Chapter 2
Ellie felt her cellphone under her pillows as the alarm she set awakened her. 4:00 AM. Ellie had to brave the cold weather and get up from bed while most still snuggled under their covers.
She tidied up her bed and went to the bathroom for a quick shower and got ready herself. She looked at her cellphone to check her ordering app. Today’s orders read:
One two-tiered cake for a baby shower
Three dozen chocolate cupcakes
One dozen matcha flavored cupcakes
Two blueberry cheesecakes
One strawberry shortcake, and
One ultimate chocolate cake
Another busy day! Not that she was complaining. A packed day only meant her business was picking up. It’d been a year since she established the business, and it had been a slow climb, but she enjoyed each step of the journey. Business was an alien world to her, but she dove right into it when her boyfriend asked her to quit her band. Their music careers had just taken off, but her boyfriend asked her to quit. He could not stand her unpredictable schedule and the attention she was getting. It was her dream, but he made him choose—him or her career. Of course, she’d chosen him. She would always choose him.
After confirming today’s orders, Ellie headed to her cake shop. It was the bottom floor of the two-story space she rented.
It was almost time to open the shop when she finished baking the cake bases. She waited for them to cool, so she could put icing on them when her staff arrived, one after the other. She’d hired two staff members: a cashier and a server.
“Good morning, Ms. Elle,” they greeted her.
She smiled and replied, “Morning, Beth. Morning, Maya. There’s coffee in the pantry, and I also made pastries last night. Grab a bite.”
The three of them started the day, each with a coffee mug in hand. She held a small clipboard that detailed all the orders and deliveries for the day.
“I will deliver the baby shower cake. The chocolate and matcha cupcakes are for pickup. A delivery rider will pick up the blueberry cheesecakes. I already grouped them and made some notes as well.” Beth and Maya nodded as they took notes of her instructions.
“Also, there will be supplies that arrive today. I have already separated the money in envelopes inside my drawer.” Ellie looked at them. “Did you girls have questions?” Both shook their heads.
With that, Ellie prepped the tiered cake for the baby shower, which she would deliver. It was a simple round cake on top of each other. The smaller cake on top had a cute baby stroller as decoration. It was simple and elegant, as requested by her client.
She placed the cake in the box, then put it in her carrier. She then placed the carrier in her car and drove to the address her client gave her.
Her client wanted to surprise her best friend, who was the mother-to-be, with this cake. So she wanted her to arrive at a very specific time. When she reached the address, she messaged her client, who then gave her the signal to come up and bring the cake.
Her client stood by the door to welcome her and help her bring the cake in. All her attention was on the cake. She was very careful with her steps to ensure that she would not trip or topple the cake accidentally.
She could hear everyone’s gasp as she entered the room, cake in hand. She placed the cake on the table. She then looked at the mother-to-be. She was teary-eyed, obviously happy. Ellie said her congratulations.
The celebrant called her husband to come forward and help her slice the cake. Her high-pitched voice rang in her ears, but she did not mind. Seeing the joy on her clients’ faces was one perk of this job. It was one that money could not buy and one that made her continue doing this.
The color drained from Ellie’s face as she looked at the man the celebrant had called. The smile she had on her lips disappeared, and she had to bite the inside of her mouth to keep them from quivering.
The man walked towards them. He half-walked and half-skipped his steps. A smile stretched on his lips, and a twinkle was on his eyes. But like her, the smile he had on his face disappeared when his gaze fell on her. His sparkling eyes became round as marbles. He cleared his throat and averted his gaze before standing beside the pregnant woman.
She felt her world stop. Her heart felt like it was beating in her ears. Its deafening beats drummed in her head. She forced herself not to cry and become the pathetic mess she felt inside. She no longer needed to confront him. The wave of emotions she saw on his face was confirmation enough. She saw surprise, hesitation, and guilt written on his face.
“Honey, look at this cake. Isn’t it beautiful?” The mother-to-be looked at him with teary eyes, full of excitement and joy.
“Yeah,” he answered, but his eyes were neither on the cake nor on the new mother, but on Ellie.
“Congratulations, enjoy your cake.” Ellie’s words were shaky as she tried so hard to control her emotions.
She cried her heart out inside her car. “Bastard,” she kept muttering. She drove away, but instead of going to her store, she drove aimlessly around. She stopped in front of an abandoned building.
She rested her head on the steering wheel as she poured out her tears. “That bastard! That cheating bastard! It was not enough for him to cheat on me several times. He even got this one pregnant!” she continued to cry.
“Fuck you, Angelo!” she cursed him. Her angry cries sounded very pitiful. “Why does this always happen to me? Why?” she asked between sobs.
Ellie had three relationships. Her first love used her to get close to one of her best friends. Her second boyfriend was in college. He turned out to be two-timing her with another girl from a different college. And then this bastard, Angelo, whom she loved so much, she gave up her music career for him. She had forgiven him when he betrayed her trust many times with different girls. And today, she found out that he got somebody knocked up.
“You’re so stupid, Ellie!” She chastised herself as she pulled on her hair. It always ended up this way. She always ended up getting betrayed, lied to, cheated on.
“I’m done with love,” she declared.
“I will never fall in love ever again!”