It's been a long time since I've written a one shot. The idea came to me after watching an episode of 2 Broke Girls titled "And The Candy Manwich." If you've seen that episode (or the show), you know what it's about. While I couldn't follow everything that happened in the episode (because of copyright infringement), I still liked the synopsis and just decided to work around that.
Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns The Twilight Saga.
Word quickly got around that a candy store has opened up in Forks. The owner is a young guy name Jacob Black, who lives on the La Push reservation. I'm not much of a sweets girl, but Angela wants me to go with her to check it out and knowing her, she won't take no for an answer.
So here I am, standing outside Jake's Sweets & Treats with my best friend after we spent hours volunteering at the soup kitchen across the street. Angela herself volunteers there after school and on weekends and begged me to join her because she thought it would look good on college applications and job résumés.
"Oh, no," Angela gestures to the sign on the door. "It's closed."
"Oh, that's a bummer," I say, not really meaning it because on the inside, I am jumping for joy. "There's always another time." I regret the last words because I know Angela would want to come back again tomorrow and drag me with her.
"Oh, wait," she looks behind me. "He just flipped the sign over. And look, he's smiling at us." She waves and I turn around to find a tall Native American guy waving back, smiling.
Angela opens the door and steps inside. I have no choice but to follow her because she's my ride home. "Hi," she greets. "We saw the sign said you were closed. You must be Jacob, the owner."
"I am," the guy called Jacob tells us. "And please call me Jake. I saw you two hovering outside so I thought I'd flip the sign over. I take it word got around about this new establishment."
"It got around fast," Angela beams. "I'll bet you've had hundreds of people coming in here."
Jake lets out a small laugh. "Yeah, I could only take about ten, fifteen people at a time because it's a small store, but it was worth it." He gestures around the store, at all the jars filled with a variety of candy. "Help yourself. On the house."
"Oh, you don't have to do that," I speak.
Jake turns his attention to me, his smile turning into a grin. "It's my pleasure, especially for someone as beautiful as you."
I can't help but blush at his compliment.
Angela immediately grabs a baggie and starts helping herself to the candy. I, however, stay where I am, and just glance around the store.
"You're not going to have any?" Jake asks.
I shake my head. "Oh, no. I don't eat sweets."
His eyes widen. "Really? Why?"
I just shrug my shoulders. "I don't know. I guess because of how much sugar is in them."
"Okay, I'm going to let that one slide because you're beautiful," Jake says. "But maybe I could change your mind. What's your favorite flavor?"
"Strawberry," I tell him.
He starts scanning through the jars before stopping at one, taking out what looks to be a small red gummy. "Try this."
I take the gummy from him and pop it in my mouth. I chew and savor it for a moment before swallowing. I smile. "Wow, that actually tastes good."
"Right?" Jake smiles, getting a baggie from the table and handing it to me. "Take some home with you."
I'm about to take the baggie from him when all of a sudden, I start to feel queasy and not because of the gummy I just ate. The chicken salad I had earlier is starting to make its way up.
"You okay?" Jake notices my discomfort.
Angela stops and turns around to face me. Considering her baggie is almost filled to the brim with different kinds of candy, it's a good thing too.
"I'm fine," I lie before letting out a burp. "We'll just be going now. It was nice meeting you." I grab my best friend's hand and am about to turn around and head out the door, but it's too late.
I barf up the salad and it lands on Jacob's feet.
The Next Day
"Don't be embarrassed. It's happened to everyone," Angela assures me as we start walking towards her car after another day of volunteering at the soup kitchen.
"Oh, yeah. I'm sure everyone's had embarrassing moments where they've barfed up their dinner on a hot guy's shoes," I say, throwing my hands up in the air.
Angela smirks. "You think Jacob's hot?"
"Not the point, Ange," I say with an exasperated sigh. "Now we can never go back there." And I was looking forward to taking home some candy, specifically the strawberry gummies Jacob had me try.
"Yeah, about that," Angela smiles at me weakly before staring straight ahead.
I follow her gaze and sure enough, the sign for Jake's Sweets & Treats is right in front of us. I turn to glare at her.
"I'm sorry," she just shrugs her shoulders. "I just wanted some more candy."
"Is that the only reason?" I raise an eyebrow at her.
Angela purses her lips. "Okay, fine. Yesterday, before the whole 'incident,'" she puts air quotes around the word, "happened, I saw the way Jacob was looking at you. It was love at first sight so I figured I'd drag you back here again in hopes of him asking you out. Or the other way around."
"But how can he ask me out when I puked all over his shoes?" I ask. "For all I know, he doesn't want to see me again."
"You sure about that?" Angela says, gesturing in front of her.
I turn and, through the window, Jake is standing at the cash register, staring back at us. He gives me a small smile as we enter the store and Angela immediately helps herself to the candy.
"Is the candy still free?" she asks Jake.
"No, but I can give you a half-off discount instead," he tells her.
"Fair enough," she agrees and goes back to helping herself.
I stand there, awkwardly shuffling my feet, feeling Jake's eyes on me, but I don't meet them.
"Hi," I look up and Jake's standing right in front of me, but keeping his distance. "Nice to see you again."
I just give him a weak smile before gazing back down at my feet.
"You look beautiful, today," he says, making small talk. "Then again, you always look beautiful. You're like an angel."
"Thank you," I practically whisper.
Awkward silence falls between the two of us, the only sound is Angela's humming as she once again fills her baggie to the brim with an assortment of candy.
"You know, I'm not mad about what happened yesterday," Jake assures me. "Believe it or not, I've done the same thing to a girl once." When I don't reply, he goes on to explain, "When I was fifteen, I had a crush on the prettiest girl in school. My friends have been pressuring me to ask her out and I finally had the courage. But instead of asking her, I ended up puking my lunch all over her shoes."
I can't help but giggle at that. Jake just waves it off like it's no big deal. "Yeah, yeah, I know. It was really funny, but it was also really embarrassing. For me, anyway. But it goes to show that you're not the only one with an embarrassing moment like that."
"I guess you're right," I say, smiling. "I'm Bella, by the way. Sorry we didn't get a chance to properly introduce ourselves yesterday."
"Well, it's nice to properly meet you, Bella," Jacob bows. "I'm Jacob, but you already knew that."
"And I'm Angela," Angela calls from the back of the store, her mouth full.
"Have you been eating the candy?" I ask her.
"No." It comes out like a question instead of a statement.
"I'm sorry," I apologize to Jake.
He waves it off. "Don't worry about it. As long as it doesn't happen again, it's all good."
"Well, I could use a bag myself," I say.
"See, I told you I could get you to change your mind," he grins, grabbing a baggie for me.
"Yeah, after you had me try those strawberry gummies, I knew I had to get them," I tell him.
"You know, I didn't actually make them," Jake assures me. "I mean, I sell the candies here, but I don't make them."
"I know," I say. "I always see the Skittles and the Air-Heads at other retail stores."
We both laugh at that and continue to make small talk while I help myself to the gummies. Angela by now has bought her candy and is munching on it while she waits for me. I pay the half-off discount but before we leave, Jacob stops us.
"So, Bella, would you like to grab coffee with me one day?" he asks me.
"You're asking me out?"
Jake grins sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess I am."
"Okay, sure," I say. "I'll give you my number."
He takes out his phone, unlocks it, and hands it to me. I type in my contact information before handing his phone back to him. I then take out my phone and unlock it so he can do the same.
"So, I'll call you." Jake promises.
"Sure," I smile at him.
Angela—who has been quiet during my and Jake's conversation—and I say our goodbyes to Jake before leaving the store and walking around the corner to where her car is parked. We get in and she starts the engine, pulling out onto the road and driving in the direction towards my house, already annoying me with rants about Jake and I getting married and having kids.