E L L E
I stood with pride watching someone roll the dessert and cake away to the hall. I had successfully designed a five tiered grey marble texture with veins of metallic bronze and hints of wispy, grey rice paper petals for a touch of softness.
"The cake looks really beautiful, I'm sure Reyna would love it." The lady from the shop looked at the cake as it was being rolled away.
"Thank you, I hope so too." I smiled then turned to leave.
"No wait, don't leave yet. The party's about to start. Come in." She encouraged.
I looked down at my light blue cropped top and my faded blue jeans. I only wore this to drop the cake off not to attend the wedding.
"But I'm not properly dressed for this."
"You look great." She encouraged. "And if you feel like you don't know anyone here, you can stay with me all through." She rubbed my arm.
Of course she would say that she was dressed in a light blue flowing dress with a flower crown on her dark hair.
Well it would be a shame to turn down a request from rich people. I might meet someone who might be interested in my work.
"I'll stay then." I smiled.
"Great! Because I was feeling kinda bored." She linked her arm with mine and led me inside the hall.
Right from the entrance of the hall, I gaped. The decorations were extremely beautiful and elegant. White and pink flower garlands were used to decorate the pillars causing everywhere to smell like fresh flowers.
As we walked inside, It felt like I was transported to another universe. The cool air from the air conditioning made it feel as though it was winter instead of the peak of summer. I instantly felt relaxed.
The lights were turned off but the room was colored blue setting the mood for a relaxing lunch while string lights were scattered all over the place.
"Our seat is in front." She told me as we kept walking forward.
Most people were already seated and so were the bride and groom but we kept walking straight down. I didn't mind though; her perfume was rubbing off on me.
We stopped at a seat directly facing the bride and the groom and sat down. There was another girl sitting on the table with us.
Her face was illuminated by the candle which sat on the table.
"Renee, this is-" She paused as she turned to me. She probably realized she doesn't even know my name.
"Rochelle." I completed. "Or Elle." I added.
"Can I call you Roe instead? I'm not really a fan of calling people by names most people already know."
"Sure." I smiled.
"Roe, my name is Alora and this beautiful doll by my side is Renee; she's Reyna's younger sister."
"Renee, this is the the designer of that lovely cake." She pointed to the cake on stage.
"Oh really?" Her eyes sparked interest. "It's really beautiful!" She complimented while the candle highlighted her light colored eyes.
"Thank you." I smiled.
"Where's Santi?" Alora questioned as she turned to look around.
"He's at the table at the other side of the hall, he's with his business associates." Renee pointed to a table opposite ours.
The reception started and a three course meal was served while cupcakes made by me were used as desert.
"These are so good, did you make this too?!" Renee asked as a moan escaped her lips.
"I did." I proudly answered.
"I'm sure Santi would love this. He's really got a sweet tooth." Renee added.
"Who's Santi?" I asked.
"He's my older brother."
"Oh..."
All through the party, we spent it talking about ourselves. Turns out, Alora and Reyna have been best friends since kindergarten because both their mothers were best friends and Renee is the youngest of the Rivera family. She has two brothers and an elder sister; Reyna.
After the reception was over, I excused myself and decided to leave because even though my store doesn't make daily sales, I still want to prepare early for tomorrow.
"Are you leaving already?" I heard Alora yell as she ran towards me.
"Yeah. I couldn't open the shop today so I'm going to start early tomorrow."
"Oh? Santi really wants to meet you! He loves your dessert and Santi rarely finds what he likes. He has a unique taste just like Reyna."
Another rich client.
"That's great. Where is he?"
"I'll go get him and do not leave without saying goodbye to me. I'll go get you extra food for both you and your sister." She smiled and skipped away.
Alora is such a happy soul that it makes me want to smile whenever she's around me.
I stood by the gate waiting for both Santi and Alora while I played with the little rocks on the ground.
As I took out my iPhone six and tried to call my sister, someone big hit me causing my phone to fall from my hand and land on the rock hard floor.
I was ready to unleash all my anger on the person but he already looked apologetic.
"I'm so sorry." The dark haired went down to pick up and he looked at it.
"It's alright." I stretched my hand to collect the phone.
"Oh no, it's broken. I'm really sorry." His eyes showed genuine concern.
"It's alright." I faked a smile while I bled internally.
"I'll replace it. I'll-"
"No, there's no need-"
"So this is our little baker." A husky voice bellowed causing me to shudder.
I followed the sound of the voice to a young man with dark hair. He paused to watch both me and the stranger before he walked towards us. Immediately it felt like he had this powerful aura surrounding him; almost intimidating.
"You're here chatting away with this," He turned to look at the stranger who in turn returned it with a smirk. "Idiot." He sighed.
"Don't be like that my dear brother, address me with love." He held the man's arm and looked at him with puppy eyes.
Brother? Could he be the other brother Renee was referring to?
"Leave my arm." He shook it off and he turned to me. "I believe Lora told you about my business proposal but you're here whiling away your time-."
This must be Santi?
"I don't know you so you have no right to talk to me like that. Got it?" I interrupted him and tried to walk away.
"I'm don't like to waste my time so I'll go straight to the point," He paused and I turned back to look at him. "I want you to work for me starting tomorrow. Whatever you're getting paid now; I'll triple it. So meet me a-."
"No." I answered.
**