Scandalicious (32 page)

“Solay, I know you’re my boss and everything, but you out of pocket, trying to tell me what I can and cannot talk about.”

“As a friend, Vidal. Please.”

“Oh, all right,” Vidal conceded. “I suppose I can respect that.” He picked up the coffee container, and finished off his morning brew.

A
surprise blow job from Chevonne was a special thanks now that Lincoln had agreed to go to marriage counseling. His wife had turned up the heat several notches in their sex life. She didn’t stiffen at his touch anymore. In fact, she often initiated sex. Feeling desired by his spouse was a good feeling. This morning, after swallowing every drop of his passion, Chevonne kissed and whispered that she cherished his love.

Lincoln was on top of the world and nothing could dampen his spirit. Not even being sent on a cupcake run with the new kid, Amber. Having a happy home life made being treated like a damn gopher—like he was some kind of a chump—almost bearable. The office party idea was Amber’s idea. She had complained to the boss that the vibe at the firm was tense. She thought the place could use a dose of cheerfulness, and suggested an impromptu lunchtime meet-and-greet, to give the old staffers an opportunity to get to know the new employees.

The young newcomers had a cockiness that was hard to stomach. Fat chance that a meet-and-greet office luncheon would warm the hearts of the embittered remaining staff.

The boss went along with Amber’s silly idea, and that surprised Lincoln. After all, Frank’s actions were the reason for the discontent—replacing experienced professionals with obnoxious, wet-behind-the-ear kids.

A real family man, Frank had been happily married for over ten years, and had three sons that he bragged about constantly. If
Lincoln didn’t know better, he’d swear that the boss was smashing Amber.

In truth, he liked being inside the cupcake joint. He slid into the same cushy seat that he’d sat in the last time he was here. While Amber transacted business with the young gay man at the counter, Lincoln took in the surroundings. He felt a giddy sense of excitement, like a schoolboy who had snuck into a whore’s boudoir. The place screamed naughtiness. Being that sex sells, the concept was a great idea. Maybe he was in the wrong profession. He chuckled to himself.

While he was enjoying the atmosphere, he noticed Amber peeking inside the shiny red boxes.

“This is not McDonald’s drive-thru. You don’t have to check behind me; your order is perfect. I packed it myself.” The gay guy’s slim body jerked in irritation. He rolled his eyes at Amber as she continued to inspect the contents.

“I asked for sprinkles to be added on all the Vanilla Kiss cupcakes.”

“I ain’t get that memo! You musta wrote it in invisible ink!”

Laughter erupted from the waiting customers as well as those that were seated in the dining area. The young man was very entertaining.

“I know what I ordered…can I speak to the manager,” Amber whined.

“Solaaay!” the fellow with the long hair yelled. He rolled his eyes at Amber. “Who’s next?”

A nice-looking woman immediately emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. Lincoln smiled with recognition. She was the owner. She’d introduced herself and forced a cupcake on him during his last visit.

“What’s going on?” the owner asked, her forehead creased with concern.

“She claims she asked you to put sprinkles on the Vanilla Kiss order. She must have imagined that crap. I told her we don’t mess up orders here at Scandalicious!”

“Okay, Vidal. That’s enough.” The owner turned her attention on Amber. “I’m really sorry for the mix-up. I’ll take care of it right now.” She picked up the red box and disappeared into the back area.

Five minutes later, she returned with the red box and another smaller box on top of it. “I gave you an extra half-dozen of Vanilla Kiss.”

“Ooo, thanks,” Amber squealed. “That’s really kind of you.”

Lincoln met up with Amber at the counter. He stacked the boxes and said hello to the owner.

“We meet again,” the bakery owner said, remembering Lincoln. “It appears that you’ve developed a sweet tooth, after all. My secret ingredients can be addictive.”

He laughed. “No, I’m the muscle. Only here for pick-up only. But you do have a cult following. Our coworkers weren’t interested in spending lunch together until Amber here, mentioned Scandalicious cupcakes were on the menu.”

“Aw, thank you,” the owner said sincerely. “Take a card. Take several cards and give them to your coworkers.

Lincoln’s hands were occupied with the three red boxes. Holding only the smaller box, Amber took the business cards.

After the three larger boxes were secured on the floor of the backseat of his car, Lincoln maneuvered out of the tight parking spot. “Nice lady at the cupcake shop,” he murmured absently.

“That trick always works,” Amber responded, running her fingers over the top of the box.

“What trick?”

“Complaining about stuff gets you freebies. I call and complain about products that I use all the time. Like shampoo, my favorite
frozen dinner, even toilet paper. Manufacturers will send you a ton of coupons.”

He waited for her to explain. When she didn’t, he said, “And? What are you trying to say?”

“They didn’t mess up the cupcake order. I just said that—and look!” She proudly held up the glossy red box. “But these extras are for me; I’m not sharing them.”

Lincoln gave Amber a sidelong glance. She was a pretty young woman—a little too chatty for his taste, but he’d considered her to be normal. Now he knew better. Amber was a nutjob. A petty thief and a liar. He was of a mind to give her a stern lecture, but changed his mind. She wasn’t his goddamned daughter, so fuck it! He hoped for the boss’s sake that he wasn’t screwing around with Amber. But then again, after the way the boss had screwed over his staff, having a twisted little crook like Amber in his life was exactly what he deserved.

Lincoln decided that he’d go back to Scandalicious after work and pay for those stolen cupcakes. He felt responsible for bringing a con artist into that hard-working, young woman’s shop.

He shot another glance at Amber. She was looking out of the window, a half-smile on her lips, obviously very pleased with the trophy on her lap. He peered at her warily and made a mental note to keep his desk locked. His favorite pen had gone missing a couple of days ago. Last week his stapler with the wood grain design grew legs and walked away. Now he wondered if Amber was the culprit. He picked up speed, anxious to get her out of his car.

Rachel had to handle the phones during the lunchtime get-together. Being a gentleman, Lincoln brought a plastic plate piled
with wing dings, potato salad and a soft roll to the reception desk.

“Wow, thanks, Lincoln. I would have made my own plate, but Amber hasn’t shown up to relieve me. She told me she had to set out the cupcakes…what’s she doing; baking them?”

“She and Frank were talking the last time I saw her.”

“I’m keeping my eye on that one. She has the boss wrapped around her finger. This little shindig was her idea, you know.”

“Yeah. Bridging the gap between the old staff and the newcomers.” Lincoln gave a sardonic chuckle. “Oh, I forgot to bring you something to drink. What would you like; Coke or Sprite?”

“Diet Coke.” Rachel beamed. “There aren’t many more gentlemen like you. At least not here at Clemmons and Associates. Your type is a dying breed. Those dot-com-era kids are taking over this firm. The boss says they’re going to bring cutting-edge architectural designs to the firm. Hmph. Those young bozos don’t even have decent manners. They’re all disrespectful and really rude,” Rachel said bitterly and then bit into a wing ding.

Lincoln took the stairs to the top floor of the three-story office building and quickly returned with the Diet Coke and two cupcakes on a festive-colored paper plate.

“Oh, how pretty,” she said, smiling as she accepted the cupcakes. Two seconds later, she was scowling. “Young people and this cupcake craze is really something. There’s really nothing new under the sun, you know. My grandmother made cupcakes all the time; it was no big deal. Now with all these fancy flavors, people treat them like they’re a novelty.”

He nodded, intent on Rachel’s face, wondering if he should warn her that Amber was a thief. No, he’d keep that information to himself. Rachel gossiped too much and the last thing he needed was to be accused of spreading malicious office gossip. Rachel would discover in due time that there was a thief among them.

Trying to park on South Street during rush hour was ridiculous. Lincoln circled the block five or six times before giving up on finding a spot. Exasperated, he pulled into a lot. His brows shot up in disbelief.
Sixteen dollars for the first half-hour!
It was highway robbery, but he didn’t have a choice. He’d have to pay for those cupcakes in a hurry and then hustle back to his car before the half-hour lapsed.

It ate away at him that Chevonne had to cover more than her share of the household expenses; money was too tight for him to be throwing it away on parking.

Standing outside of the business premises, Lincoln took a moment to absorb the colorful Scandalicious sign that was positioned above the door.
Nice.
The owner was about her business, and he admired her drive.

There was a different vibe inside the bakery with the after-work crowd. Though all the seats were taken, and while there was a cluster of people waiting to be served at the counter, the pulse of the bakery had slowed down. The atmosphere had changed from frenzied to peaceful. Lincoln noticed that the clientele were all from different walks of life. It surprised him to see three mature businessmen grouped around one of the Parisian-styled tables.

The owner, Solay, was taking the orders, and that might have accounted for the calm that permeated. Mr. Fancy Pants—the gay dude—exuded a lot of frenetic energy. Lincoln wasn’t a homophobe…or at least he didn’t think he was. But he did have strong opinions about a man wearing female hairstyles, man-scara, and lip gloss and gesturing in an expansive, feminine way. That kind of behavior seemed rather “extra.”

Lincoln got in line, hoping it would move swiftly. He didn’t
want to spend a fortune on parking while doing a good deed and paying for the cupcakes that his psycho coworker had swindled from the bakery.

When he reached the front of the line, Solay smiled. “Oh, it’s you again! Well, hello. I guess you’re a converted cupcake lover, now.”

“No, I’m still a French fries and cheese curls type of guy.” He cracked a smile as he pulled his wallet from his pocket. “I wanted to pay for those extra cupcakes that you gave my coworker.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Those were on the house.” She waved her hand dismissively.

“My, uh…my coworker made a mistake,” he stammered, uncomfortable with the wording. What his coworker had actually done was lied and cheated this industrious young woman simply for fun. “You didn’t mess up the order. She realized when we got back to the office that she hadn’t asked for any sprinkles.” He felt ridiculous talking about sprinkles and it was rather silly to go out of his way to pay for some extra cupcakes. But it was a matter of principle. He was like that—a stand-up guy.