Chapter Six
Homemade Cupcakes
. . .
"Excuse me miss, I have a question for you." Natasha took a sip from her drink as she called the blond waitress over to her table.
Caroline had just finished taking an elderly couple's order, and she cheerfully made her way over to the table. "Hey! Can I refill something for you?"
"Actually.." Natasha gave Caroline an innocent smile, setting her cup of coffee on the table top. "I was wondering if you could tell me where you got these.. delicious, cupcakes?"
Caroline literally lit up, eyes widening as she collected herself, giving the customer her most award winning smile. "Oh! That's so very sweet of you to ask! These cupcakes are just all the rage in Williamsburg, did you know that Martha Stewart mentioned us in one of her blurbs?" Caroline flipped her long blond hair over her shoulder, trying her best to remain modest as she immodestly continued,
"And I don't want to brag, but these cupcakes are one of a kind, with a pallet that wouldn't be able to compete anywhere-"
"That's great!" Natasha cut the incredibly optimistic waitress off before she could go into details of just how good the cupcakes were. "Listen, I know this might sound strange, but is there any way I can meet the person behind Max's homemade cupcakes?"
Natasha smiled, twirling her finger idly in the short blond wig she was wearing as a disguise. Almost everyone in the whole world knew the Black Widow on sight because of the press conference that'd been released.
Caroline was absolutely thrilled at the request, "Oh! Absolutely! Let me just grab her real quick, I'm sure Max will be very, very excited."
The blond waitress skipped away as quickly as she could in her red-bottom heels, approaching her co-worker who'd been popping a mint into her mouth.
"Max! Max!" Caroline called to her roommate happily as she rushed over to her friend. Max let out a long groan, already not liking whatever it was that had Caroline in such a good mood.
"Did Oleg set the diner on fire?" Max asked, mimicking Caroline's excitement.
The blond slowed her tempo, raising a confused eyebrow. "What? No!"
"Oleg set Han on fire?" Max tried again, picking up her small rag from the counter and shoving it into her apron's pocket. Caroline finally came to a halt, stopping in front of Max and shaking her head wildly.
"No, Max! And stop guessing!" Caroline shut her up with a wave of her hand.
Max huffed, not appreciating being shut down so quickly when she was really hoping the diner would be on fire. "Well! Then what is it, woman?! What have I told you about smiling in the diner when there's nothing good happening?!"
"This is where our opinions of 'good' differ." Caroline said bluntly, because Max's idea of a 'good thing' was someone getting hurt, preferably maimed. "You see that fancy woman in the suit over there at table three?"
Max peered over Caroline's shoulder in a non-discreet manner, pressing her lips together and nodding her head in appreciation before answering. "I didn't know you were into blonds but.. I'm not surprised."
"What? No- no Max. That lady over there said she's loving our cupcakes, and wants to give her compliments to the chef!" Caroline squealed happily, but was met with silence from Max. She paused, "Max, that's you."
"I'll pass." Max said bluntly, filling up a cup with soda before taking a long chug. Caroline's face fell.
"Why Max? Why? Whh-h-h-h-yy-y-y-yyy?" Caroline whined, her voice doing that annoying thing where she baa'd like a sheep, and it drove Max crazy.
She frowned, glaring at Caroline for even bringing it up. "Because! I've seen woman like her before, they're trendy, blood-sucking locusts who come into this town to pillage and destroy everything I care about!"
Max set her cup against the counter with a hard 'CLANK!', getting worked up at the thought of putting her cupcakes at the mercy of some business woman who spent her free time at this crappy diner!
Caroline's eyes were wide, shocked by how worked up her friend was getting because of this. She nodded her head in understanding, "I felt the exact same way when the Hilton sisters crashes my 21st birthday party."
She shook her head, realizing she was letting Max get off topic. "But this is different, Max! Just go over there ands see what she has to say. I've got a good feeling about this!"
"Oh, right, you've got a good 'feeling'!" Max retorted sarcastically. "Okay! Let me just march over there and- nope!" She said the last part in Caroline's face, cackling madly to herself when she saw Caroline's overly excited expression frown into a pout.
She rolled her eyes, knowing that Caroline would never leave her alone unless she did this. "Alright! Fine! Fine! If it'll keep you off my back! Jeez, woman."
Natasha lifted her gaze to the brown haired waitress who'd come in direct contact with the Winter Soldier a few days back, but somehow managed to come out of it completely unscratched.
She was still a little hazy on the details. Bucky wasn't the most co-operative hostage, but at least he wasn't putting up a struggle any more. In fact, James Barnes wasn't doing anything anymore. Natasha hadn't been able to get a (non-violent) reaction out of him for the past few days. The only thing that could get Barnes moving was the mention of Captain America, and that was almost always a dangerous topic.
When questioned, Bucky remained silent, rarely offering a nod of his head for 'yes' and a shake for 'no'. The Black Widow was running out of options, she desperately wanted to rehabilitate the Winter Soldier for Steve. She knew that her captain had a weakness for his old buddy, and Steve would willingly let his friend tear him limb from limb if he thought it would make things better.
Natasha couldn't let Steve do that to himself. She couldn't let Steve do that to James.
"Whattt!" Max stretched the word out due to her irritation, shoving her hands into the pocket of her apron as she approached Natasha's table. Natasha could tell that the waitress was preparing herself for the worst, and the Russian spy quickly went to work on easing the young womans nerves.
"Are you Max, of Max's Homemade Cupcakes?"
"And so what if I am? Spit it out already, I have a job to do."
Thankfully, neither woman decided to point out how Max had been relaxing behind the bar for the past thirty minutes. Natasha could thank years and years of special training for keeping her in character, not breaking her disguise as she kept her professional smile on her face.
The Russian spy dug into her purse, pulling out a business card that she'd just printed the night before.
"My name is Lucy Knope, and I just wanted to let you know that these are some of the best cupcakes I have ever eaten."
Max's eyebrows rose way up to her hairline, and Romanoff smirked secretly to herself.
"Oh, I, uh.." The waitress stumbled over her words, thrown off guard by the intimidating business woman's sudden compliment. "I mean, uh.. really?"
Her voices raised an octave higher, and Max cleared her throat as she quickly calmed herself. "That's nice. Not that I, uh.. care or anything," She shrugged her shoulders, completely flustered. "But, uh, that's pretty cool of you to... kbye!"
Max abruptly turned on her heel in the heat of her embarrassment, walking away before she could make any more of a fool out of herself. Caroline had been watching their exchange closely, and she wrung her hands together nervously as Max approached once again.
"So? What did the blood sucking lotus have to say?"
"Caroline! That is sooo judgemental of you, I'm shocked!" Max gasped, feigning shocking. Caroline raised a questioning eyebrow at her friend, and the brunette waitress gave a triumphant smirk.
"She said she liked the cupcakes! I knew she couldn't be as bad as she looked."
Caroline squealed, too excited to correct Max on how she was probably the most judgmental person she knew. The former billionaire bounced excitedly, wanting to share her friends happiness.
"That's great, Max!"
Max's smile dropped from her face instantly, quickly replacing it with her usual 'I couldn't give a damn' posture and expression, and she tucked her hands into her apron if not a little bit proudly. "Yeah, whatever. Now get back to work! These tables ain't gonna serve themselves."
Caroline quickly walked over to her table with the blond woman, since she'd been trying to flag her down.
"Hello, again!" Caroline said, her bright and chipper attitude contrasting completely with the glum brunette waitress who'd Natasha had just been speaking to.
Natasha still had her business card in her hand, and a sheepish expression on her face. "Excuse me, um.. Max? She sort of ran away before I had a chance to give this to her. Do you think you can pass it along to her manager for me?"
"Yes!" Caroline shouted as she snatched the card from the woman's fingertips before she could even think about changing her mind. She could see a business opportunity when it presented itself to her, and she absolutely was not going to let this one pass her by. "A million times, yes! I'm Caroline Channing, and I'm the manager of Max's Homemade Cupcakes. I'm so, so pleased about your support!"
"Oh, absolutely, Caroline. The pleasure is all mine. I'm Lucy Knope, and I will definitely be coming into contact with you two ladies again." Natasha stood up from her seat and extended her hand out to Caroline, who grasped it in a firm handshake as the two women made their deal. "If you guys have a card you'd like to give me, I'd gladly take it. And maybe a few cupcakes for the road?"
Instantly, the waitress was reaching into the pocket of her apron and pulling out a small card that read 'MAXS HOMEMADE CUPCAKES' with a phone number across. "Oh, I carry these around everywhere, evidently for a good reason!" She laughed, only a little embarrassed by her shameless advertising, before handing the card over to Lucy. "And as for the cupcakes, of course! On the house, think of it as a little business investment."
She waggled her eyebrows suggestively, and Natasha had to force another laugh before the waitress was off bagging some cupcakes, and rushing back over to hand them to their newest business partner.
Natasha gave Caroline a sweet, sincere smile as she took the bag from her hands. The blond was absolutely thrilled her her proposal, and Natasha was only a little shocked by how smoothly things had gone.
Once she left the diner, the Black Widow fished into her pocket and retrieved her phone, adjusting the blond wig on her head secretly as she waited for Tony to pick up.
"Yellow?" The world's most annoying man's voice came from the other line.
"Hey, Stark." Natasha said casually, eyes scanning the streets for a cab she could take home. "Listen, do you like cupcakes?"
"I don't know? Personally, I believe cupcakes are far more convenient than your typical slice-"
"That's good." She cut him off, knowing that Tony could go on for hours if you ask him any sort of question about himself. "Did you ever find something to do with that empty lot on the eleventh floor of the Avenger's tower?"
"Actually, yes, I've been using it as temporary closet space for the suits-"
"Great!" Natasha said chipperly. "Clear it out. I'm renting it out to Max's Homemade Cupcakes. See you in a few."
"Max's-?"
Natasha clicked the end button, hanging up on the playboy billionaire with a satisfied grin on her face. She shoved her phone into her pocket, clutching the cupcakes closer to her chest.
Now all she needed was for a certain Winter Soldier to be a little bit more accommodating with her, and then things would be on the fast track of working themselves out.
So far, Bucky was turning out to be a bit more difficult than she'd planned, but that was what the cupcakes were for. Hopefully these would help loosen him up.
. . .
. . .
When Steve entered the diner, he made sure to knock his knuckle gently on Earl's counter, giving the man a slight wave as a greeting before he made a beeline straight to the register. There was slight bounce in the Captain's step as he fished into the pocket of his dark khaki trousers, pulling out his wallet.
The serum-enhanced-soldier had a bashful smile spread across his face as he walked to the waitress on duty who was too busy examining something on the counter to acknowledge his presence.
When Steve spoke, his words were filled with mirth, and there was a boyish grin on his face.
"You never gave me a call."
Max had been so busy counting the quarters, dimes, and nickels that some customer thought to leave her as a tip, that she didn't notice the Captain as he approached her. She jumped when she heard his deep voice, nearly scaring the crap out of her as Max let out a startled sound that sounded an awfully lot like a cat having its tail stepped on.
Steve tried to hide the shit eating grin that spread across his lips once he realized that he startled her, and he rubbed the back of his head in a nervous tick. However, he cocked his head to the side bashfully, waiting for her response.
Max rubbed her hands against her apron in a pathetic attempt to regain composure after being spooked so badly. As she spoke, her words were laced in sarcasm and forced pep.
"Ah, look who it is! Captain America, the man who apparently has nothing better to do than stop by the Williamsburg diner and scare the already-dead-inside waitress to death!" Max collected the change she'd been counting as she spoke, dropping it in a jar that said 'Tips', and continued on her monologue without missing a beat.
"Or are you here because you heard about poor ol' Paul who was tragically shoved off the top of that building down the street? I mean, who does their drug deals on the roof anyways, right? I'm surprised I was even able to outrun the police down all those stairs."
Steve furrowed two dark blond eyebrows in confusion, opening his mouth to comment, before shaking his head. He wasn't sure he even wanted to know what she was talking about, and Steve was determined not to let her distract him from his reason for stopping by.
"I was hoping you'd give me a ring." He interrupted shyly, steering them back to topic before the waitress could mouth off about some other lord forsaken things he definitely did not want to know about.
The fact of the matter is, Max was the last person alive who'd been in contact with the Winter Soldier. Steve gave her his cell number in hopes that if Bucky stumbled into the waitress again, she would be able to give Steve a call and alert him immediately.
Unfortunately, two weeks had passed, and Steve hadn't heard a single word from any of his connections. About a month back, Stark had said he was searching every inch of the city and couldn't find a trace of Buck. Yet for some reason, two weeks ago there were HYDRA men searching for the Winter Soldier, who had been last spotted with this waitress from the Williamsburg Diner.
Steve absolutely had to keep an eye on her.
She was his only lead.
The fact that she was attractive with a sharp tongue that could probably keep him entertained for hours had absolutely nothing to do with why he had waited anxiously by his phone for her to call. He was mostly eager to hear any news about his old pal, who was still alive.
Max let out an amused scoff at Steve's comment before laughing loudly in his face as she said scandalously,
"You were hoping for a ring?" Max's voice went a pitch higher in disbelief as she walked over to him and patted his arm flirtatiously, before picking up a few plates from an empty table nearby and slowly walking pass him, "Well, we hardly know each other, Captain, buuut.. I'd give you a ring if you gave me a pearl necklace."
She waggled her eyebrows at him, looking absolutely too proud of her comment as she quickly walked back to kitchen with sneaky smirk on her face, her dirty comment completely lost on the poor Captain. Max was just glad Caroline wasn't clocked in at the moment, or the ex billionaire princess would be scolding Max for hours about sexually harassing the Avengers.
When Max returned from the kitchen, Captain America was still glued to his spot, rubbing shyly at his neck.
"It's.. You can call me Steve, if you like. Steve Rogers. I don't.. Think I've properly introduced myself, yet."
Inwardly, Steve groaned to himself. It's been awhile since he conversed with someone outside of his team. He only hoped the pretty dame wouldn't be able to realize how new this all was to him. He figured a proper introduction would be a good place to start when it came to wooing such a beautiful gal.
Max, on the other hand, seemed to have something else entirely in mind. She let out a sourly laugh as she covered her name tag with her hand, backing away from Steve.
"Oooooh no, we won't be doing that."
"...Pardon?" Steve blinked, thrown off as always by the things that came out of this waitress's mouth.
"You know," She stressed. "The whole getting attached thing. If this is some kind of new, working-undercover-trick thing the Feds are doing nowadays, don't think I'm gonna fall for it. If they couldn't make me break in Mexico, I highly doubt I'll let crack and let something slip now."
Steve let out another long, loud chuckle that left Max frowning at him, confused by what he found so damn funny.
He rubbed his smooth chin with his palm, pink tongue sneaking out to swipe over his lips while he smiled. Steve found Max's ignorance on Captain America to be a bit exhausting, but oddly endearing.
"How many times am I gonna need t' tell you, I'm not a cop, Ms. Black?"
Okay. It didn't help that he knew her last name, and Max narrowed her bright green eyes at him when he let it slip. Steve was grinning, clearly having wanted to rattle her. He fished a five dollar bill out of his wallet and leaned his elbow on the counter, handing it to her as he gave her another shit eating grin.
"Plus.. I'm pretty sure I recall helping a certain mouthy waitress in need a while back. I'd say I've earned myself a bit of trust, don't you think?"
"If you think you can guilt trip me, then HA! The joke's on you, because, I don't have a conscience!" Max responded carelessly, waaaay to proud of the fact that her nerves were as hard as steel. She snatched his five that he handed to her and pulled out a vanilla coconut cupcake to place in a paper bag and give to Captain America.
"But I can appreciate the effort, Cap. Unfortunately, I haven't seen that hot hobo since I dumped his body on my living room floor. Who knows, maybe he's knocked out under the bridge because the black mold in my carpet poisoned his lungs? I don't know what else you want from me."
Max shoved her homemade cupcake into his hard chest, successfully resisting the urge to pet his pecks when she did so. Max continued talking as Steve grabbed the brown bag, "So that means, you can drop this, act." Max wiggled her fingers and waved her wrist disinterestedly in his direction. "This whole, 'pretending to be interested' thing so you can get the dirty deets on your boyfriend? I've got nothing to tell ya."
She pointed an accusing finger at Steve, who looked taken back by her outburst. His lips were pressed into a frown at her accusation, and Max raised an eyebrow, silently challenging him to try and tell her that she's wrong.
"Well? Since we've got all that cleared up," Max said dismissively, clapping her hands together as if she just finished some excessive chore.
Max began to head back into the kitchen, figuring the Captain knows his way out, and that their conversation was over. She could hear Steve call out to her as she walked behind the counter.
"I don't think I've been very clear about my intentions, Ms. Black."
This had Max looking over her shoulder and raising a skeptical eyebrow at him, "Oh, I think your intentions are pretty clear. You're not here to crazy, disgusting sex with me in the meat room. You're definitely not here because you just love my discounted three day old cupcakes," She spoke the last part with mocking pep, continuing. "Sooo, clearly, this has something to do with the boy toy that you're looking for."
Steve pressed two fingers to his temple, an exhausted, but genuine laugh escaping his lips. "Christ, I hope I'm not nearly as bad at this as Stark makes me out to be." He didn't want the waitress to assume he was there to spy on her, (even if he.. sort of ... definitely was) especially since she'd been the first woman to catch his interest since he woke up in this foresaken timezone. He wanted to make it clear that he was there for her, because there was something about her that caught his eye in a way he hadn't felt since his trip in ice.
"Would you like to get some coffee sometime?" Steve suddenly blurted, a shy smile spread on his lips. "With me? When.. you're not working, of course." He was rubbing the back of his neck again now, standing straight as his eyes darted around the diner, glancing at a few boys who were subtly trying to flag their waitress down.
Max let out a startled laugh, as if Steve had just told the most hilarious joke she'd heard all day.
"Ha! Good one!" Max snorted, clearly expecting him to join her in her laughter. Her laughing slowly died, and Max gave Steve a crazed look, as if he'd suddenly grown an extra head.
"Wait.." Her voice took a pitch higher, her tone being on the edge of nervous. "That.. Wasn't a joke? You're being serious?"
"I don't think I can be any more serious, ma'am." Steve's confident grin slid into a more sincere smile as he added shyly, "And.. I don't think my pride can handle it if you laughed at me anymore, so yes. Very, very serious."
Max let out a long, nervous giggle despite his pride, looking over her shoulder to see if there were any witnesses to her getting asked on a date by Captain freaking America. Steve's smile stretched even wider once he realized he'd finally managed to make the cute waitress flustered, which felt like an exceptional accomplishment considering the many times she'd left him at a loss of words.
She sounded at a lost, "Oh. I mean... Coffee? Yeah. I can.. do that. Sometime." Max cleared her throat, shrugging her shoulders awkwardly.
Steve chucked, pressing his palm against the counter and leaning close towards the waitress. He couldn't help but want to tease her just a little, now that the shoe was on the other foot. In fact, Steve found that he genuinely enjoyed their banter. "Yeah? That right?"
Max let out another round of girlish giggles as she opened her mouth to give him a teasing retort, but Caroline barged into the diner, heels clacking as she quickly speed-walked over to the register before their manager Han could realize she was almost an hour late to work. The last thing Max wanted was for Caroline to see her giggling flirtatiously at Captain America, so she made sure to quickly drop the 'doting school girl', and look as miserable as she normally does.
(This included Max puffing out her chest, putting on her 'suck it' face as she tried to look completely disinterested in the Super Soldier specimen that was standing in front of her.)
Max cleared her throat as Caroline approached, and gave Steve her usual confident smirk. "You make a tempting offer, Captain. I'll keep it in mind."
Her response had Captain America's eyes lighting up, and a grin broke across his face as he knocked on the counter a few times in approval, unable to hide his excitement.
Max threw her head back and laughed at his reaction, "I said coffee, not anal! You have no right to be smiling that hard!"
"I'll take whatever I can get, Miss Black." Steve smiled boyishly, and nodded his head at Caroline in greeting, before turning his attention back to Max. "Next time?"
"Riiiight.." Max said, chest puffed out. She rubbed her rag absently in circles as she tried to seem completely disinterested, because the last thing she wanted was to give Caroline something to tease her with. Steve watched her with amusement in his eyes, and Max finally threw her rag down and retreated into the kitchen, unable to help the triumphant smile that spread across her lips to its own accord a the thought of going on a date with Steve.
She busied herself with arranging some pies, and Caroline quickly strutted into the kitchen, tying her apron around her waist. "Max?" Caroline asked in that tone that meant whatever Max was hiding from her, it wouldn't stay a secret for long.
"That's my name," Max replied indifferently, cutting some cherry pie into eight slices. She paused, before adding with a playful smirk, "At least, that's one of them."
Caroline picked up one of the freshly cut pies, "I didn't realize you and Captain America were so close." She asked, suspicious.
Max let out a laugh of denial, waving her hand in the air as she literally tried to brush Caroline's suggestion off. "Oh, please! Can't the Captain of America stop by a normal old diner so he can buy some of the best day old cupcakes in Williamsburg?" She asked, her tone filled with denial.
The blond shook her head instantly, shutting Max down. "Yeah, okay, Max, whatever it is that the two of you have going on, I will get you to tell me. But right now, I want to talk about myself!"
Max let out a sigh of relief, setting the pies she'd been cutting into slices down. "Oh, thank God. This is one of those rare moments where you being so self involved actually comes in handy!"
Caroline smiled, brushing off the insult with grace that she'd learn after rooming with Max for the past year. "And I'm ignoring that! Alright Max, are you ready for this?"
"Oh, come on!" Max rolled her eyes irritably. "What did I tell you about getting me excited when there's nothing on fire?! That's false advertisement, sister!"
"Lucy Knope," Caroline said slowly, "Just got in touch with me. She said she has a place in Manhattan where we can open up our shop! Max's Homemade Cupcakes will officially be a real business!"
The usually glum waitress dropped the instrument she'd been using for slicing, and looked at Caroline with wide eyes. "No way! Tell me you're joking?!"
"I don't ever joke when it comes to business, sista!" Caroline snapped her fingers in a Z motion, causing Max to shake her head in disgust. Caroline faltered, "What? No good?"
"Don't ever say 'sista' again, unless you want to get shot. By me." Max deadpanned, before getting excited again. "No way, no way! So we're gonna have a real shop? This is real? Or is that pill I took during my break finally kicking in?"
"It's real, Max." Caroline said sincerely, placing her hand on her friends arm. The brunette shook her head, her smile on her face but still unwilling to believe something good could actually happen to her.
"No way, there has to be a catch. What's the catch?"
"No catch, Max." Her blond roommate and best friend tried to ease her worries gently. "No catch at all. We just need to meet Lucy at the formally Stark-Now Avenger tower Sunday at 8AM, and she'll run everything by us then."
Max froze, dropping her arms to her sides, repeating in a slow, hard tone. "Avenger tower?"
"That's what she said. Max, isn't this so exciting?!"
"I knew there was a fucking catch!" Max snapped, throwing her rag on the counter angrily before storming out of the kitchen. This was why she never never never got her hopes up.