This was written for irmaida's "Halloween" Challenge at Caesar's Palace. My assigned holiday was National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day, and I couldn't resist some fluff. Enjoy, and please review before favoriting.
"Dearie, what cake's for today?" The tall, slim, blond woman swung into the bakery, smiling sweetly. She was hungry, and Zachary Mellark was happy to quell it.
"Pumpkin Cheesecake!" He beamed. Pumpkin cheesecake was his specialty, and he was ready to wow—and hopefully woo his girlfriend with the delicious flavors.
She wrinkled her nose. "Pumpkin cheesecake? Zach, don't you know that I hate pumpkin?" Vivianna frowned.
Zachary was shocked. He had made this just for her and she didn't like it? "B-but Vi, just try a little?" He pleaded.
"I'm sorry, I just can't stand pumpkin…" She trailed off. "I need to go to work. I'm sorry, Zach. I'll see you later, okay?"
"Okay." He sighed.
She blew a kiss at him and walked out the door.
He buried his head in his hands. He wasn't quite sure why he was getting worked up about a bit of cheesecake, but for some reason he needed Vivianna to try it. He tasted it, and the flavor exploded on his tongue, delicious. He knew then, he made a resolution, that he would get Vi to eat that cheesecake, no matter what.
First he tried the way that came to mind first, although in reminiscence it was pretty idiotic. He snuck into her house, planning to place the cheesecake everywhere, inescapable. The first time, he was caught by her mother.
"ZACHARY MELLARK," She screamed, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"
"I-I wanted to give something to her and-"
"Then why didn't you give it to me? I could've given it to her!"
"I didn't think of that." He admitted.
Priscilla Larsson was not a particularly forgiving woman, and Zachary was banned from seeing Vivianna for a month. But he they sent letters, and with each letter came a smear of icing underneath his signature. Try it? Was always written in the P.S. She always wrote back that she hated pumpkin, with a row of sad faces doodled after. Still, he persevered. He was determine to get Vi to just take a bite, and Zachary Mellark, no matter what else you could say about him, knew what he wanted.
Next, after the failure of the home approach, he left it for her at work. Every time she entered the cobbler's shop, she found a piece of cheesecake waiting for her. She felt awful throwing it out, but she couldn't eat it. It was... pumpkin, an ever since she was a little kid she couldn't stand it. But somehow, Zachary just kept trying. He put a slice everywhere she went, and eventually, they were allowed by Priscilla to meet again.
"I see you're intent on me eating the cheesecake." She started the conversation, smiling.
He shrugged. "Yup. I think you'll like it."
"I don't agree. I love your baking though. Will you make me a batch of lemon squares?" She asked.
"Certainly not until you eat my pumpkin cheesecake." He enjoyed being coy.
Now, Vivianna was quite obsessed with Zachary's lemon squares. They were quite possibly the best lemon squares in all of Panem, including the Capitol. They had just the right note of tart over the sweet, sticky square, and the crust was flaky, buttery, and delicious. He had never heard any bad comments about them, and they sold very well in the richer parts of 12. She was practically addicted them, and over a month without them was like torture. So, after much contemplation, she decided to take a bite of the pumpkin cheesecake to earn herself some lemon squares.
So she sat down, took some deep breaths to steady herself, and the plate was placed in front of her. She picked up the fork slowly, sliced a piece of cake off, and slowly put it into her mouth, biting down.
"You know," She said, her mouth full, "I believe I may like these even better than the lemon squares."