Cakes, Papers And Us

Ch 3

“You have high demands from VIPs yet you're being ignorant to that, the cafe can't sustain it alone, you need more exposure! You need to expand!” Amaya ignores Amelia as she takes the packet of instant pasta and sauce, reading the description and recommended recipe on the back.

I could give this recipe a try, maybe doing a new tutorial video for the channel or make it for the boys, I did promise them I'd cook something new..

“Come on, you've had many who came and ordered from you, even those high-end VIPs in our social ladder! All because they saw your posts on YouTube, **, and f******k, like, this chance with Marc will help you gain more,” still ignoring her best friend, Amaya pushes the trolley, going to the flour section.

Do I still have corn syrup and cornflour at home? Oh! This reminds me, I need to teach that new part-time boy the ropes around the cafe or has Hayden and Chet did it already since I'm absent today?

“And you think I want more!?” she huffs her reply when Amelia pulls her to a stop, probably annoyed by her lack of response since she began nagging in the car, “Yes! You need more,”

“Why is that?”

“Because you deserve it,” Amaya opens her mouth to protest but Amelia beats her, “No! I know you do! You-” she frowns when her phone began to ring loudly, “Gimme a sec,” Amaya rolls her eyes and chuckles at her friend’s behavior.

Leaving her behind, she continues her hunt for the weekly groceries and the ingredients for spaghetti, after a while “Oh goodie!” Amelia caught up just as Amaya puts the carton of orange juice inside her trolley, looking like the world was made of gumballs.

“What?” she suspiciously looks at the smile on her face, not having a good vibe from it, “Tyson and Marc are on their way,” she skips ahead and Amaya’s eye bulged out, “What!?”

“You heard me,” she shrugs as she places some snacks in the trolley, ignoring Amaya who was confused, slightly irritated and felt like throttling her, “What are they doing here my dearest Amelia?” Amaya tries to keep her temper at bay, why do I love her again?

“Well, Ty asked me where I was and what I was doing, I told him and he said Marc needed some groceries as well, so that’s that,” Amelia gave her a quick cheeky smile before facing the other way again.

“Okay, fine, if that’s the case, not a word to Tyson and his friend about your brilliant idea of me expanding my work under him,” it was almost comical to watch how Amelia flinch when Amaya stopped the trolley with a jerk, pulling the female along since she had one hand on the sides.

“What?! No! This is the perfect opportunity to talk to him, I’m not going to pass this up!” Mia pouts and glares as she rubs her wrist, I didn’t jerk that hard, Maya rolls her eyes, you're such a drama queen.

“Fine, if you peep about this to either one of them, then I won’t cook... at all, especially your spaghetti,” Amaya smirks sweetly in victory at the look of disbelief on her best friend’s face, “That’s not fair!”

“Everything is fair in love and war,” Amaya sang as she makes way to the dairy section, ignoring Amelia’s protest and words.

***

“Sir, our client’s son was asking me if we have the baker Amaya Peterson signed since you've informed in the VIP’s group we’d have her under us soon,” Marc sighs as he pinches the bridge of his nose at the words muttered from his PA on the other line, “No, and where do these people keep seeing her? I don’t even know her,”

This is the fifth client this week who’s daughter or son that wants their cakes and pastries made by her, I mean, we already have a few cafe owners and an excellent baker who could do the job just fine, but no… they want this Amaya person…

“Well, she’s apparently very well-known in social media, she has a YouTube channel where she gives out tutorials about various recipes, cake hacks and updates all about her creation from her cafe,” his PA explained, probably from his research.

“Fine, write up a contract to offer her and try to contact her asap, and find this cafe she owns, who knows, maybe we could have them under us on the list of bakers and cafes for our catering services,” their meeting continued with other topics that needed his attention and with a final agreement, he hangs up the Skype call just as his door open, revealing Tyson.

“What are you doing here?” Tyson grins with a shrug as he plops down on the chair in front of his desk, “Well, you weren’t at work when I came to visit and I’m bored, so here I am,”

“Yes, here you are, playing hooky,” Marc rolls his eyes and goes back to his papers and laptop, he had taken the day off because of his hangover and he didn't feel like getting out of his house but it didn’t mean he won’t be doing any work at all, “Are you busy right now man?”

Marc raises an eyebrow at his best friend’s words, an indication he didn’t want to answer the obvious, “Okay, so you are, but… it’s also past lunchtime, have you had lunch?” his answer came in the form of a nod and Tyson sighed, “You’re no fun man, this is why no woman wants you,”

“That’s not a problem for me,” he didn’t have to look up to know Tyson had put his hands in the air, like he gave up trying to talk to him, “Fine, not a problem for you, but aren’t you lonely? Like how much longer are one-night stands going to satisfy you?”

“This concerns you why?” Marc lean back on his chair, hands crossed and Tyson grins, “You’re my buddy, of course, this concerns me,” Marc deadpan at Tyson’s words, like it wasn’t something new, “Whatever man, I’m fine with one-night stands,” then his attention was back to his papers.

“Okay, speaking of one-night stands, you were gone so quickly last night, you called me, then when I got to the club, you were gone,” Marc’s fingers stopped midair from typing as Tyson’s words registered in his mind, “I called you last night?” he glances at his best friend, looking a little lost.

“Yeah, said you were stressed about work and needed to get laid, you also mentioned a blonde who’s got your attention then you hung up,” he shrugs as he goes through his phone, “A blonde?” Marc whispers to himself, trying to remember if the woman he bought last night was blonde.

Some time passed and eventually, Tyson grew bored of waiting for his best friend to stop working and Marc didn’t mind him as he goes in and out of his office, it wasn’t the first time he’d done this, sometimes I wonder how Mia puts up with his attitude...

“Man, you’re out of things to eat,” Tyson whines as he munch on a baby carrot, the plastic bag in his hold, his words and action made Marc stare at him while conveying the message through his eyes, ‘It’s cause you keep coming here and eat everything,’

“I keep wondering why…” he muttered under his breath as he closes his file, knowing Tyson, he won’t be able to get anything done if the man was here, “So tell me, why are you here?”

“I told you, I was bored! I had nothing to do today, dad won’t let me join the meeting with the shareholders and I basically have free time,” he exclaims dramatically making Marc ponder, really? Are you sure you’re just not being lazy?

“Lucky you then, I for one have things to do, like buying some groceries, again,” he deadpanned on the last word and Tyson grins like an i***t, “Great! I thought you’d never say that!” he clapped his hands like a seal.

“You’ve been waiting for me to go grocery shopping?” the male nods ecstatically and bounce out of his office, making him wonder how he’d ever end up being best friend with such a weirdo.

“Yeah, Mia’s with Maya right now, so we can go to them,” of course, why didn’t I think of that, I totally forgot about Mia… he thought sarcastically. 

“Maya who?” Tyson insists he’d drive so he let him, “Mia’s best friend, who I might say, she’s single, hot and cute,” he groans as he amplifies the volume of the radio, knowing where the conversation is going, “Not this s**t again,”