by Lexy Timms
“I’m fine,” Katherine nodded, though the guilt of lying to her new friend was weighing on her.
“I know. You’re tough as nails, Katherine. So, let me show you what we have left to do,” she waved before walking towards the front of the bakery.
“Wow, it looks great in here. It seems like everything is done,” Katherine remarked when she saw the dining area. Designed to look like an Italian café, the bakery was more rustic than modern. It was a small space, but by using mostly white décor, the owner had successfully gotten the most of it.
“Thanks! I love opening because I get to set the look of the bakery for the day. I’ve already filled the displays with pastries and cleaned all the tables. I think the last thing to do is start the coffee, just make sure to make both regular and decaf,” Talia delegated, as she wiped the glass countertop.
“I’ll get on it now,” Katherine said, while moving to her barista corner. The aroma from the coffee beans was so strong, she took a second to close her eyes and enjoy it.
It was then that she remembered how much she loved her job. There was no way she could allow Tim to ruin everything when it had all fallen together so perfectly. It was interesting that Katherine had found her way back into the culinary world in some way, and she wanted to make sure she didn’t let Tim destroy her dreams for a second time.
“So, are you going to make me pull it out of you?” Talia asked, and Katherine could feel her heart flutter with shock.
“What do you mean?” she asked, afraid to find out what her friend was referring to. She hadn’t expected her to know anything about what had happened, and she wasn’t ready to tell her about Tim and his return to her life.
“The date, silly! Don’t play coy, I want to know what happened with your fancy date night with Ben!” Talia yelped, and Katherine released the breath she was holding. It was a relief to know that her secret was still safe, and that Talia was only talking about her date.
“Oh, right.” Katherine giggled before telling Talia all about Ben. “Did I tell you he surprised me with a gown?” She asked.
“Yes, you said you were going to the charity event,” Talia reminded her of their previous conversations at work. It was great for both of them that Katherine was still training, because that meant they were scheduled to work together every shift.
“Yeah, his friend hosts all these different charity events throughout the year, and he always asks Ben to attend,” Katherine recalled Ben’s words.
“I bet he does. I would too if I had a billionaire for a best friend,” Talia joked, and the two women laughed together.
“I didn’t even think of that. Well, we had a good time. I wore the gown and I got to meet his friends. Everything was really nice. The gala was held at one of those fancy hotels downtown,” Katherine explained, purposely leaving out the part about Tim.
She didn’t want to overcomplicate her work life with the drama of her marriage. What happened that evening was so embarrassing, she didn’t want to have to relive the details if she didn’t have to. She could still remember the sympathy in Ben’s eyes when she revealed her story and she didn’t want that from Talia.
She enjoyed being liked for who she was today, rather than pitied for who she used to be. Talia didn’t need to know Tim was in town, because Katherine knew it would only make her more protective, and worse, possibly scare her. No, she didn’t want to burden everyone in her life, so she focused on the event instead of the reason it was ruined.
“Was it like, filled with celebrities?” Talia asked, as she stacked disposable cups in their designated spaces.
“No, I actually thought of how in Los Angeles, it’s all about who comes to your event. Promoters make sure they have celebrities for any type of opening you can imagine, but here it’s like they don’t care about that at all,” Katherine shared a thought she had during the event.
“Well, the thing about here is that you don’t have to be famous to be rich. Everyone there was probably wealthy, just like Ben. But you’d never know it here, because they’re not movie stars. They could be engineers or entrepreneurs instead,” Talia shrugged.
“I didn’t even think of that,” Katherine nodded.
San Francisco was like another world from LA. Everyone seemed to be interested in their own niche and less interested in the glamour and fame like she was accustomed to. It was so great to have a friend like Talia who could explain the differences she was noticing.
A subtle alarm sounded at the register and Talia tapped on the touch screen a few times to silence the beeping. Then, she turned to Katherine to let her know it was time to open the bakery. Knowing how busy the morning rush would be, they both took a deep breath before Talia went to open the doors. In less than five minutes, there was a line of patrons, and the two women worked together to fill orders like they always did. Talia took the orders, handled the money, and gathered all the baked goods ordered while Katherine made all the drinks.
When the morning rush finally died down, Katherine made it a point to talk to Talia about her weekend. She had noticed that because she was with her when Ben first came around, Talia always asked about Katherine’s life and tended to dominate their conversations.
“What did you do over the weekend?” Katherine asked her, as Talia organized the freshly baked tray of pastry.
“I went to a friend’s showcase in Oakland. He does a lot of spoken word, and he invited some of his artistic friends who got up and read poems, or rapped. It was cool. Then we had a kick back at one of their houses—you know, just hanging out,” Talia shrugged, like it was nothing special, but to Katherine it was.
She hadn’t been able to continue her friendships when she got married to Tim. He said her friends were a distraction to their marriage, so one by one they faded away. The idea of hanging out with friends seemed like an everyday occurrence to Talia, but to Katherine it was a big deal. She only wished to have that many people she was close to one day.
Katherine was working on a mocha when she heard Talia great a customer.
“Hi, can I help you?” Talia asked. Katherine couldn’t hear the order over the noise from her machine, but did hear Talia confirm it.
She had just finished making the caramel macchiato when she looked up to see Talia smiling so broadly she knew something had to be up. Turning around, she saw the reason her friend was blushing. Dressed in his regular white button up shirt and blue jeans, Ben stood there looking more refreshed than ever.
“Hi,” Katherine smiled, hoping her face revealed just how happy she was to see him. Something about Ben just put her as ease. He was so calm and peaceful. It seemed like nothing ever bothered him, until he saw what Tim had done to her, of course.
“Hi, sweetheart.” He returned the smile, unleashing a flurry of butterflies in Katherine’s belly.
“I forgot you were coming by today,” she admitted. After waking up so late and rushing to work, she had forgotten he had said he’d stop by. And once they were swamped with customers, Katherine didn’t have time to think about anything other than not messing up an order.
“I was hoping I could see you later,” Ben said, his gray eyes narrowing in a way that made Katherine’s pelvic muscles clench with lust.
“Is that so?” She asked, and now she was the one that was blushing.
“It is. I would love to get dinner together,” he offered.
“Tonight?” Katherine clarified.
“If you’re available.”
Katherine thought about it, wondering if it was a good idea. She knew that things with Tim had complicated everything, but it hadn’t stopped the way she felt about Ben. If anything, the opposite was true. She really enjoyed spending time with him, he was fun and relaxed, and he made her feel safe. Besides, if she didn’t go out with him she would be forced to sit in her apartment alone, worrying about Tim and what he would do next.
“We can go as friends if you want, I just want to spend some time with you. If that’s something you would like, that is,�
�� Ben added, after her delayed response.
“I would love to,” she replied, excited to spend the evening with Ben.
Chapter Twelve
Ben
“DO YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN? You just need to find a way to alter the design for less than your inventory cost,” Ben explained, as he pointed to the statistical report in front of him.
Glancing at the sheet, Jim nodded in agreement. “Yeah, but Ben, these aren’t the same type of costumes as the new designs.”
“That’s why I suggested just scrapping them altogether. Donate them to a charity or find a better use for them, but the cost of storing them has made them too expensive to continue to carry over,” Ben said.
Jim nodded again before telling Ben he would draw up some solutions and send them over to his office. It was another meeting that Ben insisted on scheduling. After his morning reign of terror, he wanted to correct the relationships he might have damaged, or at least altered.
Jim was one of his oldest employees, joining the company when they first bought commercial space, so he didn’t want to offend or ostracize such an integral part of his organization. When his mind was focused on Katherine’s safety, it was nearly impossible for him to be a good leader, so after he checked on her, he wanted to circle back to anyone he might have rubbed the wrong way.
It was shocking to him how much his attitude had shifted since he returned from paying her a visit at work. Always a bright spot in his day, Katherine had put his worries to rest when she agreed to go to dinner with him. In addition to looking much better physically, Ben thought Katherine appeared to be less stressed and fearful as well.
He did take notice of the bruising on her arm, but there was nothing he could do about that. He would always be infuriated when he thought of Tim and how he had chosen to hurt her so viciously.
No matter how hard he racked his brain, Tim could not come to a reasonable conclusion as to why Tim would ever want to hurt Katherine. She was the sweetest woman he had ever met, always willing to help others and she did everything with a smile on her face.
When he finished his meeting with Jim, Ben headed back to his office, stopping at Rachel’s desk just as she ended a call. Rachel was one of his hardest working employees, and Ben knew he could never maintain his level of success without her. She handled everything in his professional life and still somehow found the time to advise him on his personal dilemmas.
“Just the man I need to see,” she said, pointing her index finger at him as she reached for a paper in her stack of files.
“Step into my office,” Ben teased, in a joking tone as he headed inside.
The sun was shining brightly through his floor to ceiling windows, highlighting the beauty of the city. The office was lively with positive energy as everyone prepared for the new designs, and Ben felt refreshed and excited for his date tonight with Katherine. Everything seemed to be going in the right direction, and he was happy.
“It seems the new designs are not going to be able to ship in time for the holidays,” Rachel announced as she stepped into his office, completely shattering his mood.
“What?” Ben spun around quickly.
His business depended on the fourth quarter sales every year, but there was no way they would be able to have their highest sales month of the year if they didn’t have new products ready for their loyal customers.
“I know, it’s bad. There’s a worker's strike that’s having significant impact our manufacturing capacity. We need to find an alternative warehouse or we’ll be selling last year’s holiday costumes,” Rachel chuckled, thinking of how unheard of her suggestion was. Ben never allowed his company to take the lazy route his competitors took.
What set his business aside was the creativity and commitment to improving. Every holiday season they made sure to switch their inventory up, always adding new designs. In the industry, he was known as wasteful because of his constant product turnover.
“Here’s what we’ll do,” Ben rubbed the stubble on his chin as he thought of a plan. “Call Jim and tell him to scrap the donation idea. He has so much inventory from last year that he can’t find a place to hold it. Tell him we want to see some designs to transform the product he has. That will be our new line,” Ben explained as Rachel frantically jotted down as much as she could, nodding along to let him know she was keeping up.
“Any idea for deadlines?” she asked, knowing how strict Ben was for goals to be met on his timeline.
“I want a meeting in two days, and the final designs ready by Friday,” he said.
Rachel’s head popped up from jotting the notes, her eyes bulging with disbelief. “This Friday?”
“He already has the product. There’s not too much he can do to alter the costumes anyway, so it shouldn’t take him longer than a few days to work out the kinks,” he shrugged.
Ben had always felt that Rachel was too nice to make it as an executive. She struggled with pushing employees to do what she wanted, but when it came to clients or defending Ben, she never hesitated, which was why he kept her in the role of his assistant, but with an executive’s salary. Rachel actually earned nearly as much as Ben, as far as their biweekly paychecks were concerned. It was his majority stock in the company that made him so wealthy.
“Okay. I’ll get this typed up and over to Jim now. He’ll need as much time as he can get,” Rachel said as she walked out of his office.
Alone with his thoughts, Ben tried to see things from every angle. He never wanted to be an unreasonable boss, but after the day he’d had, he knew what he was requesting wasn’t too much to ask. He was confident in his decision, and as he watched through the glass walls as his employees gradually filed out of the office, he realized it was about time to call it a day.
Glancing at his watch, he wondered what time he should pick Katherine up. They hadn’t made any arrangements as far as time or place, and as he thought more about it Ben realized he didn’t even know where he’d be picking Katherine up from. Grabbing his cell phone, he tapped a few buttons before bringing the phone to his ear.
“Hello?" Katherine answered, in her sweet voice.
“Hello, sweetheart. Are we still on for tonight?” Ben asked, perking up in his seat at the sound of her voice.
“Of course. I just finished with my hair so you’d better not be standing me up,” Katherine joked.
“I would never. What time do you want to go? He let her pick the time, not wanting to dictate every detail, like Tim had, though he hoped it would be soon.
“I’ll be ready in an hour. Does that work?” He could hear the smile in her question.
“Sure. I’ll pick you up at your place in an hour then.”
“Sounds perfect,” she said, practically singing her answer.
“See you in an hour, sweetheart,” Ben said, before ending the call.
On his way out of the office, Ben stopped at Rachel’s desk to get an update on her execution of the plan. Every night, she wrote him an email of how things went and what was still in progress, but he still liked to check in regularly.
“What did Jim think of my idea?” he asked.
“He was mad, because he said it was the same idea he was planning to propose to you,” Rachel revealed a large smile.
“Really?” Ben asked.
“Yeah, I was nervous to tell him because I thought he was going to flip at the deadline, but he said he anticipates having the designs done even sooner than you wanted.” Rachel said, excitedly.
“That’s great. I was a little worried myself. With that handled, and thank you by the way, I’ll be able to enjoy my evening.” Ben smiled, knowing that otherwise he would have struggled to focus at dinner.
“Are you going out with Katherine?” Rachel asked, with optimistic eyes.
“Rachel, if I’m going out to dinner, it’s going to be with Katherine,” he admitted. His days as a bachelor were growing slim, and he didn’t want her to keep teasing him about his promiscuous ways.
“I’m gl
ad.” She said it with a seriousness that made Ben think. He had never considered how uncomfortable it must have been for her, as a friend and an assistant, to juggle all the women he was entertaining. The she laughed and shared a few more details about the business before Ben left for the day.
The drive to Katherine’s apartment wasn’t far, so Ben made it to her place earlier than he’d expected. He was shocked to see her standing outside as he pulled up to the curb.
Quickly rolling the window down, he called out, “Is everything okay?” All he could think about was her being put out of her place by her psycho husband.
“Yes. I was just excited for you to get here.” Katherine smiled her bashful smile. When she bit her bottom lip to hide her blushing, Ben felt his blood pumping south and got out of the car, hoping he could distract himself.
“You look beautiful, as always.” Ben greeted her with a hug, closing his eyes as he smelled her jasmine scent. Dressed in a long sleeved black maxi dress, Katherine looked even more stunning than usual. Her hair was curled in big waves that bounced as she walked around to the passenger side of the car, where Ben held the door open for her.
“So, where are we going to eat?” she asked, when he’d settled in the driver’s seat beside her.
“Well, my friend just opened a Korean barbeque restaurant across the bridge. I wanted to take you to the grand opening if that’s okay,” Ben said, as he pulled out into traffic.
“Of course,” Katherine assured him, as she placed her hand on his, where it rested on the gearshift.
They rode in silence, with a fun and innocent tension between them. Ben was so excited to be with her, and he could sense that she felt the same. The more time he spent with Katherine, the more he realized that she was the perfect girl for him.
She was kind and considerate, but also brave and ambitious. Revealing all she had overcome in her marriage only made even more attracted to her, because she was a fighter and he admired that. For the first time in his dating life, Ben saw a woman’s beauty as nothing more than the cherry on top. Katherine’s intelligence, strength, and kind nature were what made Ben want to get to know her better. He was certain he was falling for her, and only hoped she felt the same.