

“ I love you too” I smile