8

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©️ 2021 Princess.

"Good evening, and welcome to Eric's Cafe," she said as she always did.But that was when they had customers and Hayden was...... well, he was just Hayden. If he wanted something, he always ordered it. Lindsay came out and froze as she saw Hayden standing in the doorway.

"Good evening, we just closed for the day, please accept our apologies."

"Yes, Good evening, you don't have to worry, I was here to see Eric," he replied.

"Oh, he is away on a business trip. He won't be back for a couple of days," Lindsay said.

"Oh... okay, I'll call him later," he said as he walked away.For some reason, she felt said he had left, but then they had nothing to say to each other, so what was the point? She was using her side eye, so she saw when he got into his car and drove away.After the closed up, she set the alarm and they all left. Emily brought her car, so she dropped Ben at the bus stop, then drove Lindsay home.

She stayed over at Lindsay's for a while, then thought it was time to head home. On her way home, she stopped by the store to get some feta cheese and shrimps because she was thinking of making the feta pasta that was trending all over Tiktok. After she paid for what she bought, she drove straight home.

When she got home, she took a quick shower and put on something more comfortable so she could cook. She turned on her Bluetooth speaker and played Lana del Rey summertime sadness. It was one of her favorites.

She took out tomatoes from the freezer then washed them. When she was finished, she poured a healthy about onto the tray and placed the block of feta cheese in the center.

She poured some olive oil, sprinkled slimed garlic, salt and pepper. She looked through her shelf thinking of what else to add, so she took out her onion powder and added it. When she was done, she tossed it into the oven. She took out the pasta from the cupboard and dumped it into a bowl to wash it first. She noticed a lot of people pouring it straight into the put, but that wasn't what she expected.At home, they always wash it first. When she was done, she poured it into the boiling water then added salt.

When the oven went off, she wore her mittens and took out the tray. It smelled so good, she thought. She dropped it on the counter, then went to check the pasta. After eating, she turned the stove off and drained it. She quickly went to mix the cheese and tomato. She hated the clumps of tomatoes around, so she decided to blend them. A few minutes later, it was ready, so she poured it into the pot and mixed it thoroughly.

She dished out some for herself. She did a quick taste test and it was delicious, then covered the pot. She really loved cooking. It's kind of therapeutic. Because whenever she's in the kitchen, she doesn't think about anything. She took a drink from the fridge and went to the living room to eat. She turned on her TV and pressed Brigderton. She was halfway through the first episode when she finished her food.

She paused the show so that she could get some more from the kitchen, then ran back to the couch and pressed play. An hour later, she was almost done with the third episode. And damn Simon Bassett is one fine man, she thought. He reminded her of Hayden. His charisma and his flirtatious ways. Nope, they weren't doing that today, she scolded herself. He had moved in with his life, she should move on with hers.

She stood up and went to the kitchen, to clear the sink. She also kept the remaining pasta in the fridge. When she was done in the kitchen, she went back to the living room and brought out her laptop to get back to work.

She typed out a schedule for Eric and a list of things they had to do to promote their business. She also opened an Instagram and Twitter account for the cafe. She will take some pictures tomorrow to post.

By the time she was done, She sent an email to Eric, then closed her laptop because she was done for the day. She was about to head to bed when she received a notification from Lindsay.

Lindsay-Hey, I was wondering if you'd be interested in going on a blind date to test the waters my friend been asking lately .Trust me, he is handsome and so nice. He is my friend. His name is Anthony.

She thought about it for a moment, then said.

Emily--yeah, you know what I will.

Her reply came almost immediately.

Lindsay--Wait, seriously, oh okay, let me send him some pictures and his phone number right away; I promise you won't be sorry.

Emily-I hope it doesn't end in tears. I will talk to you tomorrow. I'm going to bed now.

Lindsay- Night babe.

The next day...........

Emily was the first person to get to work because she was the one that would open up. Not too long after Ben came in, so did Lindsay. Try everything opened the shop.Lindsay went into the kitchen, Ben went behind the counter and Emily went to set the table. Lindsay's brother of fresh pastries arrived a few minutes later to place on the display counter.

Less than an hour later, customers started coming in and they got to work. Emily and Lindsay went about asking customers for what they would like to order. Before they knew it, it was already 1pm, so Emily turned the sign so it would say closed and they had their lunch break. They ordered some rising canes earlier, so it just got here.

"So far we have had three people send in their resumes," Ben said, then took a bite of his burger.

"Yeah, I saw it this morning. We really need to talk to Eric as soon as possible," Lindsay said.

"I will call him later today and send him most of the stuff we need to do"

"We don't need to wait for him to come back for some stuff, like posting on our social media platforms, we could do it ourselves" Ben voiced out.

"I thought of that too, so I told him this morning and he gave us permission to post," Emily said as she popped a fry into her mouth. She took a sip of her soda then said.

"Lindsay so about yesterday night when are we going to... you know"

"Oh yeah, I gave him your number. He said he would call you today. I guess he is busy now because of work."

"So what does he do... like his job?"

"Oh he is an Architect," Lindsay said and she paused to consider, taking a sip of coffee and popping a warm piece of buttered roll into her mouth.

"I'm surprised you're not going on a date with him yourself." "First of all, eeww, secondly, he's my friend, he's like a brother to me, and that would be very... strange, weird '

"I guess"

"And besides you need some dick, so you can stop moping around" Lindsay practically yelled, which made Ben choke on his drink. He cleared his throat and said.

"I will to the back to... see if there are any.... um-take some more pictures for our social media" he rushes out.

"Thank you," Emily said, because she knew why he wanted to leave. After he left, she turned her glare to Lindsay, who was looking at her innocently sipping her soda.

"Why did you say that?"

"Because it's the truth. You know what they say in order to get over someone, you got ta get under someone else ""

I'm pretty sure no one says that ""

Trust me, they do. And you need to move on. We can't let these men continue to treat us like shit. "

"I know, it's just that made me feel things."

"See what I'm saying, it's because you haven't gotten some action in some time. Trust me honey, in a couple of months when you see him, he will look so ugly to you." Lindsay said.

"You are right, maybe it's just infatuation. I really need to go out more. Let's get back to work now " They finished eating quickly and turned the sign so it would say opened. We all went back to work right away because it had only been five minutes since they opened and customers were already pouring in, which was a good thing.

But at six PM on the dot, they closed up and we were on their way home. Ben didn't follow them this time around because he was meeting up with a friend. So she drove Lindsay home. Lindsay asked Emily to stay for dinner earlier, so she followed Lindsay up to her apartment.

Moments later, after they had entered the apartment, Lindsay said.

"So I was thinking you would like to help with my photoshoot tomorrow. You know I've mentioned it before,.... you know like about how I wanted to become a model, not like runway Kendall Jenner, I mean like for Faahionova or any brand"

"Yeah, and of course I would love to help"

"We got to start somewhere. You could even have a photoshoot yourself, because your body is literally amazing. I would kill to have a body as amazing as yours"

"Thank you. Your body is amazing... it's just I'm a bit insecure about some parts of my body. I don't know if I will be able to take those pictures. "

"Don't worry, you will do just fine, trust me" Lindsay said and got to cooking Mole Enchiladas. An hour later, they were done. Lindsay made six in total, so they both divided it equally.

"Oh my goodness" Emily moaned out.

"This is boom... amazing, you have to give me the recipe" Emily said, then popped a slice of onion into her mouth.

"I know right and, of course. This is literally my favorite food to make. " Lindsay said.

"I tried once but it was a failure, but my mom knows how to cook it, no matter how many times I try. It's always a failure "

"Well now you can try it my way now"

"For sure, you should give this to Eric so he could try it, and maybe put it on his menu"

"I guess, it's like an Italian restaurant right?"

"Yeah it is, gosh this is so good." Emily was about to take another bite when her phone rang. She picked up her phone, then looked at the number calling and almost choked on her food. She quickly swallowed her food and took a sip of her water.

"What happened, who is it?"

"It's Anthony"

"Oh my gosh, answer it" Emily nodded and slid the green button right.

"Hello, good evening"

"Hi, Anthony, I hope I wasn't disturbing you?"

"No, not at all, I was actually bored," she said, which made Lindsay raise her eyebrows in question.

"Oh, sorry I didn't call earlier, I was really busy"

"Yeah, Lindsay explained to me why, so how was your day?"

"You, the usual. Woke up early, grabbed some coffee on the way to work and got to work "

"That's nice....." Emily said, not knowing what to say again. She muttered something to Lindsay.

WHAT DO I SAY? Lindsay raised both hands up, which was short for, I don't know.

"This is awkward...I don't know what to say, "Emily said after a full minute had passed.

"Yeah, it's expected, maybe we will get to know each other better during dinner sometime"

"Yes, I would love that"

"So Saturday, does seven sound good good?"

"Yes it does, I will be... Looking forward to it "

"Me too"

"Okay bye"

"Yeah, talk to you soon. Stay safe "

"Thanks, you too" then he hung up.

Lindsay raised her eyes in question,

"What?" "What the fuck was I looking forward to our date?" she inquired.

I almost passed out from cringing too hard, "Lindsay said, which made Emily groan.

"Let's just eat, please. I am anxious already thinking about the date on Saturday "

"Oh babe, you gon na do just fine"

"I hope so" After they both finished eating, they cleared the dishes, then sat on the couch just chatting.

"I should head home now before it gets really late"

"Yeah, you want na go out tomorrow"

Sure, I literally have nothing to do "

"There you go. My baby is finally getting out of her shell "Lindsay cooed. Emily rolled her eyes at her antics and took her bag off the hook.

"Later" Emily said and left. By the time Emily got to her apartment, it was past eight, so she quickly parked her car and took the elevator up to her apartment. Emily took a quick shower, then laid down on her bed and passed out immediately.

The next day, Hayden had his assistant pack his bags the day before so he could leave as early as possible. He had his personal chef prepare him a quick breakfast so that he could eat before he caught his flight. He took his phone out of his back pocket and dialed Eric's phone number.

Eric picked up on the second ring.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Just wanted to let you know I will be out of the country for a while. I came to your cafe yesterday but you were not around"

"Yeah, I just had some business to attend to."

"I will call you when I get back, so we can meet up"

"Sure no problem, have a safe flight"

"Sure. Thanks "Hayden said and hung up.

Twenty minutes later, after he was done eating, his assistant called saying the private plane had been fueled and his chauffeur was downstairs ready to take him to the airport. He grabbed his small travel bag which had some documents and a few things he might need when he got home. When he got down, he told the driver to open the trunk, so he could put his bag in.

They drove off as soon as he entered the car. In less than twenty minutes, he was at the airport because of no traffic.

Around two in the afternoon, Eric had called saying he would be back later this evening because of the stuff that had been delayed. She had told Lindsay and Ben what Eric had said.

"He also said that he would prefer it if the applicants came tomorrow," Emily said as

"So we should send them an email as soon as we close," Lindsay said.

"No problem, I'll handle that," Ben offers.

"Yeah, that would be fantastic, thank you," Emily said as she walked over to the customer who had just entered the menu.

By five pm, they had closed and they all went home. Emily and Lindsay both went to her house because they were going out. Lindsay had brought a bag with her when she came to work. They had their clothes for tonight. When they got to her apartment, Lindsay went to take a shower. When she was done, Emily took hers. A few minutes later, Emily came out and saw wine leather pants in front of her face, which were held by Lindsay.

"This is for you, with the cute top"

"What no way, this is too much for me, I can't," Emily exclaimed as Lindsay placed it on the bed.

"What it's so not, you will look hot as fuck. Especially with a body like yours, I spent a lot of money on this, "Emily groaned.

"This is called guilt tripping. It looks amazing but I don't think I can pull it off."

"You will now be a good girl and wear it so I can do your makeup" Lindsay said and went to put on her dress.

Emily reluctantly pulled on the leather pants which had her huffing and puffing because of how tight they were. She called Lindsay to help her with the zip on the top. When she was done, she stood in front of the mirror admiring how she looked.

"You see, it's not bad"

"You were were right it isn't, but I will need to carry a coat because of the weather"

"Yeah, it's kinda cold"

Lindsay quickly helped with Emily's makeup, which was light, then Emily put on her shoes then sprayed some perfume. She took her phone then went to the living room to take a couple of selfies, sending them to Alex. She turned off her phone then put it inside her purse. Lindsay came out a few minutes later, announcing she was done.

"Oh my goodness, Lindsay, you look so beautiful," Emily said, prompting Lindsay to bite her lower lip and give her the fuckboy look.Emily laughed at her antics, shaking her head.

"Wait, what time is it now,?" Lindsay asked.

"8:30" Emily said as she looked at the watch on her wrist. After they had both grabbed their purse and coat, they went downstairs to Emily's car. They both opened the back door to keep their coats and purse in the seat, then got in front and drove off. They had stopped a bit to get gas. As Emily drove, Lindsay typed on her phone.

"Is it where we went to last time?" Emily asked.

"Oh no, shit I didn't tell you, it is a different place entirely, it's really private. My friend Jason got us invites. This is the address" Lindsay said, then showed Emily the address on her phone.

"Okay, it's not that far. We should be there in twenty minutes"