Do You Know The Baker's Girl? 7
Been having trouble getting the chapter just right. Now, it's here!
It was a peaceful summer night in Arcadia. In the forest, a station wagon was parked beside a lighthouse. A campfire nearby was embers. Inside the station wagon, three girls slept in the cargo trunk area, a blanket draped over them. On the hood sat two figures, staring at the night sky. Stars dotted the canvas of black.
"Wowser." Max said. She leaned on the windshield.
"I forgot how beautiful the night was." She said. Clyde nodded.
"How'd you forget? You lived in a city or something?" Clyde asked, a smirk across his face. Max huffed.
"Actually, yes. Thank you very much." Max answered, thinking she's got him this time. Clyde raised an eyebrow.
"Where?" He asked.
"Seattle. My parents and I moved there when I was 12 or 13. I was from here originally." Max answered.
"Wowser. That must've been crazy." Clyde replied in all sincerity.
"Yeah. I left a close friend behind without telling her. I think about it sometimes, and regret it always." Max said, bringing her legs closer to her body.
"That's life for you. So, find anything different since you've gotten back?" Clyde asked.
"Just the faces I've seen at the bakery." Max said, relaxing a bit.
"Any of them you like?" Clyde asked, turning to face Max. Max blushed, remembering the girls that passed through the bakery.
"Yes." Max finally admitted.
"Well, besides me, I mean." Clyde told Max. Max responded with a swipe towards Clyde's general direction.
"Fair enough." Clyde said, scooting closer to Max.
"Anyone of them leave an impression on you?" Clyde asked. Max thought for a bit.
"Well, I'd say Rachel left a big impression." Max told Clyde.
"Oh, God. Rachel. I'd never seen anyone as... eccentric as she was." Clyde said, remembering the first whole week with Max working at the bakery.
...
(The Day After Max's First Day)
"Okay, Max. I'm going to help you become proficient in your responsibilities." Clyde told a bewildered Max, arms crossed in an authoritative way.
"I thought I was just suppose to take orders and stand around." Max said. Clyde shook his head.
"Max, you're so naive. You also have to present an appreciable image of yourself." Clyde told her.
"You're shitting me. I also have to 'look pretty'?" Max asked.
"Precisely." Clyde said, giving her a thumbs up. Max was not amused.
"How exactly do you expect me to achieve this?" Max asked. Then, Clyde pulled out something from his apron.
"Water balloons?" Max asked.
"I think you can figure it out what to do with them." Clyde said handing them to Max. Max at first looked at the water balloons with confusion. Then, she realized what he was insinuating and started to blush.
"Y-you can't be serious, right?! This is ridiculous! It will never work!" Max yelled to Clyde.
"'Sex sells', as the old saying goes. I just want to see how well it works. Beside, people will be seeing you more than me." Clyde replied. Max pouted and turned away from the counter to not show any potential customers that she was adjusting something under her clothes. Max placed the water balloons in the only logical place they would go as Clyde insinuated, and adjusted them to look a little more "natural". Once she got it to a bit more comfortable, she got out her phone to see how she looked.
"Wowser." Max said to herself, impressed at how she looked.
"Damn, Max! Looking good!" Clyde said, causing Max to turn to see him standing at the threshold, an amused look on his face. He raised his eyebrows when he saw Max recent "change".
"Holy crap. Impressive. Very nice." Clyde said, regarding Max's "change". Max blushed.
"Okay, shouldn't you baking or something?" Max asked Clyde.
"I am baking. All day, er'ry day. Just not right now." Clyde told her. As Max was about tell him to get back, the door rang, alerting them of a potential customer. Max turned her attention to the counter and the customer. She smiled seeing it was Rachel who came in.
"Hi, Rachel! Having a good day?" Max said. Rachel looked up to see Max, then flashed a weird look.
"Hey, Max. Uh..." Rachel said as she reached the counter, staring at a particular part of Max. Max blushed as Rachel continued to stare.
"Look. Don't touch." Clyde said, suddenly behind Max.
"Ah!" Max yelped with a little jump. She turned to Clyde, looking like an angry woman.
"Don't! Do that!" Max berated Clyde like a bad dog, complete with an authoritative pointer finger.
"Bah, you're just pretending not to like it just to be nice to Rachel. I love it when they play hard to get, or pretend to at least." Clyde responded, a smirk not disappearing. Max started to pout.
"I'm serious!" Max said, stomping to show how serious she was. Clyde continued to smirk.
"Okay. I'll drop this conversation. Just remember not to forget me." Clyde said, hands raised in a fake surrender, as he backed away towards the kitchen. He gave Max a wink before disappearing into the kitchen. Max huffed and turned back to Rachel, who had the most amused look in her face.
"Sorry about that. You want anything, Rachel?" Max asked.
"Two croissants and one iced coffee." Rachel told Max. Max went to the display case and got the croissants. Bringing them to the counter, Max found a medium sized iced coffee already at the counter.
"$7.50." Max said. Rachel gave a ten. Max went to get exact change.
"Here you are." Max said, giving the change to Rachel. Rachel took it with a smile.
"Your titties jiggle when you're angry." Rachel told Max with a wink. Max smiled while developing a blush. She watched Rachel leave the bakery, a little hip sway as she strode out.
"She's not lying." Clyde said as she left. Max glared at him
...
(The day after that)
"Max, I got the fresh batch of scones. Help me organize them." Clyde said, emerging from the kitchen. Clyde stopped dead when he saw what Max was doing.
"Really? For all your talk of acting and being serious during the workday, this is disgraceful, Max." Clyde said to Max, who was sitting on a chair while Rachel lounged around on top of the counter.
"I couldn't help it. She's pretty. What was I supposed to do?" Max said meekly for allowing Rachel to do her thing.
"Be a man, Max. You have to show who wears the pants around here." Clyde said, arms crossed.
"Pfft. Yeah right. You're just jelly cuz Max is just more cooler than you because she lets me do stuff here." Rachel said as she stretched back, encompassing a large area of the counter.
"You're starting to remind me why I hate cats. Now get out of here before I show you what I do to cats." Clyde said, standing his ground.
"Kshhhhhh!" Rachel screeched, mimicking a cat's hiss, before getting off the counter and running.
"Max. If you don't protect yourself from succubi like her, I'll do it for you." Clyde told Max. Max pouted.
"How can I when she's so pretty?" Max asked weakly.
"You'll find prettier girls. I assure you that much, but it takes self control to deny them." Clyde answered her.
"Now, help me with these scones." Clyde said.
...
(The day after that)
"So, there's this quasi-big concert-rave thing coming up in the upcoming days. You think you're down, Max?" Rachel asked Max, perched on the counter, stroking Max's hair. Max was smiling, sweating and sickened with herself for letting this happen again.
"I-I... w-well..." Max tried to articulate, but couldn't since Rachel was touching her. This was probably the best and/or worst day for Max.
"This could be the best, or the worst, day in my life." Max thought to herself.
"Hey, Max! Guess what? More scones! And guess what else? You're gonna... fuck me!" Clyde said, emerging from the kitchen only to see Rachel back on the counter like yesterday.
"You got me fucked up, Rachel. I told you what would happen. Now, you leave me no choice." Clyde said, laying down the scones and retreating back to the kitchen.
"So, what'll it be?" Rachel asked Max, getting closer to her face, unphased by Clyde's words. Max got more sweaty.
"I..." Max began.
"Have at thee, whore!" Clyde exclaimed, spraying Rachel with water from a bottle.
"Kshhh!" Rachel screeched, backing away from Max and falling off the counter.
"Stand back, Max. I got this." Clyde said, pushing her back with his forearm against her chest. Clyde vaulted over the counter to continue his attack.
"Kshhhh!" Rachel screeched again, crawling away from the counter.
"The power of Christ compels you!" Clyde exclaimed, spraying Rachel. Finally realizing she was human, Rachel got up, grabbed the bottle and threw it towards the kitchen. As Clyde ran to get it, Rachel ran out of the bakery.
"Damn, Rachel. At least my bottle and my Max is... okay?" Clyde said, picking up the bottle then looking at Max, who was soaking wet on her chest.
"Did I get you wet or is it the..." Clyde asked.
"Water balloons?" Max finished.
"Yeah?" Clyde asked.
"Yeah." Max answered.
"You really didn't need to keep it up. I legit forgot about it until now. And that was like, two days ago?" Clyde told Max. Max crossed her arms, a blush forming on her face.
"Rachel liked them." Max muttered. Her blush getting deeper.
"Knowing her, she'd prefer to be the one with the jiggly, perking tits in a relationship. However, I can't blame her. Beside, you're amazing just the way you are." Clyde told Max. Max looked to Clyde who had a cheeky smile. Max smiled back, giving him a playful punch to the arm.
"Not the biggest Bruno Mars fan." Max informed Clyde.
"Same." Clyde agreed.
...
(The day after that.)
"What are you doing?" Max asked Clyde, who was fiddling around with a bucket and the front door.
"Retaliation." Clyde simply said, trying to balance the bucket on the slightly ajar door.
"Rachel's reign of terror ends today. She shall no longer pester my domain." Clyde said, finally balancing the bucket.
"Quickly! Back behind the counter. Pretend to do something." Clyde said.
"Besides standing around and looking pretty?" Max said, her turn to be cheeky. Clyde rolled his eyes.
"Yes. Now go." Clyde said, moving back to the counter.
"Now, we wait." Clyde said. Max took a seat behind the counter while Clyde watched the door from the kitchen.
"Max, I got to get something from the back. Stay alert for any trespassers." Clyde said walking off to do his thing. Max took out her phone and began to play around with it. She heard footsteps coming closer.
"That was fast." Max thought, not looking up from her phone. She listened to the footsteps walk back and forth, getting faint as it went into the kitchen. Just then, a large clang followed by a huge splash of water came from the kitchen. Max looked up.
"What the fuck?!" Clyde's voice cried from the kitchen.
"Hey, Clyde. You left the the back door unlocked." Rachel's voice informed Clyde.
"Rachel, you rancid whore!" Clyde yelled. Max watched as Rachel came out running from the kitchen towards the front door. As she got out the front door, a bucket was thrown close behind. Then, Clyde emerged from the kitchen, soaking wet, and headed out the door. As he passed the threshold, a pickup truck whizzed past the bakery.
"Bye, bitch!" Rachel's voice called as the picked passed Clyde. Clyde fell to his knees as he watched Rachel get away. Max got up and took a towel. She slowly walked to Clyde. Clyde was staring in the direction where Rachel got away.
"Uh..." Max started.
"She will pay." Clyde said as he knelt, still staring. Max joined in staring towards the direction of Rachel's getaway.
...
(Back to chilling on the hood.)
"She will pay. I will ensure that much." Clyde said, remembering the last thing that happened that week.
"I wonder where she went after that." Max thought out loud.
...
(As Rachel rode in the truck.)
"Damn, Rachel! You crazy!" Chloe said as she drove. Rachel gave a confident smirk.
"Go hard or get fucking good." Rachel said, giving her a pat on the back.
"Say, did you get that friend to join for the concert thing this weekend." Chloe asked. Rachel sat in silence.
"Fuck." She said plainly.
"We still have one extra ticket. Who do we give it to?" Chloe asked. Rachel scratched her head, thinking real hard.
"Is your dad free?" She asked on a whim.
...
(Later that same day...)
"Okay. You guys ready?" Rachel asked, fist full of glow sticks.
"Hella yeah!" Chloe said, wearing a pair of sunglasses at night.
"I have a question." William said, wearing a snapback that said "obey" on it and two gold chains around his neck alongside his unbuttoned plaid shirt with a plain white t-shirt and jeans.
"Ask away, Dad." Chloe replied.
"What exactly is a 'DJ Dance Bass'?" William asked, clearly out of touch with the young people.
"Don't worry. You'll find out soon enough." Rachel said as she started walking towards the entrance of the event. Chloe and William followed closely behind.