Cream Puffs and Courtship

Chapter 16- The Customer

The next morning, Evie woke up in a rush.

She realized that because of her late night study session, she had forgotten to set her alarm which caused her to wake up half an hour late.

So that caused her to be running around the house while shimmying into her jeans and screaming for Ella to wake up and get ready.

"We're going to be late Ella! Get up and grab your things!" Evie yelled as she finally got her jeans over her hips. "Hurry up! I'm getting your lunch ready just get up!"

Ella stumbled out of her room and looked at Evie through tired eyes.

"What time is it Ev?"

"It's already 7:45. Now come on! Get dressed please!" Evie said throwing various items of food into Ella's lunch box.

Once she finished that, she ran back to her room and haphazardly threw her books and notes into her bag.

"Ready El?" Evie asked already grabbing her keys off the counter and slinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Yup, let's go," Ella said grabbing her lunch box off the counter and flinging the door open.

The sisters ran down the stairwell startling several of their neighbors who were also on their way to work. Eventually, they made their way to the car where Evie immediately stepped on the gas as soon as she had her seatbelt on.

"Alright Ella, I'm going to pull up to the school and you're going to jump out because I'm going to be late for my lecture."

"Alright. You can drop me off now if you want. I can run," Ella said while finally zipping her backpack up.

"I'm not going to make you run, Ella. Just get out of the car quickly yeah?"

"Yeah ok sounds good."

True to her word, Ella hopped out of the car as soon as Evie pulled over.

"I love you!" Evie called out of the window. She could distantly hear Ella shout the same back to her and then she took off down the street.

Evie pulled into the parking lot and ran towards the large lecture hall. Her chunky wedges clicked against the pavement and she could feel her breath coming out in little puffs because of the cold winter weather.

Her bag kept slipping down her arm so she finally just cursed rather loudly and swung it in front of her.

Finally, the entrance to the lecture hall was a few steps away and Evie could slow down. She quietly slipped into the room through the back entrance and looked around for Kennedy.

Luckily, Kennedy had chosen a seat near the aisle so it was very easy for Evie to slide right in next to her.

"Where were you?" Kennedy whispered as Evie got out her things.

"Getting El to school. Forgot to set my alarm last night. Did you watch the press conference?"

"Duh! Prince Devon looked so hot! Did you see that smirk? To die for!"

"You're insane Kennedy. Now, what has the professor been blabbing about today?"

Evie took notes quietly and before she knew it, the lecture was over. She and Kennedy quickly gathered their things and left the hall before the horde of students reached the back entrance.

"You coming to Carla's today?" Kennedy questioned as they walked towards the parking lot.

"Yup. And I'm picking up an extra shift on Tuesday," Evie replied as she picked her keys out of her bag. "Are you working today?"

"Yeah. Working at Carla's til 3, finishing up my homework and then I'm going out. You wanna come?"

Evie raised a brow.

"Just asking! Now come on, Carla will get mad if you're late again."

~~~

Evie nodded at Kennedy as they parted ways and quickly walked the rest of the way to the car. She quickly fastened her seatbelt and then expertly pulled out of the parking space. The roads were relatively clear and when Evie looked through her rearview mirror, she could see Kennedy's shiny new car following her.

Muscle memory lead Evie to the employee parking lot next to the bakery. Evie stepped out of the car and waited for Kennedy to join her before briskly walking into the bakery.

"Good afternoon Carla!" The girls called as they pulled their aprons on.

"Afternoon girls!" She replied back. "I pulled the muffins out of the oven if one of you wanted to get them on display?"

"Of course," Kennedy said as she and Evie made their way into the kitchen.

"You've got the muffins?" Evie asked. "I'll go clean tables."

"Sounds good."

Evie pulled some plastic gloves on and then rung out a rag in the sink. She made her way to the front of the bakery, smiling at the customers and asking them if they were enjoying their food.

Soon enough, she had wiped down every table in the store. Just as she was about to return to the kitchen when she heard the sweet tingle of the bell that Carla had placed above the door.

"Hello, welcome to Carla's!" Evie said as she spun around to face the customer.

She stumbled backward slightly when she saw exactly who the customer was.

"Tina?" Evie asked. "What are you doing here?"

Tina stood in front of Evie with a huge smile and twinkling eyes. Her fitted leggings and loose Lexia University sweatshirt made her look just like every other college student that Evie had served but, her perfectly curled strawberry blonde hair that Evie knew to be a wig, made Evie remember exactly who she was.

"Cream puffs duh," Tina replied. "And I just maybe wanted to make sure that you weren't going to back out of the shopping trip that I have planned for Friday."

"Tina-"

"Nope. Get me my cream puffs and then I will consider talking about the shopping trip."

Evie rolled her eyes and gestured for Tina to follow her. Evie whispered to Carla that she was bringing a friend into the back and then showed Tina to the kitchen.

Tina settled onto one of the stools by the island that Evie had placed some cream puffs on.

"These are heaven on earth I swear," Tina said between a mouthful of cream puff.

Evie shook her head and started kneading bread on the counter that Tina was seated at.

"I'm glad you like it. Now, can we please just call off the shopping trip? I'm not sure it's a good idea."

"Evie. When was the last time you went shopping for yourself?"

Evie opened her mouth but Tina just continued to talk.

"Nope. The last time you went shopping for yourself and actually bought something that you liked?"

Evie's mouth snapped shut.

"That's what I thought. Now I'm not asking for you to go to a club, although that would be hella fun if you do want to go. I just want to pamper you a bit."

Evie glared at Tina and punched the dough particularly hard.

"Pleaseeeeeeeeeee?"

Suddenly the door to the kitchen banged open.

"Evs? I need some help with the flour delivery- Who are you?" Kennedy exclaimed as she walked in.

Tina stood up and extended her hand.

"Princess Valentina of Lexia. Pleasure to meet you."

A/N- Happy Monday loves! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you did, please tag a friend and vote for the chapter! Sorry for the late upload, I just got super busy with school and other personal stuff. Alrighty, that's all for today! See you on Friday!