The Stud Muffin and the Cupcake

2. A Customer

Sierra awoke in the early morning light with a start. She didn't recall falling asleep and for a brief moment, she didn't know where she was. Her eyes darted around and recognition hit. She was in her car.

Why was she in her car?

Suddenly, all the memories of the previous night came flooding back.

Walking home from the shop, happy and excited for a good night's sleep...the weird feeling when she entered her apartment...Jason, naked in bed with a strange woman...his voice as she fled...her breakdown on the beach...the pain.

Her chest tightened and began to ache terribly again.

Jason cheated on me. The tears welled up and tumbled down her cheeks at the thought. How long was it going on? Was it more than once? Was she the only one? Why? Why? WHY?!

She winced at the screaming in her own head, which was pounding from the terrible quality of her sleep. The glowing clock in the dashboard told her it was 5:22 AM. There were only 38 minutes left until she had to be at the shop and she obviously hadn't eaten or showered. Picking up her cell phone, Sierra ignored the ridiculous number of texts and missed calls from Jason. Instead, she tapped a few buttons and then waited as the phone rang.

“Hello?” Relief flooded through Sierra at the sound of the voice on the other end, warring with the intense ache in her heart. “Sierra?”

“Zara. Can I come over?”

“Yes.” There was no hesitation in her best friend's response.

“Thank you.”

“Of course. I'll see you soon.” Zara didn't ask what was wrong and Sierra knew it wasn't because they didn't care. It was because they knew that if Sierra was calling that early in the morning, something was very wrong.

Five minutes later, she pulled up outside of Zara's little beach house and dragged her weary body from the car. Zara was waiting at the door, a cup of tea already in their hand.

“Tell me. Now.” Their tone was not demanding – it was soft and sad. Zara had never seen their best friend look so pale and drawn. It was like a piece of her was missing.

“It's Jason. He cheated on me.”

“WHAT?!” Sierra nodded at her friend's exclamation.

“I walked in on them last night.”

“That BASTARD! I swear to god when I get my hands on him, I'll -!”

“Can I take a shower here?” Sierra's broken voice cut through the sound of Zara's ranting, stopping them mid-sentence.

“Yeah, of course.” They still looked furious, but their voice was gentle. “I'll grab you a towel. Do you need something to wear?” Sierra looked down at the outfit she was wearing. It was the clothing from the day before, so her shirt was covered in bits of chocolate frosting and unidentifiable batter and her jeans were covered in flour. She sighed slightly – the apron really didn't help much when her behavior in the kitchen was similar to that of a small tornado.

“Yes, please.” Zara nodded and walked away, leaving Sierra to sip the rapidly cooling tea.

A few minutes later, Sierra was standing in the shower with hot water spraying across her sore muscles. She tried to relax and found she couldn't. All she could do was picture what she had seen the night before. Resigning herself to the tension she was feeling, she quickly soaped up and scrubbed her hair clean.

She stepped out and wrapped the fluffy towel around herself, looking at the cute sundress Zara had left for her. She knew her friend was just trying to lift her mood in whatever way they could, but the sundress felt incongruous considering the disaster currently unfolding in her life. With another heavy sigh, she pulled on the sundress and slipped her feet into the matching sandals Zara left with the dress. The outfit didn't fit perfectly, as Sierra was a little shorter and smaller than Zara, but it would be enough to get her through a day in the store.

At 6:07 AM, Sierra pulled up outside the bakery. She was late, but Zara had insisted she finish the tea and have a waffle before she left. Although she wasn't hungry, she knew better than to disobey her best friend. Zara had called off work before Sierra had even left, promising to go over to her apartment and pick up as much of her stuff as they could. They'd made no promises not to hurt Jason, however – Sierra had noted that with a weary amusement. She was too tired to press the issue and just hoped that her friend would be smart enough to not get arrested.

“There you are!” Sierra winced slightly at the sound of the sharp voice behind her. It was Ms. Bernard, one of her best (and sometimes most annoying) customers. “You're late and I wanted to bring cupcakes to my knitting circle this morning.”

“I'm so sorry, it -” Her apology trailed off as she took in the look of concern on the elderly lady's face.

“Honey, are you okay? You look like hell.” Ms. Bernard reached up and brushed a lock of wet hair out of Sierra's eyes. “Sorry to be so familiar, but you really don't look good. Do you need to go home?”

“I'm okay. It was just a late night. There is a lot going on.” Sierra forced a smile onto her face, hoping it didn't look faked. Ms. Bernard didn't look convinced.

Sierra turned away and unlocked the door, walking into the shop and flipping the lights on. Normally, the cream and mint colored interior made her happy but today, there was little happiness to be found anywhere.

“Just a minute and I'll be ready to take care of you.” She left Ms. Bernard standing in the shop, looking down at the neat rows of cupcakes Sierra had arranged carefully in the display case before leaving the night before. She ducked into her office and grabbed a hair clip off of her desk. Twisting her wet mane up in one hand, she clipped it at against the back of her head before hurriedly washing her hands and heading back out to the front. “Do you see anything you like, Ms. Bernard?”

Ms. Bernard gazed at her for a brief moment, something akin to pity crossing her delicate features.

“Please, honey, call me Bernie.” Sierra nodded slightly, unwilling to say a word for fear of bursting into tears in front of her longtime customer. Bernie seemed to understand, as she quickly moved the topic back to cupcakes. “Can I have three of the chocolate, three of the apple pie, and six red velvet? Geraldine is back from her cruise and you know how much she loves your red velvet cupcakes.”

“Sure.” Sierra smiled wanly and busied herself with boxing up the cupcakes. When they were secure in their container, she reached into the display case and took out a beautifully decorated rose sugar cookie. Wrapping it carefully in the thin white paper she used to lift it from the shelf, she tucked it into a small mint colored bag. “That's just a little gift for you, since I was late this morning.” She and Bernie both knew it wasn't about her lateness. It was a gesture of appreciation from Sierra to the older woman, expressing how grateful Sierra was for her concern. Neither of them acknowledged the real reason, though.

“Thank you, it looks delicious.”

Sierra slid the cupcake box and cookie into a plastic bag, rung up the cupcakes, and took the cash Bernie was offering her. She punched a few keys on the screen and her cash register popped open. Once she had the correct change in her hand, she looked back up at Bernie.

The older lady was looking at her with pity again and all of a sudden, Sierra felt as though Bernie understood everything that was happening to her. That was when she realized she was no longer wearing her engagement ring. Of course. Bernie had been coming to her bakery since the day she opened and would've seen the ring before; surely an observant individual would notice it was now missing.

Bernie didn't ask about it or about Sierra's mood again. Instead, she took the bag off the counter and smiled sadly.

“It is his loss. Remember that.” Without another word, she turned and disappeared through the door. A loud ding from the bell above the door signaled her departure. When Sierra was sure she was gone, she sunk to the ground behind the counter and began to sob.

This was going to be a long day.