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A little while later, one of the other executives came in and I recognized him as Joshua, a young executive that Bryan had been talking to a lot recently. He had been given the title of Executive in charge of Culinary Operations. Essentially, in Bryan’s absences and steed, he would operate the bakery and any other restaurants and vendors that the chain owned.
He disappeared into the back with a polite wave and then when he came back out he was wearing a white apron and gloves, ready to pitch in and help out. It made me feel a lot better for Bryan that he had people in the company that he felt like he could trust and who were rewarding that trust with hard work. As if he were just another employee of the bakery, Joshua got right into the swing of things and I went into the back to find Bryan.
He was taking a break, sitting on an overturned bucket near the back door which stood open to a hallway that led to a private restroom and a fire escape. He grinned when he saw me and motioned me to an empty overturned bucket.
“You know, you can afford to put real chairs back here,” I said.
“It’s the spirit of the thing,” he said. “In every restaurant and every bakery in the country is a couple buckets that people use to sit on. I am one with my brethren.”
I laughed and he chuckled, wiping his forehead with a bandana and taking a sip of sweet tea.
“So, are things slowing down out there?” he asked.
“Just a little,” I said. “Plus, Joshua is out there now. I figured I could come back here for a little bit.”
“I’m glad you did,” he said, leaning in to kiss me. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” I said. It was true. Even though we were in the same building, yards apart, I had missed him. It was so wild to me how my view of the world had changed in just a few months. A few months ago, I didn’t miss anyone. Now I missed him even when I could see him.
“Well, when the shift is over, we are going up to the penthouse suite and firing up the hot tub,” he said.
“Oh, will we?” I teased.
“I think it’s the only proper response to a day like today,” he said. “I’ll need to come down from the stress of an opening day. Nothing better than a hot tub and a hotter woman.”
I giggled. “You are a silly boy,” I said.
“You like it,” he said. I nodded and leaned in for another kiss. “I love it.”
When the bakery finally closed its doors at five, leaving the remaining desserts in the restaurant for leftover orders, we headed to the elevator tired but happy. Once we got in, we looked around, realizing it was the same one we had sullied before the building was open and neither one of us could contain the giggles as other people boarded with us. We pushed ourselves into roughly the spot we had been exploring each other’s bodies in and waited until the elevator was empty a few floors from the penthouse before busting out in laughter.
The elevator brought us to the top floor, or what I had thought was the top floor. Then he brought me to a little door I hadn’t seen before and used a key code to get in. Inside was another, smaller elevator and it took us one more floor up. There was no hotel door to open here, no extra barrier. As soon as the elevator door opened, we were in the penthouse suite.
It was gorgeous and ornate and opulent. The windows were floor to ceiling and overlooked the city and an infinity pool rimmed the edges of the building, flowing down to the pool on the floor below us. It was the hot tub, tucked in the corner of the room with its own door just for it that we headed, shedding our clothes as we went.
I stripped down to nothing and dipped my toes into the hot water as I waited on Bryan who had turned around and headed back into the penthouse while I sat down. When I finally got my entire body in, I felt the tension release and I leaned my head on the back to relax.
Bryan returned moments later with a bucket that held two bottles of champagne. He handed me an empty glass and poured us both full glasses before he sat beside me, naked as well. I leaned my head into his shoulder as we clinked glasses and I took a long, deep sip of the sweet, bubbly champagne.
It crossed my mind that not only was my life very different from where it was a few months ago, it was more than any dream I ever even had for myself then. Life was so amazing now that if I had told my old self about it, she would have thought I was crazy. It couldn’t be real.
Yet there I was, snuggled up with the man I loved, sipping cold champaign in a hot tub. Life was better than anything I ever could have thought, and I was so thankful for it.
The End