The lady who later introduced herself as Titilope showed them to the tasting room. On their way there, she talked about the history of Warm-Hearts and how it was a bakery that employed irrespective of color or nationality. She used herself as an example; although not noticeable because she was an albino, she was Nigerian.
The walk to the tasting room wasn't long and the room, unlike the reception which was warm and elegant, was a burst of colors. It was so colorful and bright but not so much that it became an eyesore. It looked different.
"Wow!" Rachel breathed out as she walked into the room and took in its sight.
"It's unbelievable, right? Mr. Hu said that a tasting room should be like a cake, the exterior might look plain but when you take a bite, you'd be shocked. Cakes aren't just what we eat, they are a work of art." Ms. Titilope voiced out with pride. "Everything about this bakery; the decoration, the painting, the layout of the rooms, was done personally by Mr. Hu. He lovingly built this place."
"He sounds like a great person," Raine muttered with respect. She was a respecter of talent.
Rachel who wasn't far from her heard what she had said and smiled victoriously as she replied. "You're just getting my point." But she was ignored by Raine who walked away from her and moved towards the center of the room where she saw some CDs.
Ms. Titilope saw her action and smiled. "You can pick anyone you like and play it. If none pleases you, then you can connect your phone to the speaker and play what you'd prefer."
"We can choose our music?"
"Yes, you can! You can do whatever you like. This room is soundproofed so you need not worry about making too much noise. I'll go bring the samples we have, in the meanwhile, please make yourself comfortable."
"Thank you!" Rachel replied with obvious joy as she went toward the table to make a choice. Raine continued to ignore Rachel as she browsed through the different CDs.
"Raine, aren't these CDs of your favorite artist?" Rachel asked in confusion as she checked through the first five CDs. There were different songs by different artists but most of the songs were either sung by Water Lily or she was featured in them.
Although Raine didn't acknowledge Rachel's words, her attention had been drawn to that coincidence. Water Lily's singing career was very short so even though she had been famous, only a few people remembered her. Even Rachel didn't know who Water Lily was so she didn't know that she wasn't Raine's favorite singer but someone she knew; that was why she had a lot of her songs.
"Should we listen to her? I think her debut song would be a perfect ambience for the tasting." Rachel asked as she pouted and poked Raine. She couldn't stand being ignored by Raine any longer. Moreover, disturbing and annoying Raine was very fun though very dangerous as well.
"Do whatever you like!" Raine growled in annoyance and left to take her seat. She was very certain she would have hit her friend if she hadn't left her side. While her hand was itching to smack sense into Rachel, she was still conscious of the fact that they were outside and that her friend was overly excited about her upcoming nuptials. She wouldn't be a spoilsport and ruin her friend's fun even though she was very tempted to do so.
Rachel was content that she was no more being ignored by Raine so she let her go without arguments. It was better to rejoice after a small win than to continue on a path that would lead to destruction. She had seen many people make such mistakes in the past and had learned from their errors.
To be very honest, Rachel knew that Raine treated her better than any other person. Raine was prickly by nature but she'd still be patient with her, spoil her, and let her annoy her to some extent. In some ways, Raine treated her better than she treated her blood siblings so she was very grateful to her and that was why she was willing to follow Raine come rain come sun. Moreover, she had never received such care from her own family members so she'd be stupid to throw such a valuable thing away.
Rachel took the CD to the player and listened in admiration as the song played. "How I wish she continued to sing…It's such a pity" She sighed.
Water Lily's voice was very distinct and clear. It was like the lyrical sound of wind chimes in the summer. It was such a feast to the ears. Raine heard what she said and was saved from responding by the timely arrival of Ms. Titilope who was escorting a few workers into the room.
"I'm sorry for keeping you waiting. The samples are here, we haven't frosted them yet; we will leave that decision to you but we will tell you what we think the best choices are." Ms. Titilope said with a slight smile as she watched the workers place the cake samples in front of Raine.
Rachel walked towards them and took her seat. She looked at the different colours and types of cake with undisguised happiness. She had always had a sweet tooth but was severely watched by her loved ones so she could only take sweets a few times a year. With the excuse of hunting for the perfect cake, she would be able to satisfy her cravings. She picked up her fork and was about to fork a bit of one of the cakes in front of her when Raine suddenly coughed.
"As I mentioned earlier, I know you've already made your choice but since you want to have fun, I won't disturb you. However, you can only take one bite from each cake; whether a big or small one."
After hearing Raine's warning, Rachel made a swift decision and increased the size of the cake she was about to taste. She put it in her mouth and couldn't help groaning in delight. "So good! I love this."
She enthusiastically tried all the other samples and was extremely satisfied. "I really loved them all. I think I'm going to choose more than one cake now. What do you think Raine?"
"It's a good idea. You can always choose all instead of one and make your reception a buffet. Let each person pick whatever cake they like." Raine replied and Rachel nodded.
"We'd go with that choice Ms. Titilope. Can you organize that for us?" Rachel asked with a megawatt smile that Ms. Titilope couldn't say no to.
"I'll inform my boss about that. In the meanwhile, I think there should still be a main cake which would you choose for that?"
"The red velvet cake" Rachel replied instantly.
"That's a good choice. Let's talk about the covering now." Ms. Titilope smiled as she gave her notebook to Rachel.