“Normally it would be one-fifty for the multilayer sheet cake, but since you’ve brought two of the ingredients, I can do it for one-twenty. The other sheet cakes would also be one-twenty each.”
I waited for him to huff at my prices. Although I tried to keep them low, I couldn’t get the same wholesale discounts that mega places could.
“So, that’s about three sixty?”
“Yes. Plus tax.”
“Right. Okay, since this is a rush job, how about six hundred if you’re able to do all three? I’ll put a deposit down now of one-twenty for the first cake. Oh, and I hate to ask, but do you deliver?”
“I do. I usually charge by the mile.”
“We’re about a twenty-four-minute drive from the city, so how about a hundred for delivery?”
It was taking all of my willpower not to have dollar signs pop out of my eyes. This guy was offering to pay me nearly double.
DOUBLE!
He must really love that niece of his.
Normally I would never put money ahead of producing quality work, but with that kind of payout… Well, not only would I use a bunch of stock that was about to go bad, but it would also get me out of the red for the month.
And give me a great step ahead for the next month as well. Not to mention, if this family reunion was big enough to need three sheet cakes, then there was a pretty high chance of me being able to win at least a couple of new people over as customers.
“You sir, have yourself a deal,” I said, offering him my hand.
I didn’t think his smile could grow any bigger, but it most certainly did.
“Really? God, thank you so much! You’re making a lot of folk’s day, I’ll have you know! If you wanna ring me up, I’ll pay that deposit, then go tell them the good news. Oh, and you’ll need my number for delivery, right?”
His joy was infectious. He reminded me of something Roald Dahl had said about lovely people on the inside having it shine through their exterior. I’d just met the guy, but he was definitely shinin’.
“Yes, I will. And you said you’d want me there around four?”
“Yeah. Earlier is plenty welcome if you can, but five is when it’ll be a bit late. I want people to be able to enjoy the cake and digest it before we go on our night run.”
“Night run?” I asked curiously.
“Uh… yeah. You know. Celebrating spring by enjoying a cool night run instead of a frigid winter run.”
“Uh-huh,” I murmured. “I’ll take your word for it.”
I wasn’t really a runner. While I was kind of average-sized, I had a softness around my middle from sampling so many of my own goods. But I didn’t mind it. I was fairly confident in how I looked. All I’d really want to change about myself was being a few inches taller so I could reach the top shelves more easily, having bigger hands to use male-geared culinary tools better, and maybe not being a part of the itty-bitty titty committee. My modest, barely-B cups did their best, but they weren’t exactly overflowing.
My rear, however, more than made up for it, and it was just hard for me to feel bad about myself when I had a thicc ass.
“Eh, maybe it’s a country thing,” he said, and who knew, maybe it was. We chatted a bit more as I rung him up for the deposit and had him write his number and address on the receipt. I was a bit paranoid about somehow misreading or messing up his number and losing out on the rest of the money, so I made sure to text him while he was still in the bakery. I had to admit, it was cute how his clunky Otterbox case began to ring with a familiar song about a monster wolf in the UK.
Awwwwoooooo!
It howled musically, and I swore the guy blushed a little, which made him even more handsome.
“Nice ringtone you have there…” I paused, realizing we’d never exchanged names, so I looked at his receipt. “Castiel.”
“It’s Cas, please,” he said, offering me that crooked smile again. I probably shouldn’t have liked it as much as I did, but I definitely did like it. “Castiel is for when I’m in trouble.”
“And are you in trouble often?” I asked. Whew, that was smooth! Normally, I would never really flirt with a customer, but if the vibes were right, why fight it?
“You ask like you’re looking for trouble,” he shot right back.
Maybe in any other situation that line would be sleezy, but it made me chuckle a bit.
Actually, it was more of a giggle. A giggle.
Like I was a hormonal, crushing teenager again. Although I knew it wasn’t exactly the most professional thing for me to do, it was such a lovely change of pace, emotion-wise. After so much time fretting, worrying, grieving, and planning, it was nice to just flirt.
Banter. And there were no stakes to it. It wasn’t like me and Mr. Country Cas were going to see each other again after I delivered his cakes.
“Nah, I’m too boring for that,” I said, gently shutting the conversation down. It wasn’t that I wanted it to end, but if I was going to get three sheet cakes done, I needed to get cracking.
“If saving the day for my entire family constitutes as boring, I have a much more sedate life than I thought.” He tipped his head to me before putting his card back in his wallet. “I look forward to seeing you later, Miss…?”
“Felicia,” I answered. “You can call me Felicia.”
“All right then, Felicia. I look forward to seeing you later.”
“I look forward to it, too.”
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