Homeless

Chapter 5

Danielle's POV

I wake up Sunday morning feeling a bit groggy. I ended up having more than a couple drinks last night and I'm definitely feeling it this morning.

I wipe the sleep out of my eyes before heading to my bathroom and turning on the shower. As the water heats up, I strip down and hop inside.

The hot water feels good running down my body. It was a busy week and while the bakery is closed today, that's really just to give me time to prepare for the upcoming week. I'm going into the bakery this afternoon to get started on the cupcakes for tomorrow.

As I close my eyes, I remember what Anna said about offering the guy outside a job. Derek. He might appreciate it.

I'm not a charity case. His words from our last interaction echo in my head and I start to wonder if he would be insulted if I offered him a job.

But then, what if he needs a job and can't get one because nobody will hire him?

I go back and forth on this for the duration of my shower and finally decide that there's no harm in asking.

As I approach the bakery, I peak my head in the alleyway to see if I can find Derek. I don't see him right away but I know he can be hard to spot.

I walk down the alleyway and as I approach his usual spot under the awning, I see that he's not there. His blanket is gone and so is his stuff.

I'm not sure where the feeling comes from but I feel a bit of sadness. There's a certain disappointment that creeps up inside of me but I know it's because I wanted to help him. I sigh then head into the bakery through the backdoor. He's probably moved on to his next location.

I get to work on tomorrow's flavors: our Christmas peppermint, Black Forest, classic vanilla, classic chocolate, red velvet and the limited edition lemon and vanilla curd.

It's a lot of work to do alone but I enjoy Sundays where I can just bake my heart out, without any distractions.

I pull the last batch of cupcakes out of the oven and place them in the cooling container to be frosted tomorrow. Anna enjoys frosting so I prep the frosting for her to use tomorrow morning.

As I'm closing the last frosting container, I see Derek walking down the alleyway. I glance at the clock and it's 4pm in the afternoon. He's been gone all afternoon.

I quickly put the frosting away and wipe my hands on my apron. I don't have any ready made cupcakes to share but I grab a couple bottles of water from our fridge for Derek.

I wait until he sits down under the awning to open the back door.

"Hey," I say, walking down the steps so I'm not towering over him. "Where'd you go?"

He's opening a takeout container and inside of it, I see a large serving of spaghetti as well as a thick slice of garlic bread and a small salad. I can smell the garlic bread from there. He's also got two large paper bags to the right of him. It looks like he's gone on a shopping spree and is finishing it off with a nice, Italian dinner.

"With all due respect," he says, taking a large bite of spaghetti, "I appreciate you letting me stay here but I don't think that means I have to tell you when I'm coming and going. And if it does, I'll find a new home."

His words sting a little but I understand where he's coming from. I also wouldn't want someone asking where I was if I was a grown man.

"Sorry," I mumble. "I just wanna make sure you're okay."

He looks at me and, maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me, but I see the smallest hint of a smile. As quickly as it appears, it's gone.

"Anyways," I say. "I brought you some water."