Sophie squinted her eyes.
"And I'm wiped out from seeing you on that make up, Joe. It's literally an eye sour," Joe's face broke into a grimace.
"Don't be a shady b*tch. My make up is not in the least of things you need to be worried about, right now. Besides, why are you making it such a big deal? It's not that bad," he stared at himself in the mirror as he instinctively began to brush his wig with his fingers.
Sophie chuckled as she pulled a strand of hair from his wig.
"Not that bad, huh? I almost passed out when I saw you this morning. I can even do better make up than this and this blond wig…ugh, I don't know, it's just too lousy.
You know better than this, Joe. How can an aspiring fashionista pull this kind of lame look?" Joe rolled his eyes as he made a hum sound.
"Well, when you're done teasing and judging my look, you go attend to that crowd waiting for you. Nelly, is barely holding up," Sophie exhaled as she nodded in agreement and then she stepped out of the bathroom.
Sophie had developed a cold feet earlier. But she had later realised she was only nervous for nothing. As she stood admist the crowd on the stage she'd created right outside her soup shop. She beamed and gleamed with ecstasy.
Right there as she stood she wished her father could see her. She bet, he would have been super proud of her.
It was the one year anniversary of "Sophie's magic spoon" that was the name of her special place, where she creates her magic with her spoon and of course a few recipes. She was still deliberating on changing the name. Joe found it tacky, but another name is yet to be decided.
So far, she had been able to expand her shop. As a matter of fact, she had only recently set up her kitchen there in Redmond town. Basically, because she had just moved from Bellevue.
Bearing the uncertainty and anxiety of losing her core customers from Bellevue where she had started her cooking from the scratch.
Fortunately enough, her customers remained loyal and even went as far as traveling from Bellevue to Redmond just to purchase her soup.
It was one of the things that elevated her spirit because she was reluctant to move in dread to having to start from the scratch, all over again.
On the contrary, she had earned more customers as the people of Redmond practically fell in love with her soup.
It was more of the old and middle aged citizens. But nonetheless, she hit the jackpot when they begun to purchase in larger quantities. She began to sell wholesale to the nursing homes, where the elderly care givers literally books down her soups for supply. They loved her cousinette.
More interestingly, she had been approached a few times by other cooks and chefs in the secret. But call it selfish. Sophie, wasn't ready to sell out her potency, yet. She worked so hard to think and achieve something like this…she knew it had to be out of the ordinary for it to be big and it was.
Her and Joe were gobsmacked with the amount of people that had turned up for the anniversary ceremony. It wasn't anything massive but it warmed Sophie's heart to see her efforts were appreciated. It was just a year but the growth was too good to be true.
Beside her was Joe. Also smiling at the crowd which she had just addressed. She smiled at him, she was truly grateful for having such a supportive friend in her life. She doesn't care who judges him. He meant so much to her and all these couldn't have been achieved without his presence. He'd always be her irreplaceable best friend.
"Aunt Georgia! You came," Sophie leaned into the older woman's opened arms for an embrace. Georgia was a bit taller than her niece and with her stiletto, she towered over her.
"I am super proud of you, honey," the woman touched her cheek as she acknowledged her with a sweet radiating smile. One would doubt she was her mother's twin. Although, they had the same blond hair at shoulder length and a striking resemblance since they were identical. Both sisters were nothing alike.
Sophie also owe her little success to this woman standing in front of her. If not for her Aunt's drive, teachings and encouragements. Georgia was a well known chef who worked in a famous French restaurant in Bellevue.
Georgia had accommodated her when she ran out of home. She couldn't handle her mother's constant bickering and she seeked for solitude and some peace.
She flew all the way from New York were she lived with her mother down to Seattle, Bellevue precisely, to settle with her Aunt.
Before, she apparently got her own house right there in Redmond and obviously her cooking spot.
"Oh, Mrs Chamberly. You came?" Joe wore a confused look as he stared at Georgia.
Sophie and her Aunt burst out in a bout of laugh in spite of, poor Joe.
"This is not my mom, dummy," Joe instantly composed himself as he gasped dramatically.
"Oh, crap. Georgia? Why do I keep falling a victim to this?" He complained as Sophie kept laughing.
"I'm sorry, Joe," Georgia muttered and then taking a good look at him she remarked in a playful manner.
"Hm, I could barely even recognize you myself, when I saw you. You look all transformed," Georgia exclaimed and Joe fanned himself with his palm as he pushed his lips slightly, while balancing a hand on his waist as he attempted a slight swirl.
"You like?"
"Absolutely. It's a cool vibe," Joe laughed at her compliment as his gaze darted towards Sophie smugly.
"At least somebody likes my look," he muttered as he blew Georgia a kiss.
"Come on, Joe. You know I'd always admire your looks no matter how scary or weird it can be sometimes," Sophie twitched the side of her mouth as she saw Joe nod incredulously.
"Now I don't know if I should feel better or feel insulted," he noted and she slapped his elbow playfully as she took his arm in hers.
"Dial it down a notch, grumpy," she laughed as she touched his wig in another attempt to annoy him.
"I'm so glad to see this, honestly. The both of you have really done so well and to think it's only been a year. You both deserve a whole lot of accolades," her Aunt remarked in further admiration.
"Thank you so much, Georgia. But Sophie's the magic here," Joe uttered in a whispered tone.
"My magic wouldn't have sparkled without you," Sophie countered.
"Awww…this is the sweetest thing you've ever said to me today," Joe noted and they all let out another chuckle.
At the same time Sophie's eyes moved around and it caught the sight of a familiar figure. Her laugh dial down as her expression turned into that of surprise.
Joe instantly followed her line of sight and he beckoned on Georgia that they leave, even as the man began to advance towards them having caught her stare.
"That's our cue, now, Aunt Georgia. Let me introduce you to some of our newest equipments, while we leave princess here with prince charming," Georgia smiled as she began to leave with Joe who was holding onto her hand.
"Someone's looking ravishing," he stated as he increased his proximity towards, while holding her gaze. His dashing smile had her smiling as she caught herself blushing to his compliment.
"Aren't you supposed to be halfway across Europe?" He gave out a lopsided grin to her question.
"I ditched my tour so I wouldn't miss out on the opportunity to celebrate this big day with you. But I guess I'm a little late," he noted as he mopped around the place.
"What?" Sophie's jaw dropped out of surprise.
As one of the country's biggest most sold out artist, Mike took his tours very seriously. So it was a little hard for Sophie to believe and digest this information.
"Don't look so surprised, Soph. It wasn't much of a big deal, I'm just sorry I didn't make it on time," Sophie batted her eye lids a couple of time as she try to buy a vowel in response to his sweet words.
"Uh…It's Ok. You're not that late, Mike. Hell, you're not even supposed to be here, technically," she smiled.
As a gratitude personified person this little sacrifice definitely moved her.