close as strangers ↣ joshler ✓

8. Bakery

Tyler felt awkward.

He was currently standing by the counter at Jenna's bakery and he already felt weird just being there since he didn't have a job to do but on top of that he was over-dressed and things were getting a little hectic.

He was in the midst of watching a suburban mom argue with Jenna about her son's birthday with cake. By arguing with Jenna she was actually just yelling at her and Jenna was too tired to fight back.

"I called and ordered this at eight this morning! It's twelve thirty and I have to be at my son's school at two to bring it to him! You said it would be ready right now. This is ridiculous."

"Ma'am I said I'm sorry," Jenna sighed. "We've been really busy all morning. We've just a little bit behind schedule. I have people working on it in the back as we speak. It's done, they're just frosting it. It'll be ready in the next fifteen minutes."

"I will be back in fifteen minutes and if it's not done by then I'm not paying for it and I'll go somewhere else. I hope you know you're ruining his birthday," the woman turned her nose up and walked out.

Tyler looked over and saw Jenna groan so loud the one person sitting in the shop eating a cupcake looked up in confusion.

"You okay?" Tyler asked her.

"Yeah," she gave him a small smile. "I hope that brat enjoys his god damn birthday cake," she mumbled, making Tyler laugh.

"Is it always like this?"

"No!" Jenna looked at him, exasperated. "It's never this busy. I'm glad the bakery's getting traction but I only have two employees back there and they're probably just as stressed as I am."

Tyler had met them when he came in the first time. One was a girl who had just graduated high school named Olivia and the other went to the community college and his name was Jackson. They seemed like nice kids so hopefully they didn't mind too much.

Tyler was about to respond when the door opened and a guy about his age walked in, a gym bag hanging from his shoulder. Tyler realized then just how muscular he was. "Hey, Jenna," he gave her a wide smile as he approached the counter.

"Hey, Jake!" Jenna smiled back, looking much happier.

"Who's Jake?" Tyler raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Oh, hi," the man laughed and stuck his and out. Tyler shook it and offered a smile.

"Hi," Tyler responded. "I'm Tyler."

"You're Tyler? It's so nice to meet you!"

"It's nice to meet you too. I wish I could say your name rang a bell," he chuckled.

"Oops," Jenna cut in. "Jake's been coming every day since we opened a few months ago. He works out at the gym down the street."

"I used to buy something but then realized it defeated the purpose of going to the gym so I just stop in and offer my company. That is, if Jenna actually enjoys it. I'm assuming she does cause she hasn't kicked me out yet."

"No of course I do!" She smiled, a light blush coating her cheeks. "Sorry I haven't mentioned you to Tyler," she laughed nervously. "I want to make sure you actually liked being around me. Didn't want to jinx anything."

"I'd be an idiot to not like being around you," he looked at her, the smile still on his face. "Anyway, I gotta get going I gotta pick up my niece from daycare. I just wanted to come say hi before I left. I'll see you tomorrow, Jen!"

"See ya, Jake!" Jenna waved as he walked out.

Tyler waited for the door to shut before turning to look at her. "He likes you."

"No he does not," Jenna hit his arm, the blush on her face deepening.

"Yes he does and you like him!" Tyler gasped. "Oh my God that is precious," he cooed.

"Stop," Jenna whined, her face bright red. "I'm not talking about this anymore."

"Fine..." Tyler sighed playfully. "You guys would be cute together."

"Tyler!"

---

"This is really good, Debbie," Tyler complimented, taking a bite of the lasagna Jenna's mom had prepared them for dinner. "I know where Jenna gets her skills from."

"Tyler stop," Jenna groaned.

"Jenna appreciate your friend," Debbie told her, smile on her face. "Thank you Tyler it means a lot."

"Of course," he smiled back. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Not wanting to be rude, he looked up. "Do you care if I check my phone really quick? It could be something for work but I didn't want to seem uninterested."

"No go ahead," Debbie replied, Jenna nodding. Tyler smiled before pulling his phone out, seeing he had an email from the receptionist at his work. He swiped to open it and scanned the information.

Tyler,

Your first patient is scheduled for Thursday at 12:30. Attached below is his file and the information we've received.

Thank you,
Annabelle

"What is it?" Jenna asked curiously.

"I have my first patient," he smiled.

"Oh my God that's so exciting Tyler!" Jenna told him.

"Do you know who it is?" Debbie asked.

"Nope. Even if I did I wouldn't be able to tell you, sorry. A file was attached with their information but I'm not going to open it until after the first session."

"Why not? Don't you wanna be prepared?"

"My mentor back in New Jersey, Matt, had this thing where he didn't look at his patient's files until after the first session because he wanted to gain his own first impression— not have this idea built up in his head of someone he didn't know. He would of course look at it after to see if there was anything important but I dunno I liked his philosophy and decided to give it a try when I became an actual therapist."

"Don't you wanna at least know their names?" Debbie voiced, confused.

"No. I introduce myself. They introduce themselves. We go from there," he shrugged. "It makes them more comfortable if I don't know every single thing about them before they even meet me."

"That's really cool, Ty," Jenna smiled at him. "I'm excited for you."

"Me too," Debbie grabbed his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. "You're gonna change lives, Tyler."

"I sure hope so."