Little Red (✅ COMPLETED)

CHAPTER [ 2 8 ]

"Why did I agree to this?" Ray tightened the knot on his baby blue apron behind his back, muttering to himself.

"Hmm? Did you say something?" Robyn returned from the pantry, holding the flour in one hand and a mixing bowl and whisk in the other.

She had tied her hair back in a high ponytail, which swung side to side every time she moved her head. Ray admired her in silence, pleased to see her so casual. When her hands were free, she started ticking off the ingredients they'd collected.

"Have you baked before?" She looked sideways at him.

Leaning against the counter, Ray shook his head.

Robyn smiled. "There's a first for everything. At least you'd be pleased to know yesterday's meeting was the last you'll attend."

Ray stared at her, unsure how he felt about that. Taking a deep breath he stood straight and looked around the spacious kitchen.

"Why are there so many flowers around here?" The windowsill was lined with colourful tulips, both inside and outside, hanging in pots from the ceiling were small violet and yellow flowers he had no idea the name of. Only the cooking range was bare of any flowers.

Robyn looked around. She loved this place, especially when it was showered in the warm, morning sunlight the way it was then.

"This is our flower shop kitchen," she nodded towards a door on the far end of the room and added, "behind that is the shop. My mum's a florist."

She placed the weighing scale in front of her and started measuring the ingredients. "We started as a stall in the market place. I guess it was our hospitality of serving our customers with free hot drinks on cold mornings that led us to growing the business."

Ray listened silently, his eyes trained on her lips as she spoke.

"Soon we had enough to build this shop, and as a way to thank our customers mother took her hospitality up a notch," Robyn gestured around her, "and here's the result of that. Here is also where I learned to bake."

Ray pulled his eyes away from her lips and looked around again. It was Friday, the day of the Year 9 parents evening and the time was six a.m. Never in his one hundred years of existence could he have imagined he'd be stood in a flowery kitchen that early in the morning, baking with his mate. He could have easily not come, if he didn't want to. He looked at her again. But the thought of leaving his mate in a misery, baking a hell of a batch of cupcakes at six in the morning made his heart hurt.

Robyn started mixing something in a large bowl, then turned to him. "Can you start cracking the eggs in this?"

Ray reached for one, carefully picking it up so he wouldn't burst it open.

"Hey, you don't have to handle it like it's a ticking bomb," Robyn laughed, watching him hold the egg with great concentration.

Ray scowled, "let me do it my way, or else there'll be shells in your lovely cupcakes."

Robyn shut up and let him crack the eggs one at a time as she whisked it thoroughly. She ordered him to add the vanilla extract which he handled with even greater care.

Somewhere between the whisking and the ordering, she found herself staring at the man beside her in admiration. Sunlight filtered in from the window behind them, making mote particles in the air visible. It reminded her of fairy dust, enchanting and completely surreal, just like Ray was.

When his clear blue eyes made contact with hers, she looked away. She didn't mean to stare at him, it had just happened.

"Now what?" Ray asked, wiping his hands on his apron, he waited for instructions.