SATURDAY, 13 FEBRUARY, CONTINUED
It was getting late and I didn't have much time. I think our stall's only hope was for us to get it revamped and running by lunchtime. Most of the proceeds would come during Link and Kev's shift - but that's okay.
There was a row of gift shops, a stationary store, a dollar store, and a craft store along the road near the hospital. They weren't large stores, but Savy and I had come here before the school year for back to school supplies ever since we were teens and could shop for them on our own. We had followed Jessica here in our first year of middle school, but by now, we knew this line of shops quite well.
I darted into the stationary store first because this was the shop I was most familiar with. I knew where to buy the card papers and markers for school projects. I even knew where the stickers were. Most importantly, I knew where the sale bin was and the kind of stuff that might be there. The table cloth of shocking pink so I decided on using something just as shocking. Let's go with florescent card paper in bright yellow, orange, and green because they were on sale. I had to pay full price for the heart shaped stickers but I think they suited the occasion. Then I grabbed markers, tape, and paperclips. Well the paper clips were in the sale bin too, and they were multicolored.
Then I found a dollar store and bought pretty plastic gift bags and twisty ties. I wasn't sure about the size of our stuff so I bought medium and large sizes, better too big than too little.
I ran back to the hospital like my life depended on it. I did pretty well - it only took my half an hour and I didn't overspend my $20 budget, which was all I had in my wallet anyway.
"It's almost lunch time, Sam." Ben told me.
"Okay! We can do this!" I showed the guys what I got.
We set up the table cloth - just like how I saw the ladies next door do it earlier. It was blindingly pink and shocking. And then covered it with the large silver trays. The chocolate fudge went into the first tray. And then because we didn't have time to taste anything in the other boxes and name them like I had meant to, we decided to pour out all the cookies into the second tray, and just pack three random items in the gift bags and line them up in the next two trays.
Anyway, all our items were roughly the same size, and all looked like some kind of pastry or bun with an unknown filling inside them. They looked very pretty in the large gift bags.
Three neon signs simplified our stall: "Chocolate Fudge Squares $2 for 5", "Magic Mix Cookies $2 for 1 scoop", and "Lucky Bag $2."
If we sold everything, we would have raised roughly the same amount as if we sold them individually, I hope.
"Mum's coming over with Esther and Hank." Ben informed me after receiving the mindlink, "They'll be bringing lunch over and checking on our stalls."
"Okay." I nodded, but I was focused to packing some of the fudge squares in the smaller gift bags. Each bag could hold up to 10 pieces. I packed the cookies, each bag held one small scoop. They looked pretty.
"Dean, pack the rest like these." I told Dean.
"What? All of them?" Dean looked tired, "We've been here all morning. I don't think anyone's coming, Sam."
"Well, alright. I'll pack them then." I got to work immediately. They'd be easier to buy if they were packed and ready to go right? And anyway, I liked the way they looked in the gift bags - like cute presents.
Our stall looked good now. I mean, it wasn't the Lorent booth. How should I describe this? If this was the 16th Street, the Lorent booth and our stall would be on opposite sides of the street. But I liked our little stall with the florescent card signs and heart stickers. It had character.
I stopped packing when our new friends, Peach, Pear, and Plum came over to admire our handiwork, "Oh, what a surprise! This looks so much better!"
Yay! That made me happy.
I decided to give them one of the gift bags of the chocolate fudge squares, "Here, please take this."
"Oh, I couldn't." Peach said.
"But they're really good." I insisted, "Ki- I mean Beta Ki made them. Please take them as our thanks."
If they knew Ki made it, they'd know that I wasn't giving them unwanted crap right?
"Beta Ki?" Now Peach just stopped and stared. She didn't look like she believed me.
"Yeah." Ben was suddenly at my side, "This box is the Alpha Princess' contribution."
He showed my name "SAM" written on the now empty box, "Beta Ki made them on her behalf."
"Oh." Peach breathed, she took the little bag of fudge squares from me with both hands.
"Oh." Pear breathed, she reached out to "help" take the little bag from Peach, but Peach didn't let go of the bag.
"I didn't know Beta Ki could cook." Peach said carefully.
"He only cooks for the Alpha Princess' family." Ben answered matter of factly, the he lowered his voice, "The dinner table at the Alpha's house now boasts the finest meals in Night Leaf."
"Oh." Peach breathed.
"I heard..." Ben continued because he was that kind of conniving rascal, "Ever since Beta Ki's heart broke, he had taken to pouring his heart into his cooking as a form of therapy."
I jabbed him to make him stop, but he only caught my elbow with his hand and said, "When I picked up the fudge squares from him this morning, he told me..."
"What did he tell you?" Plum pressed.
"Yes, what?" Peach asked.
"He told me that..." Ben paused. I bet he was making it up as he spoke. Good luck, Ben.
"I told him to handle them with care." A familiar voice intoned gracefully.
"Beta Ki!" The ladies gasped and bowed respectfully.
Ben and I whipped around to see Ki, gliding in like a swan on a lake. His smile like the sunlight on the waters. Uh oh. Oh wait, Ki's smile was directed at Ben. Whew. Hahahaha. Ben was so dead.
Served him right for making up stories.
"This young boy says that Beta Ki made these desserts himself." Pear inquired cautiously.
Ki nodded, "Indeed."
"Oh." Peach seemed to be the first to gather her wits about her, "Well, we best return to our booth. Please excuse us, Beta Ki."
More bobbing of heads and the ladies all but ran away with their prize.
It looked like chocolate fudge handmade by Beta Ki was a big deal to them. It also looked like our new friends, were somewhat afraid of Beta Ki.
For some reason, all this amused my wolf very much. My wolf who wasn't interested in bake sales, decorating stalls, or what not, but was quite happy to watch nice ladies run for their dear life to escape my beta's presence.
"I was in the area, and thought to drop by and support your stall goddess." Ki informed me with his usual smile.
"Aren't you busy preparing for tonight's parties?" I asked.
"Yes, goddess. In fact, I was just out running errands for tonight." Ki nodded.
"Help me advertise for the stall, dog." Ben tossed his phone at Ki.
Ki caught it, he paused as he read the last post, "To die for? Beta, this is..."
"That's why I'm asking you to do it." Ben snapped back.
Seriously, how was that the way to ask for a favor?
Ki smiled, "Leave it to me, Beta."
Ben was staring back at his computer so he didn't catch the smile on Ki's lips. If he did, he wouldn't had just waved Ki off with a muttered, "Do what you must."
I followed Ki because I just felt like something fun was about to happen. I could feel it from the root of my hair. I followed Ki away from our stall. We only walked a a little distance away so that Ki could take photos of our stall on Ben's phone. He took a few shots of Dean serving a couple of girls. They told Dean they were from the New Leaf Academy and come over to support the event, but even though they were talking to Dean, they kept looking at Ben - who pointedly ignore them.
I get why Ben was so bad at bake sales now. Ben's way of promotion was to look aloof and uninterested. For some reason, this made him even more popular with girls than before when he said yes and dated anyone who asked him. The new Beta Ben who had sworn off dating was now even more attractive. Unfortunately, this sales tactic didn't work at bake sales. Neither did his bada** attitude. So far, he had only managed to sell Jonah's banana bread and a bit of fudge on the side.
I was bad at this too. I thought our job was just to stand behind the table and take the money. Okay, I didn't give this gig any thought at all. The Lorent ladies next door have been smiling, and being kind and helpful to everyone, and selling and replenishing a lot of cakes and breads. I don't think they realized that this was a competition, but still, they turned out to be surprisingly nice people.
And while looking at the Lorent ladies work, I realized they were not working all that much anymore. It probably was their lunch break, but for some reason, instead of eating their meal, they were looking at our direction and whispering. Oh right, I was standing next to THE BETA KI.
I wondered how the Lorent wolves viewed their Beta Ki. I mean, I already had a hunch he was somewhat of a big shot in our past interactions, but this was just Ki right?
Heh heh heh.
I punched Ki in the shoulder. Quite hard. The kind that started from my feet and pivoted me forward. If Ki wasn't the solid frame that he was, he would have toppled. I made sure to do it when the ladies were looking too. Their collective gasps were audible from even where we were standing. Peach had her hands over her mouth.
I just punched their Beta Ki. Hahahaha.
I blamed this childish act on Boo. Yeah, it was all on Boo.
Ki touched his shoulder with his other hand, but he was still smiling when he looked at me, "Is there anything the matter, goddess?"
Hahahahaha. I laughed and shook my head, "'Just playing."
Ki nodded, "Understood, princess." and went back to uploading the photos he had taken onto Ben's social media. The caption read, "Come collect your free kiss."
Hahahahahaha. I peered over Ki's shoulder and watched the comments pop. It was funny because most of the comments were shocked emoticons or exclamation marks or bad words.
"DOG!" Ben stood up and yelled from behind his computer. Oh, he must have seen the post from there. I guess it wouldn't have been surprising that he was monitoring Ki's activities on his account.
Ooooohhhh... Ben just called Beta Ki a dog IN FRONT OF THE LORENT LADIES!
I glanced over to check on the ladies, and yes, they were watching.
Beta Ki smiled calmly and led me back to the stall where Ben was growling, "Please excuse me, goddess. I will be back with the kisses in a sec."
Ben and I watched Ki enter the hospital gift shop - yes, the same one Peach had bought the bunch of balloons from. He came out beaming with a glass bowl and a bag of chocolate kisses. Oh... hahahaha.
I sniggered a little at Ben. He reddened, which was a first for me. For all the years I've known him, I didn't know Ben could blush.
"The shopkeeper lent us the bowl." Ki informed us, "We can return it on closing."
So now, in front of Ben, there was a bowl of chocolate kisses with a florescent sign "FREE KISSES" to keep him safe. Just in time too! The hospital lobby got busy at lunchtime, and our stall started drawing customers.