Page 167 of How To Not Need You

“You told me I couldn't have one.”

“You wouldn’t have stopped at one.”

“That is irrelevant.”

“I think he ate three yesterday when he was helping me prep,” Natalie adds.

“Snitch.” The door opens again. Ben walks in carrying a box.

Natalie narrows her eyes. “What is that?”

“Nothing.”

“Benjamin.” I don't think I've ever heard Natalie call him Benjamin. Judging by the way he stops walking, neither has he.

“It's research.” He puts the box on the counter. Natalie opens it. Silence. She looks at Ben. Then at the pastries inside. Then back at Ben.

“Did you bring pastries from another bakery to my grand opening?”

“Comparative research.”

I choke on my coffee. “You're either very brave or very stupid,” I tell him.

“Both can be true.”

“I brought a knife,” Luca offers.

“Thank you, Luca. I may need it.” Natalie states whilst staring down Ben in a menacing stare that I am amazed she is even capable of.

“Anytime.”

More people start arriving. Freya. Clara. Sophie. Wren. People I recognise from Page & Grounds. People I don't. Within twenty minutes, the nice calm bakery Natalie has spent months creating is full of voices, children and the occasional shout from behind the counter when Luca tries to appoint himself manager.

I end up beside Jake near the wall while Tilly and Leo conduct what appears to be an attempted hostile takeover of the display cabinet.

Jake hands me another coffee. I stare at it.

“Where do you keep getting these?”

“I have connections.”

“You sure do. You're sleeping with the graphic designer that works for both the bakery AND the coffee shop.”

“I hear she's very talented.”

“She is. Expensive, though.”

“Worth it.”

I look at him. He smiles into his coffee.

Asshole.

Across the bakery, Natalie is standing behind the counter talking to Freya. She's smiling now. Actually smiling. Not the slightly manic one she's been wearing all morning.

She catches me watching. I raise my coffee. She raises hers. That's enough. Because Whisk & Wonder is open. People actually came. Nobody has died. Luca hasn't been arrested. And it's not even ten o'clock. Frankly, we're smashing it.

Natalie surprises us by announcing that she’s reserved a table for us.