"No really Dakota." Riley said into her phone as she changed into a pair of pyjamas, "I have never baked so much in my life."

"And to think you used to say you couldn't get enough of baking." Riley's old friend, Dakota, said with a laugh. Dakota and Riley both came from the same town and, when they graduated high school, Dakota moved to England to persue her dreams while Riley stayed behind to take care of her mother. "But dude," Dakota continued, "this 'Takashi' guy sounds hot. You should climb that."

"Yo." Riley laughed, "It's not like that. I mean sure he's... tall and when he's with Honey he just looks so cute but, he's related to my employers. It just can't work like that."

"Ooh sounds like you got a little crush on this guy."

"Oh please," the baker said as she climbed into bed, "looky here. I ain't got eyes fo' no one. 'Kay?"

"C'mon, you have got the super hots for him!"

"Okay, good night Dakota."

"Hey now-"

Before Dakota could finish, Riley ended the call and threw her cell phone on the pillow beside her. Though she tried not to, the baker couldn't help but think about Mori. The more she thought about him, the most she became convinced that she had no romantic feelings for him. "He's too serious," she said to Ghost who was lying in his bed across the room. "And he never says anything. Too mellow for me."

Ghost's ears twiched slightly but that's the only response he gave before yawning loudly. Feeling a sudden pang of a recently reaccuring loneliness, Riley punched her pillow before lying down and pulling her blankets up to her chin, "Useless... you're useless Ghost."

The next day when Riley walked into the Host Club, she was swarmed with an array of rose pedals and the soothing melody of classical music. She attempted to knock away the pedals but failed and only managed to flail her arms in front of her. "Welcome, my princess." Tamaki purred and slid towards her. Now used to this treatment, Riley easily managed to dodge the "King's" outstretched arms and made her way over to Honey.

"For you, my sweet." She said as she held out a box with small cheesecake bites inside.

Honey, happy as could be, poured multiple bites onto his small saucer and giggled, "They're so tiny and cute! Thank you Rye-chan!"

It seemed as though every time Honey flashed his adorable smile, Riley could do nothing more but smile in response. "No worries. Just don't eat them too fast. The actual cakes won't be done for at least another forty five minutes." Noticing Mori out of the corner of her eye, she said in a happy tone, "Heya Mori. How's it goin'? Wanna cheesecake bite?" When only silence answered her, she smiled broadly, "Okay, now you just playin'. Are you still not talking to me just because I'm making such a big deal about it all the time?" Mori raised an eyebrow but still didn't say a word. "You are, aren't you?"

She walked over to the tall host who was sitting in his chair across from Honey and put her arm over his shoulders, "If you're just playin', that makes us kinda sorta friends, right? 'Cause only friends joke around... I can see it now... Riley and Mori... friends of the ages." Unable to stop herself from giggling, she looked to Mori and saw a ghost of a smile cross his lips. She smiled and pointed at him, "Ah! Almost a smile from the 'strong, silent' host! I'm gettin' there. Soon Takashi, soon." Before she left his side, she forced open one of his hands and placed a single cheesecake bite into his outstretched palm. "They're good," Riley said before walking away from him, "I swear."

For the rest of the day, the host club continued their work while Riley wheeled cakes in on a trolley. "I'm getting the hang of this," she said at the end of the day as she was lounging on a sofa in the music room. With the Haninozuka's paying for anything she ever needed, Riley's once long days of baking then waitressing turned into baking and waiting for the end of the day. As of late, she found herself spending more and more time with the hosts and found herself strangely bored.

"Hey Kyouya?" She asked, "Doesn't the Host Club go out and about and actually do things not at school?"

Kyouya didn't look up from his notebook as he answered, "Whatever gave you that impression?"

Wanting to get rid of the bored feeling in the pit of her stomach, she got up from the sofa and walked over to the "Shadow King", "I know people. They said that the Host Club is quite known for bringing certain clients on... let's call them short vacations."

That little remark made him look up from his notebook and actually look at her, "Who are these people? They wouldn't happen to be Haruhi, would they?"

Momentarily surprised at how quickly Kyouya figured out her informant, Riley managed to keep her poker face on and say, "Who my people are doesn't matter. What matters is if their information is good or not. So, answer the question Mister Otori."

Suddenly uninterested, he started scribbling in his notebook once again, "Why are you so curious? You're not getting bored with your job already, are you?"

"Ooh," Riley thought to herself, "shots fired." Unable to deny the occusation, she muttered, "Psh... don't be ridiculous. It's only been like... two weeks I'm not that... you know what? I don't care I was just... curious."

As she was walking away, Kyouya said, "Don't worry Riley. The Host Club is about to leave for one of your so called 'short vacations' and, if you're Honey-sempai's baker, then I suppose you'll be coming with us."

In that instant her poker face broke and a smile flashed across her features, "Yeah? Where to?"

"There's a beach that-"

"Beach?" She interrupted him, "Haru—I meant my informants, also mentioned that you guys just went to some beach in some place somewhere. Why go to another beach again?"

"Beaches please our clients the most, making our sales go up by anywhere up to 20%."

After pondering those statitistics for a moment, Riley found herself asking, "It's because of the swimming trunks isn't it? I bet that's what it is."

"I'm sure I don't know. Now, is that everything, Ms Darko?"

Feeling as bored with him as he felt with her, she nodded, "Yeah... thanks Kyouya." And with that, she sauntered off. As she sauntered, she came across Honey sleeping beside a mountain of cakes with Usa-chan tucked neatly under his arm. Mori, of course, was sitting at a table nearby reading a book. With a smirk, she sat in a chair beside him and looked at him with her elbow resting on the table and her cheek resting against her fist.

When he didn't look away from his book, she nudged his knee with her foot, "Hey Mor-i." He glanced at her over the top of his book before looking back down at the pages. "Oh c'mon," she pleaded, "it's bad enough that you don't talk to me. Least you could do is look at me." At those words, he put down his book and stared at her. For a moment, the two just stared at each other before Riley let out a sigh, "Never mind. You could go back to reading if you want..."

Her eyes wandered down to the table in boredom and she became suddenly fascinated with the brown swirl of color coating the surface. As she stared, Mori put his finger under her chin and made her look up at him. When he realized what he did, he seemed to look confused and sat back in his chair while taking his hand back. Not noticing anything, Riley muttered, "Nah I'm fine. Really. Just a little... just noticing things I never noticed before. But did you hear?" She asked in an excited tone. "We're going to an oh-so-exciting beach! Kyouya never told me where that beach is but, we're going! That'll be great. Now I just gotta decide what to wear..."

Just as she stood up and was about to walk away, she turned back and looked at Mori, "Hey Mori?" He looked up at her and she said, "If I... if I ever needed to... I dunno, talk to someone would you... would you maybe listen?"

Her face turned red as she asked. It was enough to make him nod and she smiled, "Th-thanks Mori."