Page 13 of Beaches, Bagels & Babes

Daisy

T he last days of May melted away until the metaphorical pressure cooker was set and locked.

Memorial Day, the unofficial kickoff of the summer season, was coming up fast. Daisy was surprised, confused, and (she realized with a fair amount of annoyance) glad when Candace continued to show up.

Aside from the shifts helmed by Rio or Dotty, the woman jumped right into Daisy’s admittedly grueling schedule.

Every morning, as Daisy pulled up to the back lot, the woman was waiting there with a bright smile and her arms open to help carry the inventory. Apart from a mild phone addiction, she was a model employee. Great with customers, a multi-tasking wiz, and never complained about sidework.

It was the bare minimum for someone who wanted to have a personal stake in the business, Daisy reminded herself.

All that effort was not for her . Candace worked for Candace’s interests.

Even so, it was hard to ignore the excitement bubbling inside her.

The chance of something new, the chance for change…

Daisy knew that she needed to be careful, or she would get burned.

It was a particularly hot day, the hottest of the season so far, that things boiled over.

Daisy could not believe how busy they were.

From the minute she opened, the pair was met with a line of hungry customers.

While Candace handled the register, Daisy danced between the ticket spike, the freezer, and toaster oven fulfilling orders.

It was close quarters, with multiple bumps and accidental brushes against her would-be partner. However, they both soldiered on.

The business did not let up even as Rio arrived for their evening shift. Daisy stayed on to help, and so did Candace without even being asked. A mix of concern and giddiness struck Daisy as she noted that they had nearly blown through their whole inventory. A problem, but a welcome one.

In a lull between customers, Daisy took over the register while Rio and Candace cleaned up. Despite her uptight demeanor, the woman was not afraid to get dirty. On her hands and knees, Candace scrubbed the disgusting gap between the floor and the oven.

Like her first day and every other day, she was not dressed for the job.

Her top was a form-fitting but modestly cut plum-colored blouse.

It buttoned and tucked neatly into a snug pair of high-waisted creamy white slacks, secured with an accenting black belt.

White pumps lifted her calves and tensed the muscles underneath.

Crouched as she was, squatted like a frog to avoid staining her clothes, Daisy again noticed her subtle athleticism. Despite her awkward position, she balanced with ease on the balls of her feet even as she furiously worked away grime.

There was something else Daisy could not help noticing.

Candace faced the opposite direction. Her belt pulled taught at the linen pants, creating a gap and, although her shirt was tucked, it lifted while she scrubbed. Lifted, and revealed the smooth and lily white skin underneath… along with the trace curve of a thong’s purple lace.

Unconsciously—with no subtlety—Daisy craned her neck up, angling to see more.

Why did such an awful human have to have such a perfect peach of an ass?

It wasn’t fair. Daisy thought she remembered the woman mentioning yoga in one of her overly familiar customer chats.

Did yoga sculpt butts? Daisy had no idea, but if that’s what Candace wanted, the results were plain to see.

It was only Rio’s voice, wry and tilting, that broke Daisy from her lechery.

“I see why you’ve wanted to work all these shifts with her. She’s like a nice Regina George.”

“She’s still training,” Daisy shot back in a low hiss. Rio gave her a pointed look. “And she’s not ‘nice.’”

“Uh-huh. I remember you leaving me to work this place alone after one day.”

“What can I say? You’re a star.”

Daisy’s attempted brush-off fell flat as Rio crossed their arms over an old Power Rangers tee.

“You’re gonna tell me the story between you two, right? Cause I looked her up, and there’s no way Wonderwood’s Pier Princess woke up one day and decided to go to bat for you.”

“You’re reading into things.”

“And you’re a terrible liar. You’re both the same age. She didn’t go to Wonderwood Public, but her best friend did. And, judging by some past social media pictures where she looks very cozy with some pretty ladies, I’m gonna bet she’s in the rainbow brigade like us.”

“Ladies—?! Where did you see that? I mean, there’s nothing! ”

Daisy snapped loudly enough that Candace paused her scrubbing. They all stared at one another for a beat. Blessedly, a customer chose that moment to materialize, and Daisy rushed to greet them.

The group was your average post-sunset roving band, a half dozen college-aged fun-seekers.

They looked like they might be with some kind of sorority, with a few of them wearing matching logo shirts.

Their apparent leader was a tall, tanned, gorgeous young woman wearing a sheer white saran over an eye-poppingly red bikini.

She tilted her head at Daisy, tapping a black painted fingernail against her plump lower lip.

“You’re not the person I messaged?”

“Um, no. But I can help you. What would you like? Our special flavor of the week is strawberry cream cheese, it’s homemade with local berries.”

“Oh, I’ll have one of those,” she said with confidence. “And three Bomb Bonanzas.”

Daisy stared at the girl. Individually, the words made sense. Yet, she had no idea what they meant in this context.

“Three… what?”

The group shared confused glances. The young woman frowned, saying, “The deal you have? The Memorial Day Bomb Bonanza, every flavor bagel you have for a discount. We talked to Candace online about how our sorority was throwing a breakfast party. These bombs are going to be perfect.”

Like a springboard, Candace popped up beside Daisy.

“Yes! Marta, from Delta Sigma Pi. I was starting to think you lost your appetite.”

“Never, mamacita ! Especially if it’s cooked up by you.” She giggled at something her friend whispered, and batted her long, enhanced lashes at Candace. “But first, you promised to tell me about your sorority days...”

“Well, it was a little wild…” Elbows on the counter, Candace leaned in and dropped her voice low. Whatever she said next made ‘Marta’ throw her head back with laughter. The girl’s magenta, purple, and blue bisexual flag earrings jingled as she not-so-subtly played with one.

Daisy could not take any more. Scowling, she stepped back while the pair flirted through the painfully long order.

“Huh,” Rio once again Iago’ed in her ear, “that answers that question. Maybe I have a chance to be her Birdo after all. Unless… there are any other takers.”

“Hell no! This princess is staying far away from that castle.”

Daisy had been looking at Rio while she spoke, but she turned her gaze to find Candace right in front of her.

“Um…” Candace tried to sidle past Daisy, very deliberately avoiding her eyes. “Excuse me.”

She ducked into the back room and returned with three packed containers from the freezer. Marta and her friends took the boxes, but not before slipping in a few more suggestive comments Candace’s way. Meanwhile, Daisy ground her teeth.

When they were out of sight and, most importantly, fully paid, Daisy forced Candace to face her. Arms crossed, she demanded, “What the hell was that?”

“Hungry customers? I don’t know what the problem is. Are you mad at me for making a sale?”

Daisy stared her down, but the woman was unfazed.

Candace was a good liar. There was no quaver to her voice, no hint of doubt. Just confidence that she was the one being wronged and how dare Daisy for doing it.

“You’re my problem, you—”

“Oh, shit,” Rio exclaimed. They looked at their phone with awe. “Princess Peach brought us into the 2010s.”

“What?”

Rio angled their phone towards Daisy, who promptly snatched it. A vein throbbed in her forehead as she scrolled. Instagram, Threads, Facebook, BlueSky, TikTok… Bagel Bombs! had a profile on each app, and probably more.

When Daisy told Candace she’d tried social media, she’d been lying; she never got traction because she refused to post. She hated everything about it. Candace, though, had no such qualms.

Post after post, memes, daily affirmations with bagel themes, and so many customer interactions that were just…

wholesome. And, yes, the so-called ‘Memorial Day Bagel Bonanza’ ridiculous promotion that just wiped what was left of their inventory.

The scale of it made Daisy dizzy. Did th e woman never sleep?

The timestamps for her posts and messages were all over the place.

She supposed she now knew what the woman had been up to all those times she was glued to her phone.

In a nervous rush, Candace explained that this was all a part of her plan that was detailed in the binder. Her plan, which hinged on a strong online presence.

A feeling nagged at Daisy. So dusty from being buried away, she did not recognize the hope bubbling inside her as she read comment after comment from people excited about her bagels.

Instead, it made her nervous. She felt the pressure building, and with it came anger.

She was supposed to be grateful? To thank Candace for making her feel this way?

Fuck that.

Through gritted teeth, Daisy asked, “You didn’t think any of this was worth running by me, the owner of this place? Shit, Candace. You just do whatever you want, don’t you?”

“But I didn’t—”

Daisy thrust up a finger, cutting Candace off.

“I never approved any of this.”

“C’mon, Zee,” Rio urged. They pried their phone back and continued scrolling themself, saying, “I’ve been begging you to let me run some profiles for years. She’s already got a ton of followers.”

Daisy snatched the phone back.

“Of course she does when this is the kind of thing she’s posting!”

Eye-rolling puns about filling holes.

Hashtag “BagelBoobs” under the image of a two pack that…

yes, looked surprisingly like boobs with a single sesame seed nipple planted just so.

But that was not the point. They were a bagel stand, not some kind of joke.

Worst of all was the picture that seemed to garner the most attention because of course it did.

Thirst traps were pretty popular.

While Daisy’s face could not be seen, it was undoubtedly her.

Taken from behind as she stood before the counter, she wore her usual Bagel Bombs!

branded tank top, athletic shorts, and flip flops.

Her arms were raised in mid-pull, drawing up the metal security cord as they opened for the day.

The black and white filter Candace applied to the photo pushed contrasts to their most extreme, highlighting a side of Daisy even she had never seen.

She looked strong. Cool. Sexy, even. And Candace had noticed. So, too, had a parade of commenters under the photo.

It was too much.

Too much like back then, with the messages, the eyes, the attention. Daisy could feel the blood pounding in her temples, the bitter dryness stinging her throat. She thrust Rio’s phone back into their hands.

“This isn’t okay.”

Candace said nothing, but looked guilty as hell. Frustratingly, Rio shrugged. “It’s good. You can’t even tell it’s you. Honestly, it looks like a model promo.” To Candace, they praised, “Well done. Professor Oak would be pleased.”

“I can’t take any credit. Daisy… I mean, Zee, is the perfect subject.”

Daisy’s nostrils flared. She tore her apron off and popped the counter up so that she could escape the confining place. If Candace wanted it so badly, she could take care of it for a while.