She has to relock it behind us, but she doesn’t flick on the lights. The bakery doesn’t make bread, buns, bagels, or anything like that. Instead, it makes cakes, cupcakes, cake pops, and doughnuts. It also doesn’t have a lot of foot traffic as it specializes mostly in catering. I plan to talk to Stella about all of this, but right now, I don’t comment on the tiny store display at the front, the lack of shelves, the lack of visible product, and the overly sentimental décor on the walls—photos of kittens and whatnot. I don’t like the classic feel of the place, and I truly do think it should be more modern. I’d rip everything out and start again. I’d install better equipment in the back, too, since a quick glance back there tells me that everything is pretty outdated.
“I know what you’re thinking. You and all your gazillions of dollars. But some of us don’t live like that. Some of us have to make do with what we can afford.”
I snort at that. “Come on, Stella. You know I came from nothing.”
“And now you have everything. How nice it must be for you to go to someone’s house and, with a snap of your fingers, acquire a business. The rest of us have to plan, save, beg, get loans, pay interest, humiliate ourselves, and budget.”
“I used to do all of those things.”
“No, you didn’t.” She sets her bag with the cash and her register stuff down with a thump on the prep table in the back. “You went to college and got lucky because you’re good at math and whatever. You never had to go through any of what I’ve had to go through. This business is my life. You can’t just start fucking with it because that will mean you’re fucking with me, and by now, you should know I won’t take any of it without rising up against you in a one-woman revolution. I will overthrow you and take back what’s mine.”
I lean one hip against the prep table and stare Stella down. Her cheeks are pretty much scarlet, and the red creeps beneath the neck of her white t-shirt, creating quite a contrast.
“Whoa. That’s a little much, don’t you think? I’m just here to help. If you didn’t want my help, then Sam shouldn’t have come to see me.”
“I didn’t okay that! I told him that he could never ask you for money on my behalf! He brought it up, and I firmly trounced the idea. He betrayed me.”
“Also dramatic, but now I’m here. I’m going to create a new business model, and I can have it to you by the end of tomorrow. Improvements, suggestions, ways to increase profit—”
“Oh good!” Stella cuts me off. “Print it off and shove it up your—”
“Now, now, is that really necessary? We’re partners now. I think we can learn to put our differences aside for the sake of the business and—”
Stella tenses. Her eyes are fixed on the far corner of the floor, by the area where the wall ovens start. “Holy shit,” she whispers. “Was that a long-toed salamander? How’d it get in here?”
“Arghhhhhhhh!” The shrill scream that tears from me surprises me. It sounds like a five-year-old girl just jumped down my throat. I rush away from the spot. Racing around the prep table, I head to the dish pit. Everything is put away neatly, and there isn’t anything I can grab and brandish. No knives in sight, no spatulas to swat away the horrific creature, and not even a big bowl to throw over it to contain its foulness.
Stella turns and grins at me, and I realize what she’s done. She laughs softly and shakes her head. Oh, she’s smooth. She’s going to be a worthy adversary. Of course, she’ll make me pay, slowly, with every dirty trick in the book. Let me tell you, that book is vast, so she has a lot of material to draw on.
“I was just kidding. I wanted to see if you’d conquered your fear of salamanders yet. It’s a rather odd fear to have. You should really try hypnotherapy. I hear it works wonders.”
“I…I…I…” Damn it. I’m still worried that maybe she wasn’t kidding, and there’s a slippery little lizard devil hiding in here somewhere. That would just be like Stella too. To joke about joking. “You tricked me.” Right. So that’s not the most mature thing to say.
“Just like you did to me? Sucks, doesn’t it?”
“I guess that makes us even.” I finally take a full breath. There isn’t a salamander in here. I’m safe.
Stella’s face crimps down, and her forehead, nose, and lips all turn down. “Oh no, it doesn’t!”
“You think you’d be grateful. I saved this place.”
“Grateful! Grateful! What would I be grateful for? And saved is a harsh word. I’d rather close up shop than have to deal with you every single day.”