Day 7 – Bakery Day

For Marinette to wake early on a Saturday, a miracle would have to happen. On the other hand, her new girlfriend, Zoe Lee, would need to be coming over to help work in the bakery and then hang out for the rest of the day. She was up before even her parents, hopping about to make sure everything was ready and perfect for their day together. Her father had just asked her to make the daily Macaron supplies. She had been making them since she was young and could easily teach Zoe. She was also planning to restock Tikki's power up supplies while she was at it. Marinette had dressed in simple pants and shirt, not making a fuss of her appearance. She had pulled her hair into a bun to keep it out of the food as well. Her phone chimed and she pulled it out so fast, she nearly dropped it.

'Hey, Mari. I'm here early. Can you let me in?'

Marinette squeaked in delight and rushed down the stairs, being as careful as possible as she moved at speed. Soon she was at the door and opened it for Zoe. What she saw blew her away.

Zoe was wearing faded denim shorts that exposed way too much of the skin of her legs. She had shaved them apparently and Marinette found herself fighting the urge to run her fingers across the smooth surface. Her tee-shirt was far too big for her and she had tied it on the right side to help it fit.

"Sorry, these were the only older clothes I could find on such short notice. I know you said it was going to be hot in the bakery, so that works out I guess."

Marinette pulled her in and kissed her once she was in the house. Zoe responded warmly and they kissed for quite awhile. Finally, they broke apart for air and Marinette cuddled Zoe to her.

"Good morning, my love." She said, trying to lace her voice with how much she had missed her partner.

Zoe gave her a radiant smile. "And good morning to you as well, my love. I hate being away from you, but if you greet me like that every time, I might have to reconsider how long until we start sharing a bed together." Marinette knew she was teasing her, but she could not help the pout that took over her features.

"Zo!" She complained. Zoe giggled and kissed her again. Marinette was tempted to try and escalate their kiss, giving her a real French kiss but decided the moment was not right. When they broke apart, Marinette unwound her arms from her girlfriend. "Alright, you must have been cold coming over dressed like that. I'll go make you some cocoa. Be right back."

She bounced off to the kitchen to start work on it. As she did, she heard Zoe say to her purse.

"Alright, you were right. It was worth a little chill for that greeting and her cocoa. I'll make sure you get an extra pepper for dinner."

Marinette smiled as she set about making two mugs. She loved to see Zoe and Pollen interacting, rare as it was. She was excited for the secret to be out there and she could tell her partner everything. She was kind of hoping it would happen before they started sharing a bed together each night. She wanted to wake up in Zoe's arms and know they loved both sides of each other.

She came out with the mugs and handed one to Zoe who thanked her with a soft smile. They sat down in the living room and drank as Tom and Sabine walked past to go set up the bakery for the day.

"Ready to get started?" Marinette asked as she motioned for Zoe to join her on the couch. Zoe blinked in confusion and came over to her partner. Marinette took off Zoe's beanie and started running her hands through Zoe's golden locks. Her expert hands began to form a bun with her hair. "Hygiene first, Zo. Can't let any of this beautiful hair into the customer's food."

Zoe giggled. "I'm sorry, I hadn't thought of that. I usually don't do anything too fancy with my hair."

Marinette blushed at the thought of the amazing braid that Vesperia boasted. Her girlfriend was stunning; no matter how she styled her hair.

"If you want to try different styles, let me know. I know a whole bunch of different styles." Marinette grabbed two hairnets and put one on herself to show Zoe how. She smiled as her girlfriend donned one for the first time.

"Thank you, Mari. I would love to play around with some different styles, some time. Maybe we could go to school matching sometimes."

Marinette giggled as she did one last inspection. To make sure there were no loose hairs, of course. She was not using this as a chance to check out her smoking hot girlfriend, no ma'am.

"Alright, making macarons is both very simple and delicate at the same time. Because they are so small, they can burn very easily. Let me show you on a batch and then you can help me with the next one."

Zoe nodded eagerly. "Alright!"

Marinette fell into a practiced rhythm as she prepared the treats. She was making strawberry flavor, which just happened to be Zoe's favorite. Her heart soared at how pleased her partner looked when she noticed this. After the first batch was in the oven, Marinette helped Zoe through her first batch. Maybe there was a bit more touching and guiding of her hands then was strictly needed but Zoe welcomed every touch and asked for guidance often. They worked until the last batch was in the oven. Zoe looked exhausted but happy as she stood there, strawberry batter on her cheek. Marinette smiled and leaned in, kissing her. They had a long tender moment until a timer went off and it was time to take out the first batch. Marinette took out the pan and moved twelve to a bowl while leaving two on the tray.

"Wait, if we made fourteen, why are we only selling twelve?"

Marinette grinned. "This batch I made as a baker's dozen. You make extra for the bakers to try to make sure the batch is good. The others I only made twelve per pan." She placed them on a cooling rack. "In a minute, we should be able to test to make sure the batter mix is good enough to sell."

Zoe smiled warmly. Marinette wanted to pull her in again, but the other timers were near to going off as well. She looked her girlfriend over and noticed some batter had gotten on the exposed skin of her leg as well.

"You're gonna need a shower before we go up to my room after." Marinette teased as she poked Zoe in the arm. Her partner giggled.

"Yeah, I did bring some other clothes, but I guess I didn't consider how messy it would be."

Marinette blushed as she offered. "You can use my shower stuff. It's in the pink bottles and dishes."

Zoe blushed as well and nodded softly. Marinette could not wait until they were alone in her room, Zoe smelling of her soap and shampoo. They worked together to clean up the area once the last of the treats were cooling and Marinette sent Zoe to shower as she took them down to the bakery. The walk downstairs never took so long.

Next time: Movies at the Hotel