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Stressed & Desserts

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Stressed & Desserts

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Stressed about desserts was the epitome of irony.

A month of repairs and installing new equipment, and the most stressful part was the baking. We were ready for our grand reopening tomorrow after spending a grueling day in the new kitchen. It took all of our manpower to make enough goods for what we expected to be a decent crowd of patrons.

Jennifer decided to make her return now, with limited hours so she could still be with her baby as often as possible. That meant Theo wasn't out of the job after all. She left earlier in the day after whipping up an abundance of frosting.

Theo helped with the prep work too, but he left when I told him to go ahead and meet up with the others at his house. He said he had something special planned for FooFliDay, and I just hoped I would stay awake long enough to find out what it was before crashing for the night.

Over the past month, I spent a lot of time with my friends. We went out to the movies, the mall, and the park; all of the things I was usually too busy to do with them. I took any opportunity to pay them back for everything they did for me, often in the form of buying their popcorn and letting them choose what we did for the day.

Then there were the dates with Theo. I thought I would be doing the driving, but he got himself a shiny new license for the motorcycle that his dad had so graciously—and officially—loaned to him. Only until he can afford another car...or a bike of his own. I didn't share my opinion when he asked because I didn't want to affect his decision, but I was more favorable to the second option.

I also started to take more time for myself. My streaming subscription no longer gathered dust since I started watching more shows, and I was using my library card for fiction and not just study material. It was fun baking at home too, and I finally had the chance to experiment with new recipes.

Today it was the same ol' recipes, and I missed making them with my mom. She frosted the last of the cupcakes and cinnamon rolls while I iced the scones. Our feet were aching almost as much as our backs, but there was a feeling of accomplishment when we filled the new display cases and turned off the lights.

After locking up, we both stood outside in front of the 'Closed' sign. A sigh of contentment left us simultaneously, forming into puffs in the chilly winter air. I couldn't wait until spring took the frost away, when flower-shaped sugar cookies and raspberry rose brownies would be in season.

My mom put her arm around me in a side-hug and kissed the top of my head, "Big day tomorrow."

A soft smile curved my lips.

"Don't stay up too late."

"I won't," I promised.

"You have some incredible friends, sweetheart."

"I have pretty incredible parents too."

"Oh, honey. Your father's not here right now, so you don't have to include him out of pity."

I elbowed her lightly. "Don't stay out too late with Mr. and Mrs. Keller."

"We won't," she grinned mischievously. "Don't sneak off to Theo's room while everyone else is asleep."

"Oh my god!" I shrugged her arm off of my shoulder. "I'm going now."

"Be good, Abby," her sing-song tone followed me to my car.