Roman
WALKING INTO THE BAKERY, I holler, “Aunt Maggie, I’m here!”
I hear a shuffling noise come from the back of the shop, then, “Roman is that you?”
I drop my coat and backpack behind the counter and head into the back. I find her covered in baking powder with chocolate frosting on her apron and cheeks. Chuckling, I give her a kiss on the cheek and grab a paper towel to clean her up.
She thanks me and smiles. “So, how was school today?”
Walking toward the sink, I toss the towel in the trash and wash my hands. “It was good. Nothing unusual today. Oh, Gabe invited me to his house on Saturday.”
My aunt claps her hands and yells, “Oh wonderful! It’s about time you get out of the house.”
I dry my hands and tie an apron around my waist. “Yeah, at first I wasn’t going to go but I decided it’s time to start living. Besides, Gabe probably would kick my ass if I skipped out on him.”
She laughs and continues frosting the cake. “He’s such a sweet boy. Make sure he visits and I’ll make a nice dinner.” She teases at me, “I can make your favorite.”
I shake my head. “Aunt Maggie, you know I can’t resist your lasagna.”
I take a look at the front, just to make sure no customers have arrived.
“All right so what do you need help with today? Uncle Vinny said I had to watch the counter but is there anything you need me to do back here?”
“Actually, can you grab that box on the top shelf? You know, your tiny aunt can’t reach anything.”
I glance at the shelf she points at and chuckle. “That’s why you have me.”
I walk over to the shelves and glance up. “Is it this one?”
“Yes, but be careful, it’s very heavy. Don’t think that just because you’re over six feet tall you can manhandle everything.”
I put my hands up. “Relax, I got this.”
Reaching up, I grab the box labeled ‘flour’ and steady it as I slowly retrieve it and bring it down to the ground. Crap, this IS heavy.
Laying it on the ground, I let out a deep breath. Aunt Maggie laughs. “See, I told you it was heavy!”
“Heck yeah it was!”
For the rest of the afternoon, I help her frost and decorate wedding cakes. Customers roll in and out of the bakery, ordering cookies, cheesecakes, bread, and pastries. In between helping her and watching for customers, I continue to work on my homework. Biology is not my strong suit; I’d rather be cleaning toilets than doing this crap.
Leaning on the counter waiting for customers, I glance into the sugar cookie case. Hmm, which one?
The three-layer cookie catches my eye, and I’ve decided. I grab a small wax paper, open the casing, and grab two cookies. Oh yeah! I close the case and devour the cookies in seconds. Mmm, so freaking delicious. I’d be in heaven if I could live off these babies. I’d eat them every day, all day.
I hear a crash followed by a couple of cuss words from the back and rush to make sure Aunt Maggie is okay. As I enter, I see her frantically picking up metal mixing bowls off the floor. She glances up at me. “I’m such a hot mess today!”
I smile as she pouts toward the floor and bend down to help her clean up. As we gather everything off the floor, I see some chocolate frosting inside one of the bowls. I lick my lips and swipe my finger along the inner rim. Aunt Maggie catches me licking it off my finger, so she swats my hand. “Roman! Don’t do that! What are you, five?”
I burst into laughter. “Sorry, it’s so good though. I can’t help it!”
“Well, don’t! What if a customer saw you?”
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry.”
After we straighten the mess, she glances at the clock. “It’s almost eight o’clock already! I need to head home and start dinner. Roman can you please lock up at eight thirty?” She takes off her apron and washes up.
“Yeah that’s fine. I just have to make the topping for the cheesecakes, so I’ll be home right after that.”