Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you've had a great week!

Chapter Eleven

I put that money to good use. I ended up ordering shirts for Maggie and myself. They were so cute, and they made us look more professional. She liked them too. I got them in a light blue, they had my bakery's name on it and a cake on the front. I loved them. I also got business cards, which I proudly placed on my counter out front.

I also hired Billy to start renovations on the back room. The floor needed to be ripped up and replaced and the walls needed repairing. Plus, the wiring was bad, so I needed to replace that too. Billy and I sat down and discussed prices; it's going to end up costing me two thousand. Which wasn't bad, and Billy could do all of it for me. That meant I could fix up the room, put furniture in it, and still have about two or three thousand to put in my safe.

Billy and Jake came over early this morning. Billy told me his nephew and his brother were coming to help as well, but they wouldn't be here until nine. That was fine, I told them I'd provide lunch, drinks and as many desserts as they wanted while they worked.

After lunch, the bakery slowed down, like usual. This was the time I had to clean my bakery until people stopped by before dinner. I had taken off my apron to go back, but a man in a suit walked in.

For some reason, the hair on the back of my neck stood up and my hand flexed on the gun in my pocket. There was something about this guy that didn't sit well with me.

"Hello," I said with a kind smile.

"Hello," he smiled widely, "My name is Aro Volturi. I was hoping to speak with the owner."

"That's me," I said, extending my hand, "I'm Bella Swan, please call me Bella."

"It's very nice to meet you Miss Bella," he said, "Please just call me Aro. I was hoping I could have a few moments of your time."

I looked around the store then at Maggie. It was slow around this time, and I had made a bunch of desserts so she should be fine for a moment.

"Of course, as long as you don't mind talking in the kitchen?" I said.

"Not at all," He said.

"You got this Maggie?"

"I'm good. Go ahead." She said.

Aro followed me back into the kitchen.

"I apologize for not having anywhere comfortable to sit. My back room is being fixed up now, so in a few weeks, I'll have a new place to conduct business." I said as we sat in the stools.

"It's quite alright Miss Bella," He said, placing his briefcase on the counter, "I've been coming around to local small businesses offering them security plans."

"Oh, I might have to stop you," I said, "I really don't have the extra money—,"

"Miss Bella please just let me explain," He said as he opened the briefcase, "My company is in the process of promoting small businesses as well as providing them with excellent security. We offer huge discounts for owners of small businesses."

"Okay," I said, now more interested, "I've been wanting some security around here. I'm just on a tight budget."

He nodded, "Of course. But I'm quite sure you'll jump at this offer," He took out a piece of paper, "With the small business security plan, you get up to five video cameras placed anywhere in your building. These cameras connect directly to your phone and to our video monitoring center. If there is a robbery, or an accident, it's all on camera. We also remain in close contact with your insurance company. So if anything happens, we have the evidence, so the insurance company doesn't try to give you the run around."

I nodded, "Well, that sounds nice."

"It does doesn't it?" he smiled, "But it doesn't stop there. Along with the five cameras, we also include passcode security locks for your doors. And those security locks are also alarm systems. If someone punches in the wrong code three times, or opens the door without unlocking the system, then the police are dispatched, and you'll have officers at your front door within minutes."

Wow. This sounded like an excellent deal. I had been jumpy since that one night, and if I had those locks, the police could be here before I knew what was going on.

"And the alarms also have a panic mode. So, if your door is unlocked and someone gets in, you can either click the panic button on your iPhone or on the alarm system."

I nodded, "How much is this plan? It sounds way to good to be anywhere in my price range.

"We have our monthly twenty percent off deal going on right now, and with your business being small, we offer another thirty percent off. So, you're looking at forty-eight dollars a month."

My eyebrows shot up, "Only forty-eight dollars? There's no way that's real. That's a great deal. I've looked into security systems, and none of them are as good as the deal you offer, and they're more expensive then forty-eight dollars."

"Well, I work for a very large corporation. We represent many other large corporations, celebrities, millionaires," He explained, "But we really like to serve small businesses. When the owner of the company started this business, it was small. So, he likes to help out the small businesses. So he offers deals and what not. To him, it's kind of like charity work."

I snorted, "Nice to know I'm charity work."

He chuckled, "I recommend you take this charity work. It's a great deal, and with the promotion we're running this month, you're getting this offer at a steal."

"Are there any hidden fees? Will the bill ever go up unexpectedly?"

"Nope. Everything we charge you is right here on this paper. We never raise our prices unexpectedly."

I looked at the piece of paper and nodded, "Okay. That sounds really good. I'll do it. When do they come set everything up?"

"They can be here by tomorrow if you'd like."

I nodded eagerly, "Wow, that's fast. Okay, that sounds excellent."

He smiled, "Good. I'm so glad you've decided to give us a chance," He reached into his pocket and handed me a business card, "This is my personal number. If you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to call."

I nodded and placed the card into my pocket, "Thank you. It was really great meeting you."

"Likewise." He said as he stood.

"I'll walk you out." I walked with him to the front of the bakery.

"Before I leave," He said, "I'd like to try one of those brownies. I have a bit of a sweet tooth."

"Of course," I walked behind the counter and got out his brownie, "Here. It's on the house."

"Why thank you." He said as he took the box, "My people will be by tomorrow around nine to set everything up. They'll be discreet, that way you can still run your business and what not."

"I'll be here," I said, "Have a great day."

"You too." He walked out of the door.

"What was that about?" Maggie asked.

"I'm getting a security system put in," I said, "It's really cheap to. I'm kind of surprised that it was so cheap. Seems like they'd lose money on that deal."

"What all are they doing?" She asked.

"A few cameras, some security passcodes, and an alarm system. It'll be really safe around here now."

"That's cool," She said, "Where are you going to put the cameras?"

"Um, I'm not sure yet," I said.

"Hey, Bella," Billy said as he walked out, "Could you come here for a sec?"

"Yeah sure," I followed him to the back room.

"Watch your step," he said, "Alright, so we've gotten the floor ripped up. We're going to start on the wall, but we've found some water damage in this wall, so we're going to have to tear it down and put up a new one."

I frowned, "How much more is that going to cost?"

"Luckily, it's just this one section, so it'll only cost maybe two hundred. But I can get a good deal on it," He said, "But what I was thinking, if you think it's a good idea. We can tear this wall down and make a closet. You could keep your supplies in it or whatever. Plus, you'd only need to buy a door and doors are cheap. Or you could just put a curtain up."

I nodded, "I like that idea. I think it would be nice to have a little supply closet. And if it's cheaper, than I'm down for that. Let's do it."

He nodded, "Alrighty, sounds good. We'll get right on that."

I smiled at him, "Do you guys want lunch? And to take a little break. I can call the diner and run down there and get some food."

"No we're good Bella," Billy said, "We're just going to keep working. With the way we're rolling we should be done with all this in the next three days."

"That's awesome," I smiled, "Well, just let me know if you guys need anything."

I was excited to have the room done in a few days. Alice Cullen had called me back and she wanted me to do her wedding cake. She had an appointment set for two weeks from now. Luckily, it was just her and her fiancé.

I wanted to have the room done by then. Billy promised me that he could get it done way before then. I just needed to get furniture and get the room painted. I wasn't doing anything extravagant to the room. I was just slapping on a fresh coat of paint and putting in some furniture, then I'd be done.

When I walked back out to the front, a familiar face was standing there, looking over the desserts.

"Hi Edward," I smiled at him, "How can I help you?"

He smiled widely, "Welp, I was in the neighborhood and I was craving something sweet. I figured I'd stop by."

"Well, everything that's in the display is fresh. I just brought it out."

"Hm, what would you recommend?" He asked, looking more at me than the counter.

I looked through the counter for a few moments, "Well, I decided to try something new today. I think they're pretty good. It's a chocolate peanut cluster. You get two of them."

"Sounds good, I'll try that." He said, "I'll take that and a slice of lemon cake. I'm visiting my mother and she loves lemon cake."

I nodded, "Well, I'll cut your mother a generous piece. I really liked her when I met her."

"She really liked you too," He said, "She was already planning events for you to cater."

"By this rate, your family will be all I need to keep my business flourished." I chuckled as I took his mother out a good slice and wrapped it for him.

"You always have a job in our family. We throw a bunch of parties and events. And we like to use the same people. We have the same caterer for all of our events as well."

"I'll need your caterers number," I said, "Your sister asked if I could have every dessert I make labelled and what not. I was looking at a few of the labels and I got worried that it wouldn't match what your sister had in mind. So, I wanted to reach out to the caterer and see if they could hook me up with some labels."

"I don't know the number off the top of my head," He said, "But I can get it from my mother and swing back by later."

"You can just call if you don't feel like swinging by," I told him, "No need to go out of your way."

He smiled widely, "Don't worry, I'm not going out of my way." He looked at his watch, "I need to go. I'll see you in a little while."

He walked out of the bakery, looking back through the window, and smiling widely. I blushed and looked down at my counter, as if I didn't notice him.

"I think he likes you," Maggie said.

"What? Why would you think that?" I asked.

"Well, he's in here a lot. And every time he comes in here, he leaves you a hundred dollar tip, did you see that?" She said.

"He left a hundred dollar tip?" I looked in the tip jar.

"Yeah," She said, "He sneaks it in there. He wraps it in a five dollar bill. I guess so you won't make him take it back."

"No, there's no way he likes me. I mean, that's ridiculous. We've only had a few interactions. Plus, he seems like he trades on wall street. Did you see his family? They're all the richy rich type and I'm definitely not that type."

She giggled, "Maybe. But he is really, really cute. You have to admit that."

"Yeah, he's cute I guess." I said.

"So, if he asked you out on a date would you go?" She asked.

"I don't know. Probably not." I said.

"Why not?"

"I'm too busy for a relationship."

"I'm not talking about a relationship. What if he asked you on a date and you guys hook up? Would you do it?"

"Maggie," I said, smacking her playfully with the napkins, "Don't talk like that. Go sweep the sidewalk or something."

She chortled and grabbed the broom to sweep. I shook my head, chuckling. I'm sure Maggie was probably misconstruing things. Edward was a nice man, but I definitely wasn't his type. He dressed in fancy suits and obviously had a lot of money. Plus it wasn't like I liked him or anything. Or even had time to like someone. There was just no way for any of it to make sense.

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