Page 7 of Semi Sweet (Working For Love #1)

T he application said that it would take up to eight weeks for me to hear if I got the internship or not. I tried to be practical about the whole thing. A few days ago, I hadn't even known that it existed, but it was hard to not daydream about reading manuscripts for money.

My improved mood must have been noticeable, because even the customers commented on how I seemed in high spirits.

"Is the wedding soon?" the lotto lady asked after she spent her social security check on scratchies.

I never shared too much information with customers, but I assumed that people must have seen the engagement ring and assumed I was planning my wedding.

In reality, I was in denial about the whole thing.

If Evan didn't randomly ask me things about it, I'd probably forget that we were supposed to tie the knot at some point.

"No, ma'am," I said cheerfully. "Just feeling optimistic."

"Well, keep it coming. When I win, we'll be going on our trip, remember?" she reminded me. "Maybe your optimism will make me lucky."

After she collected her change and shuffled away, Bruce wagged his eyebrows as he pulled a pallet full of products down an aisle. "Why so optimistic?"

"I am hopefully getting out of here."

Bruce looked at me like I was missing the obvious. "You are the future queen of the company. You aren't going anywhere."

Determined to not let him bring me back to reality, I simply said, "We'll see, Bruce."

He shrugged and didn't look convinced.

I worked the remainder of my shift happily and didn’t let anyone get to me. Not even Russel, who liked when I was sad and miserable, which was totally messed up. No one should enjoy someone else's misfortune, but then again, I was convinced people with power in the company were unnecessarily evil.

With another class on the agenda for the evening, I changed and grabbed my things to work on a paper before I caught the train.

I did the math, and I would even have time for an episode of the magical girl anime I’d been watching if the store's wifi would cooperate.

I'd been a fan for years and was getting sucked into the season I'd recently started.

I walked past the bakery department and once again felt like people were watching me.

Sure enough, a couple bakery clerks were looking at me and whispering.

I felt my happy mood waver just a bit. Oh no. I thought. Not them, too.

"Olivia!" Beth, the girl who had spoken to me when I'd trained Sean, flagged me over. "Please don't think we are gossiping about you. It's just you have another cupcake and we are all trying to figure out who it could possibly be from."

Had my thoughts displayed what I had been thinking? I was shocked by the perceptiveness of this girl. It put me at ease slightly. Well, about the fact that I thought everyone hated me. A new cupcake sent butterflies in my stomach.

"Isn't someone paying you? Or asking you to make an order?"

The clerks suddenly looked like they didn't know how to answer.

"They must be paying someone…." Beth mused aloud. "Maybe it's the closing staff." She retrieved a square box from the paid rack. "Hope you enjoy it."

I had more questions for them, like who boxed the order or if there were any special instructions lying around somewhere that could provide a clue, but all the employees became very busy when Sean appeared with a five gallon bucket of icing.

I'd probably missed my opportunity. I took the box back to my seat and set up my laptop, floral notebooks, and purple gel pen before I finally had a minute to open it up.

My heart raced as I took in a green colored cake and pink frosting.

It was supposed to look like a watermelon, complete with chocolate chips for seeds.

My hands shook as I tried to take a picture of it for my Semi Sweet page.

I’d just told myself to not get excited about the internship, but as I stared at the treat I found myself reeling and drawing conclusions about this situation instead.

I had a feeling this wasn't some meaningless gesture.

The other day I'd had a customer come in wanting a refund on some moldy fruit. I'd chatted with the man about what to put in a fruit salad and had disclosed what my favorite fruit was.

"Watermelon," I’d said. "I eat it all year round."

I couldn't remember anyone else in line or nearby, but maybe I hadn't been paying attention. Besides maybe my immediate family, I couldn't think of anyone that would know that tidbit about me. Someone must have overheard that conversation.

So was this mystery person a customer or an employee?

Once I got a good photo, I broke down and took a bite.

Edible bliss danced on my taste buds. The cupcake had been stuffed with a filling that tasted like the juicy summer fruit.

I guessed that this cupcake was like the Cookie Monster one, probably not on the Cash Value Market recipe list. I couldn't help but feel like that was breaking several company rules, not that I really cared.

In the box was another piece of paper, this time typed and not handwritten.

Heard you like this sweet fruit.

I'd tell the whole store how sweet you are,

but the point is probably moot.

I cocked an eyebrow. Poetry? This person, whoever they were, was really pulling out all the stops.

Despite this, I was more impressed than wary.

That, and they seemed to know that people felt a certain way about me around here.

Did they feel the same? I was starting to get the vibe that this wasn't a prank anymore.

But then, what was it?

***

When I went to add the watermelon cupcake to my Semi Sweet page, I was shocked to see that it had gained hundreds of followers since my last login.

If your mystery person is making these cupcakes, they are extremely talented.

Wow!

I'm probably being negative about this, but I feel like this is creepy.

Can't wait to see if you get any more.

I agreed with nearly all the comments. I wasn't sure if I felt creeped out or curious why this person was giving me edible gifts and not just talking to me, but I couldn't complain.

It was like the tagline for my cupcake page, the whole thing was an interruption from my otherwise sad and pathetic life.

I added a picture of the watermelon cupcake with the caption, I think this person gets me, before I got on the train to head back home.

Even though Evan and I lived in an expensive part of the city, the train home got seedy late at night.

I wasn't sure if I was approachable or if they were too strung out to care, but it always seemed like someone was coming up to me and getting way too personal.

I buried my face in my phone so I would seem preoccupied, watching the followers go up and the comments come in.

Maybe you can do marketing for this person if you ever find out who they are.

Holy crap, I'm getting invested in this!

I'm telling you. RUN!

I was happy to get off at my stop and go home. I didn't have work or class tomorrow and planned on relaxing once Evan went off to work. Days like that were a gift and I planned to make the most of it.

Evan was in his usual spot, clutching his glass of bourbon as a commentator gave his opinion on political affairs. I rolled my eyes, thinking about how we were polar opposites sometimes.

"Hey," I said as I let myself in. "Good night?"

Evan shrugged. "Decompressing." He was always decompressing. "There's Chinese in the kitchen."

"Thanks."

I made a plate and decided to eat in the office off our bedroom.

It was still too early to hear back about the internship, but I had several other things to check.

I looked to see if I had heard anything from the breakthrough author contest and was disappointed to see no new information had been posted.

After that, I checked my grades and read a blog post that gave advice to aspiring writers.

I supposed that was my way to decompress.

With nothing to wake up for the following morning, I continued in the office for several hours.

"I'm going to bed," Evan announced, sticking his head into the office. "Unless you want to…" he cleared his throat, "...you know."

Still looking at my computer screen, I answered, "I'll be there soon."

There was a time when we had been adventurous, a time where Evan made me want to be intimate. Those times had all but disappeared. Still, I tried to humor him, and I tried to tell myself that if I made an effort to keep our relationship normal, maybe it would go back to how it had once been.

I turned off my computer and got ready to undress. I heaved a sigh when I heard heavy deep breaths. Evan had already fallen asleep.

It was usually like that. If one of us didn't fall asleep before the other joined them, then we were doing the deed without looking at each other and I was pretending to enjoy it. My mantra was that it had to get better or maybe books and movies put too much emphasis on sex.

Delusion had gotten me this far, I supposed.