"Chase!"

The frilly, high pitched shrill rang in his ears, creating more pressure on his already throbbing temples. He poured an excess amount of chocolate chips into his velvet red cake batter as he tried to ignore the annoying girl that was sitting on a bar stool, watching him lovingly. He sighed and slipped on a pair of blue gloves and began to pick out some of the chips.

Chase could never understand Maya's obsession with him. Ever since they were kids, she was absolutely enamored with insulted her daily, more so than anyone else on the island and made it a point to snub her whenever she addressed him. The previous night when he compared her fudge brownies to pig feces, the distraught girl had flown out of the bar in a fit of sobs. Now here she was, glittering blue eyes wide and glazed over in admiration. Chase decided that some things would always remain a mystery.

"How are you today, Chase?" Maya sang.

He plugged the electric cord to the mixer in a nearby socket, relieved that the noise would soon be drowning out her voice. "I was doing great. But seeing your face has brought on fresh stabs of pain." He clutched at his chest.

Maya pouted and stuck out her tongue at him.

"How come you're always so mean to me?" She demanded.

He placed the whisk inside the doughy mixture and allowed his finger to hover over the power button. "Don't think you're so special. I'm mean to everyone."

Before Maya had a chance to reply, he pressed the power button and set it on the highest level. The steady, sharp sound of the machine was like music to his ears. Sprinkles of dry flour dotted the front of his apron. He could hear Maya screeching indiscernible words from behind him and could see her bony limbs flailing all over the place from the corner of his eye. One, two, three. The thoroughly pleased chef counted to himself. And surely enough: WHAM! The door to the bar slammed shut. It never failed. He struggled to suppress a laugh. He stopped the mixer and poured the smooth batter into a lightly greased pan. The door opened again and to his relief, it was only Kathy. She gave him a pitying look as she shed off her coat and tossed it on one of the tables.

"What's with the face?" He commented as he slipped his hand into an oven mitt.

"Could you at least try to be nice to Maya? She really looks up to you, you know."

"Kathy, how long have you known me? Do I ever try to be nice to anyone?"

She entered the kitchen so that she could look at him face-to-face. "Be nice to her, or I'll tell everyone about the kind and generous deed you did yesterday," she threatened.

All the color drained from his face. "You wouldn't."

"How long have you known me, Chase? You know I would. In a heartbeat."

It was true. Kathy never made empty threats. She grinned as Chase grudgingly accepted her request. "This is ridiculous," he muttered, shoving the pan into the oven. "I'm just a cook."

"Hardly," she said. "Speaking of which, how'd it go with Akari? I'm sorry I wasn't there to finish my shift. The inn needed my help last night."

Chase reflected on Akari's words as he set the timer for thirty minutes. He realized he had underestimated her. She didn't break down in tears; instead, she remained composed and reflective, which impressed him. Though she never explicitly mentioned Owen as the source of her distress, Chase could easily read between the lines. What troubled him most was her willingness to stay in a relationship that showed no signs of getting better. But he understood what it was like to cling to something from the past. Shaking off the memories, he refocused on what he needed to say to Kathy.

"I just don't get it," she sighed when Chase was finished. "Why doesn't she just break up with him?"

He shrugged, staring at the changing numbers on the timer.

"Owen's not a bad guy," Kathy rambled on. "I've known him for my entire life. He'd never hurt anyone. But when he started drinking…" She walked over to the untouched dishes piled in the sink and began to fill it with scorching water. "I should've warned Akari. I thought maybe she would change him."

Chase stood on the opposite side of Kathy and grabbed a dry towel. They unconsciously agreed that she would wash, and he would dry. "No one can really change unless they want to," he replied.

"You're right."

"Aren't I always?"

"You wish."

He chuckled, appreciating her good-natured humor. The scent of sweet, sugary cake had now wafted through the kitchen. Chase pulled a tub of vanilla icing from the refrigerator as one of the doors in the back of the bar opened.

Selena strolled over to them, her auburn hair wet and draped over her shoulder. She looked stunning, as usual. She wore a tight-fitting exotic dress that hugged her chest and hips. Chase sighed. Selena was the island's resident hottie who all the guys adored and feared. But to him, she was only slightly less aggravating than Maya. She didn't have an obsessive crush on him, which was a good thing, but her attitude was a major turnoff. And what disturbed him most was that their personalities were creepily similar.

"Good morning, Kathy," she greeted coolly. She smirked at Chase. "Morning, douche."

Chase began to respond with a worse insult before Kathy clamped a hand over his mouth. "Can't we all just be nice to each other for once? You guys bring such negative energy!"

Chase nipped at her hand, and she yanked it away. When Kathy wasn't looking, he stuck his middle finger up at Selena, who then returned it dismissively. He turned his back on the girls and focused his rapidly decreasing energy on his cake. He put on an oven mitt and slid the pan from the glowing rack. It looked perfect. The round and flaky pastry was ready to be coated with the vanilla icing. As he spread it across the cake's surface, he realized that he had no specific purpose in baking it. After another restless night at home, he arrived at the bar at six in the morning with nothing better to do than to cook. He did this a lot. And now a product of his restlessness sat in front of him.

He refused to waste it on Maya.

For reasons unknown to him, he thought about Akari. The shred of good in him, though minuscule, considered delivering the cake to her. She did look much too thin to have to handle all of that farm work on her own. She probably never ate much, considering her lack of culinary skills (he knew this due to the cooking lesson he attempted to teach her) and the fact that she stopped coming by to grab any food. And knowing that she was depressed over Owen, she probably wasn't eating anything at all. It was settled. He would give the cake to her.

"…I'm going to see her today," Chase heard Kathy say to Selena. "Maybe she'll actually talk to me."

Selena shook her head as she raked through her tangled hair. "She needs to go punch that jerk in the face. I swear, if a guy ever hit me, every bone in his body would be crushed."

Kathy laughed. "Good thing she's not like you," she teased.

Chase took the opportunity to slip out the back door.