Riley, an overworked student, walked into the bakery she worked at with her dog Ghost and put on her flour splattered apron. She had recently finished her first year of school and was hoping to raise enough money to bluff her way into her second year which was six months from then. Morning light hadn't even shown itself by the time the dark haired baker started her first batch of baked goods. Ghost sat by the cash register on his pillow and went back to sleep as he waited for his master. It seemed she went through the same routine every day: wake up at 5 a.m., work in the bakery from 6 a.m. until 3 p.m., clean up the shop, go home to feed Ghost, sleep for about an hour, get ready, go waitress at the restaurant she also worked at from 6 p.m. until 11 p.m. then, lastly, go home and sleep.
This morning in particular she felt extremely exhausted as she pulled out her last batch of bread before flipping the open/closed sign and unlocking the doors. As was the norm for the baker, people streamed in and out, fawned over the white husky that sat by the register, bought this or that, then left without even blinking in acknowledgement at her. By the end of the day, with everything cleaned and time to spare, Riley wiped her hands on her apron and pulled out one of her undecorated chocolate cakes. "Such potential..." she muttered to herself, "like a canvas, waiting to be painted."
Almost as if she were worried someone heard her, she quickly looked around the room before looking back at the cake, "Jesus Riley... you know you're spending too much time alone when you start talking to cakes..." Ghost, responding to his master's voice, walked over to her and pressed his nose against her knee. Before stroking his large white head, Riley took off her apron and walked away from the bake area, "Spending time with you doesn't count. You don't really talk back."
The dog went back to his pillow and sighed almost as if in exasperation as the baker washed up before starting to decorate the cake. Soon, she lost track of time and was humming peacefully to herself as she put layers upon layers of icing on top of each other. As she was adding coke balls on top of the icing puffs along the rim of the cake, the ring of the bell at the front door snapped Riley out of her trance.
Two people came in, one short and blonde riding on the other man's very tall shoulders. Surprised, Riley looked at the clock and saw that it was past closing. "Oh no..." she muttered to herself before standing up to greet the two customers, "Sorry but we're technically closed. I must've forgot to lock up..." When the two stood in front of her, she felt suddenly intimidated by the tall man since she barely stood above 5'3 and he looked taller than 6'0.
Before she could say much more, the blonde hopped off his black haired friend's shoulders and gawked at the nearly finished cake, "Did you make that?" He asked in an excited tone.
Ghost stood up from his spot and investigated the two, sniffing them as his master nodded, "Yeah I did. It's not done yet though."
"Can I," he started, "can I have a piece?"
His cute voice and excited face caused Riley to giggle, "I can't give you a piece of this today. It's for tomorrow but," she walked away and pulled out a tray of cupcakes, "you can have one of these."
The small blonde's eyes seemed to glint as he stared at the rows of multicoloured pastries. At one point, he turned to his tall friend and asked, "Don't you want one Takashi?" When he only shook his head in response, the small boy continued looking at the array of sweets. He eventually chose a vanilla cupcake with pink cream cheese icing and little edible pink and white flowers.
The taller man, Takashi, laid some yen on the counter and walked out with the blonde leading the way as he devoured the small delicacy. Though she wasn't expecting it, the two came back the next day and the day after that. By the end of the week, the duo soon turned into a group of seven, each one wanting some sort of sweet besides Takashi and the man with glasses.
One day though, instead of just leaving, the blonde, who Riley found out was named Mitsukuni or also known as Honey, turned to her after he finished three pieces of cake and smiled, "Rye-chan that was really yummy! I wish I could have your cake every day! Isn't that right, Usa-chan?" Honey asked his small stuffed bunny.
Before she could respond, her boss walked in for the first time in months and looked about the store. His eyes rested on the white husky and he immediately turned to Riley, "How many times have I told you that you can't bring that dog here?" He screamed in fury, "You're lucky the food inspectors didn't come and do a surprise inspection! Riley... how do you expect to work in a bakery and bring that dog here?"
Momentarily too stunned to say anything, Riley managed to spit out, "But... but the bakery is called "The White Dog Bakery". I just thought that-"
"Riley." The infuriated manager interrupted her, "No more. I'm done. You're done. You're fired."
Silence filled the room as the seven customers looked on in anticipation to see what would happen and the baker stood wide eyed and panicked, "But—but sir... I-I can't not have this job. I mean, I can't afford to not have this job. I need the money so I can go back to school at the start of next year but I can't do that without-"
The manager simply raised his hand and shook his head to quiet the ex-employee's words, "I'm sorry but I gave you enough warnings. You're an exceptional baker, Ms. Darko but I've already given you enough chances. Now, your last paycheque will be sent in the mail. Good luck in your endeavours Riley." And with that, he went to the back of the bakery.
Like a shadow, the silence hung over the group as Riley tried to comprehend what had just happened to her. She knew that, without this job, she'd have to find another which would pay as much as the bakery did however, that seemed unlikely. Out of habit, she licked her lips before turning back to Honey, "Sorry sweetie but... I think that'll be the last cake of mine you'll be eating in a while."
The seven looked about each other, each whispering something to the person beside them. Finally, as Riley was about to head out the door, Honey hopped in front of her with Usa-chan in hand and said happily, "That's okay Rye-chan! I'll hire you!"