“That's it!” he screamed at her. “I'm done!”
“Good. I never want to see you're face in here again. You understand? We're through! I hate you! I hate your stupid face!” Her face twisted with rage and she chucked another cupcake at him, only this time he ducked and it exploded on the wall behind him.
“Screw you,” he told her and stomped out of the bakery.
“Screw yourself!” she screamed at his back.
I looked around at all the patrons. Every mouth hung open in disbelief.
“Did they just break up?” Donna asked me, clutching her sandwich like a lifeline.
“I think so. It looked pretty brutal. Relationships don't come back from that kind of thing,” I told her. “He's pretty anal about his hair and she really got him with that cupcake.”
Donna just nodded, her mouth hanging open. I glanced around, making sure that several other of the Ladies' Bridge Club were present. Maybe this would convince them that Katie and Jacob weren't “practically engaged” anymore.
Katie quietly composed herself in the corner. “Sorry about that everyone.”
She then fled to the back room.
“I'm going to go check on Jacob,” I said to Donna, but she was still staring at the cherry filling on the wall in shock. A chunk of vanilla cupcake hit the floor with a splat.
I cut through the alley behind the Bakery and saw Katie leaning against a dumpster. It sounded like she was crying. I hurried over to check on her.
“Katie, are you okay?” I asked, touching her on the shoulder.
She turned and her eyes lit up with recognition. That's when I realized she wasn't crying. She was laughing. She was laughing so hard she could barely breathe.
She gave me a giant hug. “Jacob told me about you two. You're great for each other. I'm glad I could help.” She let me go and wiped the tears on her face, leaving big flour smudges on both her cheeks. “That was incredibly cathartic.”
“It was incredibly believable,” I told her. “I don't think anyone has moved inside.”
“Oh, I hope so. I had some of my LA friends coach me on what to do. You think the cherry filling was too much?” Her shoulders started shaking again as she thought of it.
“It was perfect,” I told her. I gave her one more hug. “Thanks for breaking up with him.”
“It was my pleasure,” she replied with a laugh as more tears streamed down her cheeks. I let her be as she laughed behind her restaurant and I hurried back to the clinic.
Jacob was waiting for me in the break room.
“Good?” he asked, his smile beaming off his face. “Was I believable?”
“You were perfect,” I told him. “I nearly believed you.”
“Good.” He grinned and kissed my cheek. “It's one step closer. It'll take some time, but Katie and I have agreed to be militantly hostile to one another for the next week. I really think this is going to work.”
“Dr. Matthews? Dr. Matthews are you in here?” Donna called, making her way to the break room.
Jacob and I took a step away from one another just before Donna came in. Her face was full of worry.
“Dr. Matthews, are you okay?” she asked him.
“I'm pissed,” he told her, sounding actually angry. “If you see her, you tell her it's off. I wouldn't be caught dead dating her. Do you see what she did to me?”
He pointed to the cherry filling coating his hair.
“Are you sure?” Donna asked him. “You two seemed so perfect...”
“Perfectly miserable,” Jacob finished for her. “And yes. She's willing to humiliate me in public. I can't be with a woman like that.”