Cake Love: All Things Payne (13 page)

"Okay, I'll be in my office. We already have a copy of your social security card and license for the Executive Development paperwork, so I will just need you to sign some things. And, of course there will be booklets for you to take home to read."

I give one more firm yank and the object breaks free, as I fall on my ass. In a daze, I look up to see Evaleen smirking at me.

"What? Executive Development paperwork? I don't understand." I watch as her eyes fall to what is in my hand and widen in surprise.

"Didn't you take that home? Don't tell me you used that in the office Drake? When I gave it to you for your birthday I thought you would take it home."

I look at my hand to see a slightly crinkled box of what looks like a cupcake, but is in fact a cupcake vibrator.

"Oh, yeah. I mean no! No, I haven't used it yet. I forgot about it."

I scramble to my feet and place the vibrator in the box. Shaking my head, I turn back to Evaleen to focus on what she said before. "No one cares about the vibrator. You brought up the program. Why would I be filling out paperwork for the program?"

My hands go to my hips after pushing my hair out of my face with a frustrated huff.

"I care about that vibrator Drake. Remind me never to buy you anything nice from now on if that's what you think of my gifts." Evaleen lifts the crinkled box and tries to open it.

I wave my hands in the air in front of us and close my eyes while taking a deep breath. After a moment, I open them, feeling a little calmer than before.

"I don't mean I don't care about the gift. I like the gift. I can’t wait to use the gift. It was very thoughtful, thank you. I am just a little more concerned right now about the Executive Development Program paperwork you talked about earlier. Why would I need to fill that out if I’m about to be fired?"

Evaleen freezes and then places the box down before turning to face me. Her perplexed expression makes me start to wonder if yesterday even happened.

"Why would you be fired Drake? Because you had sex with your boss? Oh, no...no...no." She giggles while shaking her head.

Okay…

Evaleen is now sifting through the box I brought and after a minute of silence looks up at me. She’s crinkling her brow and narrowing her eyes. "Why is this a surprise Drake?"

I do a quick headshake as my eyes dart around the area wondering if this is some really late April Fools’ joke I am the butt of.

"Are you kidding me? I had sex with my boss." I grab her hand and drag her into Henrik's office, which is now bare. My breath evaporates in shock as I absorb the bare walls, desk, and anything Henrik ever touched. Almost absentmindedly, I look to where Planty used to be, my eye drawn to the slightly discolored carpet from the water stain.

Hearing Evaleen groan snaps me back from thinking about an old dead plant and a former boss. We stop beside the large desk and I point as if I am giving her a tour. "This is where Henrik and I had sex."

Refusing to let go of her hand, I guide us back to the door and point again. "And this is where you, Mr. Ethan Mimir, and Mr. Jacob Mimir walked in on us."

Finally I let go and turn to face her. "Now you tell me, is that not a case for someone to get fired? Because most people would assume they are fired after that."

Evaleen chuckles as she places her hands on my arms giving me that pity look she does so well when she knows the truth. The awful truth.

"Oh Drake, yeah you are right. Jacob wanted to fire you and Payne. I fought for you and Ethan fought for Payne. Why he fought for him, I don't know, but they are friends so there you go. The Mimir brothers and I were discussing your future with this company when Payne burst into my office not long after we walked in on you two. That's when Payne told us that he specified to you that your job,  especially your chances at the Executive Development Program, depended on you two getting together sexually."

Evaleen sneered as she said the final words. I shook my head. "No, that's simply not true." I may be mad at Henrik, but I am not going along with a lie, especially if it paints him as a slimy boss.

"I know Drake. You understand my feelings for Payne are very much the opposite of your feelings for him, but even I was telling him not to do that. I actually..." Evaleen put the back of her hand on her forehead and for a moment I thought she was about to faint, she took a deep breath and leaned against the bare walls for support. "I told Mr. Jacob Mimir that Payne has been...oh God...wow, this is harder than I thought. I am actually having a harder time telling you than I did Mr. Mimir."

I grab her arms and give her a slight shake. "What? What did you tell him?"

"Hey, watch it Drake. Don't make me regret this. Look, I told Mr. Mimir that I knew for a fact that what Payne was saying wasn't true. That he was a good...ugh...good boss." She visibly shuttered and dry heaved after saying it.

I stood there staring at Evaleen with my mouth wide open. I'm in shock that Evaleen would stick up for Henrik, and that Henrik would say any of this to the Mimir brothers to begin with. Why would he lie about that? Why would he lie about forcing me to have sex with him? I don't understand any of this. Evaleen can tell I am lost, so she wraps her arm around my shoulder as she guides me out of Henrik’s old office and toward hers.

"I know this is a lot to take in. That's why I have been trying to call you. I even tried to get a hold of Dixon, but she was with some guy and didn't know where you were."

"Oh, yeah. I went to my favorite bakery, Got Cake. It's one of those all night bakeries." I can hear the defeat in my voice.

Evaleen sits me at her desk as she heads over to her side and starts digging through drawers.

"But I still don't understand how I am signing paperwork for the program?" I look at her, still in a daze.

"Reluctantly, Mr. Mimir fired Payne, but not before Payne tried to claim your idea about the small distributors overseas to solve our problem there. I guess he thought he could keep his job if he solved the company's problem. Of course, he didn't count on you having told me about it Monday night. That's when things got ugly." Evaleen's lips curl as she rubs her hands together in a devilish manner.

"That mother fucker! I can't believe he tried to steal my idea. I trusted him. Here I thought I was the asshole in all this, wanting to break up to salvage our jobs. God, I am a fool."

I sit back in the chair and sigh. How could he do this? That’s not like Henrik at all. He may be an asshole but he would never steal an idea to save himself or steal an idea in general. Maybe I don’t know him like I thought. We have only known each other for five months. With all he has confessed to me in London, how I witnessed him laugh more, and the way he touched me, I felt more connected with Henrik than all my years together with Trevor Trance.

Evaleen walks over with papers in her hands. She rubs my back while shoving the paperwork in my lap.

"It's all over Drake. You never have to see that Payne in the Ass again. More importantly, I never have to see him again either. Now, you can sit back, relax, fill out some HR paperwork, and get packed for your six weeks in New York."

My eyes widen as I stare up at her.

"New York?" I gasp.

"Yeah, that's where the program takes place. It used to be here, but Mimir opened the New York office a few years ago and thought it would be better suited there."

Evaleen gets up and walks over to a filing cabinet. She opens up a drawer and removes several large manuals. Returning, she plops them in my lap, causing me to groan.

"Take this home, fill it out, and read up on everything. Have the paperwork back by tomorrow so I can arrange the flight for Saturday. You will have your own apartment that you will be sharing with another EDPS for six weeks."

My head is spinning from all the information. I am thankful that I have thirty pounds of books in my lap holding me in place or I would have face planted the floor by now.

Chapter 2

Morgana's Problem: Her Move

"You are dying aren't you? Oh God, my baby girl is leaving us. I knew this would happen one day, I just thought I would be gone before you. Why God? You are so young. And look at your figure! What man is going to want to squeeze your ample breasts when you’re dead? Perverts that’s who! You are only going to attract perverts now Morgana! My baby girl doomed to be groped by perverts," Mom wails as her arms wrap around my head at the dinner table.

I can barely breathe let alone see, as I hear gasps and a few “no's” being thrown around the small dining room. Pushing my mom's arms away from me and catching my breath, I see my father's strong lip start to tremble. His eyes become glassy as he mouths the words, 'I love you,' from the other side of the table. My brother is actually sobbing with his head in his hands, while his 'girlfriend of the month' with her short brown tight curls looks around the room petrified.

I turn to Aria who is shaking her head violently, as Grandma has a tear rolling from her eye. I have never seen Grandma cry, not even at Grandpa's funeral. This whole scene is shocking and completely inappropriate. Leave it to my mom to jump to the worst conclusion and be overly dramatic about it.

"Mom, why on earth do you think I am dying?"

"You gathered all of us here and it isn't anyone's birthday, so I just assumed. Wait...are you pregnant? Oh my God! You are pregnant! I am going to be a grandmother! Who's the father? Oh, it doesn't matter, we can raise the child together. I will support you Morgana."

My mom is jumping up and down as she smiles through her tears. My father's lip has stopped trembling and is now a firm line. His jaw is ticking as he grounds out the words, "Yes, Morgana. Who
is
the father?"

My brother looks up at my dad and then back at me, clenching his jaw and banging his fist on the table, causing Orly the dog to start barking. Eventually the dog grumbles and then goes back to sleep, curled up next to the fireplace.

Aria’s smile is almost infectious… almost. Grandma, still crying, is now mouthing the words, ‘great-grandma,’ and sneers.

I stand and put my hands on the table as I clear my throat. My mom rushes up behind me to put her hand on my shoulder and arm to try to guide me back into my seat. I swat her away before she attempts to rub my nonexistent pregnant belly.

"Mom, stop! Everyone just stop. I am not dying. I am not pregnant. I am leaving to move to New York for a bit."

"What?" My mother barks out the word in an angry tone. I look behind me to see her shooting daggers at me. I know my mom would rather have me die of a horrible disease than for me to move out of state, especially far enough away where a plane ride is involved to visit. I am her baby girl and as her baby girl, I should only ever be a short car ride away.

Looking around the table, I see tremendous relief on everyone's face except Aria's. She appears heartbroken.

I place one hand on my mom's shoulder and one on Aria's shoulder.

"Look, it's only for six weeks. I got into the Executive Development Program early at Mimir. The program is in New York, so I have to go there to train. That's why I asked everyone to come to dinner. Not because anyone is dying or pregnant, but because I am not going to be here for a while."

I give a small smile and look over at Aria who is nodding, but still appears sad. My mom puts her hand over mine and I see her trying to breathe through whatever emotion she is feeling at this moment.

"Well, that just means I get all the cake for the next six weeks! Woo hoo! Ow." My brother, Daniel, yelps after my dad smacks him on the back of his head at the end of his announcement.

"I'll be in cake mourning until my baby girl comes back home. No more cake until she comes back safe and sound."

"Mom, come on! You can't mean that. She's not going to Afghanistan; she is going to New York. The worst that will happen to her is she might get her skirt lifted by some pervert on the subway. The only reason I come here is for your cake and the good reception on the tv....ow!" My dad smacks my brother on the back of the head again.

"Fine. It's not like she is leaving right away. I guess I can do one more cake. And I can make one for a going away party. And then, when she returns of course. Maybe even a three-week celebration when she hits the halfway mark, I will make a special cake for that. When are you going? May? June? December?" Mom asks, still refusing to look at me, her gaze locked on the old oil painting of a boat by a river behind my dad's head on the wall.

This is the part I dreaded of the evening. Now I have to tell Mom that I leave in two days. That this will probably be the last she sees of me for over a month. Unless she plans on visiting, which she won't. I don't think I have ever seen my mom go anywhere that isn't less than a three hour drive. She did tell me once she had to drive up to St. Paul, Minnesota once for a wedding, but that's when she was in her early twenties. I think she was more adventurous then.

"I leave on Saturday." I can feel the blood draining from my face as I hear gasps come from around the table. All eyes focus on my mom, except for Daniel's date. She is happily digging her fork into the roast chicken my mom made and reaching for the green ceramic dish of mashed potatoes.

“Brain! Brain! Please help me!”
I whisper scream at Brain who is cowering behind the couch shaking her head at me.

“Leave me out of all this. This is Titanic and Pompeii all wrapped in one. Everyone needs to run for their lives.”
Brain screams, then gets up and runs out the door. I swear I hear an engine roar to life outside and wheels screeching in the distance.

There is a croak and then a whimper and then another gasp coming from my mom, who I have yet to find the courage to look at after telling her when I’m leaving. I turn my gaze to the dog; his tail is in between his legs and he’s slowly backing out of the room. Smart dog, wish I had thought of an exit strategy.

"I...How...This...NEVER!!!" The last word sounded like the spawn of Satan spoke as my mom turns and runs up the stairs. She actually runs. A short, fifty something, never done exercise in her life, woman bolts up the stairs like an athlete.

"Do you have any more of the asparagus? It's really good," Daniel's date pipes up and looks around the table. We all stare at her. Finally, Daniel gets up and guides her into the kitchen.

"Well, I think that went well," My grandma points out while taking a sip from her bottle of beer.

"Should I go talk to her?" I look at Dad who is shaking his head and frowning.

"Oh no. Just let her cool off a bit and then I will go talk to her. It will take her a little while to accept you leaving. Remember how she was when you said you were moving into the dorms at college with Aria? That was just down the road. She will be okay," Dad points out.

I sigh and sit back down next to Aria, who is rubbing my back in support. As much as I dreaded tonight there is one positive, it got my mind off Henrik. The closer Saturday comes to me, the more I think about him. Perhaps I should call him and tell him I got into the program? Would he even care? Does he already know? How would he know? He doesn’t work at Mimir anymore. I don’t know why I am thinking about all this, he’s not my Henrik anymore.

We all continue eating in silence. My dad excuses himself from the table and heads upstairs after about ten minutes. I talk to Aria for a bit. She seems hesitant. Acting as if she is about to tell me something but stops herself. Our conversation ends up being about New York and all the potential bakeries I can discover there.

After some time passes, I hear moaning coming from the kitchen and realize my brother and his date are still in there; my father comes down the stairs. He points to me with a shaking smile and motions for me to go up and talk with Mom. He then focuses his attention on the noises coming from the kitchen and yells to my brother, “Hey! This isn’t a motel Daniel! What do you think you’re doing? We make food in there for Christ’s sake!”

I walk around my dad and head up the stairs to the back room, my parents’ bedroom. Opening the door, I see my mom sprawled face down on the bed. I rub her back as I come to sit next to her.

"I'm sorry Mom. I just found out this week. I have been working for this for years. Please, don't be mad at me."

There is sniffing coming from her pillow. After a few minutes of silence, she sits up and puts her arm around me, brushing the hair from my face.

"I know my love. It's just that you are my baby. I'm very protective of you. When you were born I was afraid you wouldn't live, you have no idea what that does to a mother. For weeks I cried and prayed and then cried some more. When you came home on April ninth, it was the happiest day of my life. I vowed I would always be there to protect you. Now you will be far away. How am I going to protect you?"

Now I am crying. I wrap my arms around Mom and squeeze her with all my might, like I used to do when I was little.

"I love you Mom. I promise to call you all the time. If you’re worried about me, you can always call me too. Also, I would love it if you and Dad visited."

She is looking at the ground as she sighs. "I guess I can consider leaving the state for you. I just don’t understand why anyone would want to go anywhere else when they have everything right here? Big city, great people, beautiful country, a big lake, and my wonderful family." She smiles at me and cups my cheek.

"The Earth looks different everywhere you go, Mom. Some people like to see the different scenery and cultures and people."

"I guess. Well, at least I will have a reason to travel now. To see my baby girl."

My mom and I hug and talk some more before we make our way back downstairs for cake. I can understand why Daniel freaked out when my mom mentioned not making cake until I return. One of the reasons I hope she visits me is so she can bring her cake.

When I get to the bottom of the stairs, I see Daniel's girlfriend crying as he closes the front door behind her.

"Oh Daniel, did Dad kick her out?"

I’m surprised Dad didn’t kick them both out based on the glimpse I saw when I passed Dad on my way to go see Mom.

Daniel shakes his head and shrugs as he heads over to the couch to sit.

"Nah. We just broke up."

I stop mid stride to the loveseat next to the couch and stare at him.

"But you were making out with her just twenty minutes ago? Did something happen?"

Daniel picks up the television remote and starts channel surfing. “Yeah, she told me she wants us to get matching tattoos.” He barely glances up to meet my eye before continuing, “Once a girl wants matching anything, the next thing I know I’m married with two point five kids running around my feet. I can’t have that, I’m too young.”

I scrunch up my brow and shake my head. "You're thirty-three."

"Exactly! She was smothering me."

"Daniel, you're the worst."

He winks at me and smirks as he nods his head.

****

I stare at the key fob to make sure I am on the correct floor as I roll my black suitcase behind me through the dark musty hall with outdated burgundy carpeting and gray walls. Room six hundred and fifty-two. Looking back up at the doors I roll past six forty-eight and then six fifty and finally in the corner is apartment six fifty-two. I am about to put the key in the door to the apartment that I will share for the next six weeks and wonder if I should knock first. Perhaps my roommate is already here and indecent.

I'm excited to meet her, but a bit tired. I am hoping she isn't here yet so I can get a nap. I want to be fresh for orientation tomorrow. This feels so much like university: assigned roommates, orientation, and cafeteria. I just hope I don’t have an instructor like Mr. Dickerson, my swim professor. I thought swimming would be a great physical education credit, until Mr. Dickerson kept screaming in my ear as I swam laps like some sort of Olympic coach. I should have gotten the bronze medal just for putting up with him.

I bring my hand up to the door and knock. I can hear movement on the other side and am a little disappointed that I probably won't get that nap. I jump with surprise as the door swings open and my mouth dries up as I see a very attractive man stand in the doorway, shirtless.

My eyes gaze up into his sandy blonde, shaggy hair and travel down his golden skin to his hazel eyes, strong jaw, and pouty lips. I take a break at his smooth broad shoulders before continuing down his defined chest to his washboard abs and come to a halt at the hem of his frayed jeans. I do notice before looking back up he is barefoot. Oh yeah, nothing like a shirtless man who looks like a surfer god, to be walking around barefoot. As if at any moment, he will rip off his jeans and take me.

"Hi." His deep voice causes my eyes to go wide, excited that he can talk too.

"Uh, hi. I guess I have the wrong apartment. I am looking for six fifty-two." I pry my eyes away from him to glance around the hall.

"No, this is six fifty-two. Come on in. You must be Morgana." Surfer dude steps back from the door and waves me inside.

Evaleen gave me a sheet of information that had the name of the apartment building, address, room number, and the name of my roommate, Jamie Novak. Perhaps this is her boyfriend or brother. I am sort of hoping it's her brother, because I might need a little help studying one night. Perhaps he could help me study...in bed!