Buttercup had mixed feelings about one of the cake tiers she was holding. On one hand, she wanted to just drop it and the rest of the cake tiers on the road for someone to drive over it, preferably a truck, on the other hand, she had spent Eighty-seven hours baking, decorating and perfecting the cake, so if she did that, then she had sacrificed her sleep for nothing.
Her other employee took the cake from her hands before she decided to throw it to the first person she sees.
"Come on, boss. It's just a wedding. Nothing to be afraid of." Mike, Buttercup's soon-to-be ex-employee, mocked as he entered the building, leaving his boss outside, still having an internal battle as to whether or not it was worth entering the place. She really should start asking for the name of the people she was baking cake for.
She shook herself, before hesitatingly entering the building. The place was extravagant, the chandeliers, the red and gold color scheme, the formal dress code, no expenses saved for "daddy's little girl". Of course, she wouldn't have known that it was Buttercup that had made the cake. If she did, she would have hounded her and commad her to tell her where she disappeared to.
Buttercup felt the need to hide. For once in her life, she felt like a prey. A prey that had stupidly wandered into a wolves' den. She stuck out like a sore thumb, seeing as she was the only girl that wasn't wearing a gown, high heels, or even make-up. She just didn't want a piece of face powder to land on the cake, okay?! She was just wearing her green uniform shirt with a picture of a cake that had the name "Sweet Surprise Bakery", accompanied with normal jeans. Besides, she wasn't here as a guest. She was just here to deliver the cake. That was it. Bake, decorate, deliver, and leave the cake for others to enjoy. She'd usually stay to witness the reactions of the people who tried the cake, but not today. Nope. Not when she had a feeling he was going to show up. There was no doubt he'd be invited to the wedding. She'd hope he didn't even come. Maybe he was late. Extremely late. Traffic was brutal earlier, so it could have happened.
She quickly left the entrance and headed over to the kitchen, for the unpacking of her cake. As soon as she entered the kitchen, the smell of all the food nearly killed her and her empty stomach. She quickly cobered her nose and headed to one of the corners of the kitchen, where she saw her unpacked cake. Mike and her other employee, Robin, were there, trying hard not to stare at the food. Robin was the first person to notice her.
"Oh, thank God! Hurry, the quicker we unpack the cake, the quicker we could leave the kitchen!" Robin pulled her close, before carefully opening the cake box, making sure the cake was unharmed. The last time Robin opened the cake box roughly, Buttercup deducted her salary for almost a year, and in her defence, Buttercup spent almost ninety hours on that cake, and her daughter had to wake her up almost every day by jumping on her bed, only for the cake to lose half of the decorations. Yes, it was fair.
Buttercup smiled at the thought of her daughter, little Bellatrix, her little inspiration. She then started to carefully put the cake in place. It had eight tiers, on the very top was a tiara with a red gem in the middle. It annoyed Buttercup that she didn't even notice how much it resembled a certain somebody's favorite head ornament. Hell, she wanted to punch herself for not noticing the first clue.
She then placed the edible red roses on the cake, the smaller ones on top, spiralling into the bigger once in the bottom. The cake itself was lightly shimmering with edible gold glitter (another unnoticed clue!) and it was pretty eye-catching. Buttercup thought it was a bit on the simple side, seeing as the person who ordered it was the epitome of extravagant and extreme. Maybe it was the husband that ordered it. Maybe it was the mother. She shouldn't care, seeing as she was just here to deliver the cake.
She quickly finished assembling the cake, and she and her two employees practically bolted, in fear of the enticing smell that could make them lose control.
Before they could actually leave the kitchen, one of the chefs blocked their way. He looked like he was at the age of forty to fifty, and he had a twinkly in his eye. His hair was silver in a few parts, and he smiled good-naturedly.
"Where do you think you're going? Don't think we didn't noticed how you stared at the food." Robin blushed, while Mike just scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"I'll tell you what, you can eat the steaks. We cooked way more than we needed to, so you can help yourself out." He ushered them to where the steaks were, and Robin and Mike quickly took a plate and started eating. Buttercup, though hungry, didn't feel like eating. Even if the steak looked like heaven in her food deprived state. She forcefully took a few bites, and even though it tasted like nirvana, she still didn't feel comfortable. She wanted to leave.
The nice chef even gave them three more steaks for the road. It was nice of him. Buttercup wanted to leave through the back door, but the chef told her about how dangerous it was in the alley.
"It's best to use the front exit. Don't worry about the guests, they usually ignore the help."
Buttercup thanked him quickly, before leaving with the other two. She kept to the walls, trying hard to be unnoticed. Some of the guests raised their eyebrows, but when they saw the uniforms and the name of the bakery, they just shrugged it off and went back to talking to each other.
Buttercup could taste the freedom when they were close to the entrance. Of course, that was the time the bride decided to look at her direction and recognize her.
"Buttercup?"
Shoot. Buttercup turned around and saw exactly what she suspected. Princess Morebucks, wearing a golden dress, looking angry and annoyed. She turned to her employees, who were just as puzzled to hear her name.
"You guys can go ahead. I'll see you tomorrow morning."
They both hesitated. "Are you sure? We could wait-"
"Go. I know you two were planning on going on a date, so go. Just make sure to come in early."
They both blushed, and reluctantly leave her to face the angry bride.
"Buttercup Black, how dare you!"
She marched straight to Buttercup's direction, the rest od the guests watching with curiosity. Buttercup should've just braved the back alley.
"You annoying, selfish, runaway!"
"Look, Princess, I can explain-"
"You left! Took your things in the middle of the night and left! No explanation, no note, no nothing!"
"Princess-"
"Five years! You hid for five years!"
"If you could just-"
"I don't even know how you hid yourself so well! We hired private investigators! How do you even escape those guys?!"
"Training with my brothers-"
"And don't get me started on those knuckleheads! They wouldn't even answer any of our questions! Not one question!"
"Ahem."
They turned around, and Buttercup swore Princess's eyes softened when they looked at the man. Buttercup was still pretty shocked to see him, though, but since he is the groom, she wasn't that shocked to see him in the wedding. He turndd around and looked at the guests, who then looked away, knowing that the show was over. He then turned to us again, placed a small kiss on Princess's forehead, before turning to her awakwardly.
"Hey, BC. Long time, no see."
"Hey, Mitch. It's been a while..."
"Yeah..."
"I should go, congrats on your wedding, by the way."
"Go?!" Princess looked at her like she grew three heads. "You can't just go without any explanation! Why did you leave? Why won't you answer any of our calls? Butch was worried, we all were."
The mention of Butch's name opened a door to a flood of emotions. Nostalgia, love, pain, uncertainty, hatred, hurt, jealousy, and other miriads of emotions crashing around her.
Princess must've noticed how stiff she became, because she narrowed her eyes. "Buttercup, did something happened?"
Of course he didn't tell them. Of course he didn't.She just forced a smile on her face. "How about this. Tomorrow, go to the bakery. I'll explain as much as I can. Just enjoy you're wedding tonight."
"Like hell I'm waiting 'till-"
"We'll go. Just give us the address and we'll go." Mitch cuts his wife off, earning a glare from said wife.
She gave the address and was just about to leave, but then she remembered something. "Another thing. Don't tell the others you saw me."
Princess was about to start another angry ramble, when Buttercup cuts her off. "I'm not ready to see any of them yet."
Princess looked like she was about to protest, but she just took a deep breath, and nodded.
Buttercup relaxed slightly, before waving goodbye. She then got inside her car and drove like a maniac until she reached her apartment. She quickly entered and shut the door, just in time for a certain little girl to jump on her and cling on her waist.
"Mommy, you'we hewe!" She giggled happily, earning her a smile from Buttercup.
"Butters, you home?" One of her brothers, Brash, (and occasionally Bellatrix's babysitter) appeared, looking like he just climbed out of bed. He had a bit of a bruise on one side of his face, which made Buttercup raise her eyebrow.
"Kiddo over there decided to kick me when she heard the door opening."
She smirked, lifting her up and kissing her cheek. She felt calm around her. It made her realise how tired she actually was. Yes, she'd sleep in the bed and deal with the problem tomorrow. She'll deal with it.