A/N: So lovely to see so many folks enjoying this, especially the part where AB & Joel are getting married! lol Thanks so much for the reviews! :)
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 3
When the cab pulled up outside of the hotel, Zoe was confused to see Wade waiting for her on the sidewalk. Before she could even think about getting out of the car, she realised he was getting in, smiling widely.
"Didn't know I was gonna get the pleasure of your company again so fast, doc," he said in greeting. "Joel called, said he got this crazy message from AB and that you might need some help fixin' some wedding stuff that's goin' wrong."
"That's true." Zoe nodded in agreement, before turning back around and asking the driver to take them to the Suissemont Bakery. "That's the place that's making the wedding cake."
"Yeah, I figured," said Wade, just then putting on his safety belt. "How many things can go wrong with a wedding cake anyhow?"
"Apparently, it's completely possible for a bakery to think a wedding cake should be iced in black instead of white," she explained, looking at him in the rearview, not entirely surprised to see him trying not to laugh.
"Wow, a black wedding cake. That's... interesting."
"Not if you're AB, it's not," Zoe confirmed. "She was so upset on the phone, I really hope we can figure it out, and then, there's a potential problem with the dress and also the rings. I really don't understand how so many things can have gone so wrong, so suddenly!"
Zoe was hoping that most of the issues proved to be either simple fixes or just misunderstandings that were not half so bad as they seemed. This she said to Wade, as they disembarked from the cab outside the bakery and she paid off the driver, so he could leave.
"I don't know how long we'll be," she explained to Wade, "and besides, everything is pretty close together, so we can either walk or take the subway to our other stops."
"Sounds good to me, doc," he agreed easily, hands deep in his pockets as he followed her into the bakery.
Zoe really hadn't thought much about how her companion looked until they got inside and she realised a couple of the staff were looking Wade over with a sneer on their lips. In worn jeans and a plaid shirt, she supposed he did stick out a little in the streets of New York, and doubly so in a high-end bakery. Not that she had time to worry about that right now. Instead, she concentrated on giving the details regarding Annabeth and Joel's wedding cake to somebody who looked like they might be senior staff.
"This order is to be fulfilled for Saturday, the 29th," said a haughty woman, adjusting her glasses as she checked the screen in front of her. "Today is Thursday, the 27th."
"Yes, I know that, but the bride just got an alert about progress on her cake and the attached photograph caused her some alarm," she said, as delicately as she could. "Is there any chance we could see the cake in-person?"
Once again, the look on the woman's face was as close to a sneer as it could be when she glanced at Wade. Zoe felt awful about that, until she realised that Wade wasn't paying enough attention to even know he was getting the stink eye. Apparently, the young blonde bakery assistant had all his attention and she was clearly loving it too.
"Seriously?" Zoe muttered, but that was all, since she had enough to deal with already.
"Since your name has been given to us by the bride, just so long as you can prove your identity, I have no problem with you coming out back and assessing progress with the cake."
"Thank you." Zoe sighed with relief, pulling out her driver's licence to prove who she was, then swiftly following the woman towards the 'Staff Only' door. "Uh, Wade?" she called behind her.
"I'm fine hangin' out right here, doc," he told her absently, waving a hand in her direction. "Just holler if you really need me, okay?"
His eyes never left the blonde, who was practically drooling. Zoe took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on the matter at hand. Besides, it didn't take two people to check the decoration on a cake, and if a fight started, Zoe was pretty sure she could handle it herself. Of course, when she actually saw the cake, she wished she didn't have to deal with it at all.
"So, it is black," she said, stunned to realise it was true. "I half-expected it to be a bad photograph, but this is... It's black," she repeated.
"I'm aware of the colour, Ms Hart."
"Dr Hart," Zoe corrected her like a reflex, "but why would you make a black wedding cake?"
"We made a perfectly normal wedding cake, one tier in heavy fruit, the other in light sponge, with particular attention paid to all the food allergies listed on the order," the haughty woman explained. "The decoration was stated to be as the attached photograph..." she continued, handing over a paper print-out of said order.
Zoe's eyes went wide when she saw it. Though she knew for certain that Annabeth had wanted the traditional white cake, the photograph she had submitted must have had bad lighting or a strange filter or something, because it really did look more like black, perhaps dark grey, but definitely not white.
"Oh, no," she gasped, looking from the picture to the cake and back.
She couldn't argue, couldn't blame the bakery for the mistake. Of course, she also wasn't prepared to call Annabeth and tell her the cake was wrong but it was all her own fault. There had to be a third option. She just wished she knew what it was.
"How much would you charge to re-ice the cake?" she asked, braced accordingly for an exorbitant figure that she would probably have to cover herself, just to keep the peace.
"Oh, I'm sorry, but there is no question of us re-icing this cake," said the woman, shaking her head. "We run a very tight ship here. We have other orders that need to be attended to. This job is close to completion and we are happy to finish, but there is no way anyone here will be starting over on your cake. I'm sorry."
"No, you're really not." Zoe shook her head, pulling out her cell and scrolling through the contacts at top speed. "Wade!" she yelled as she walked back through to the store, not even daring to glance up and see what he and the bakery assistant were up to by now.
"What's up, doc?" he said, grinning too much as he stepped up beside her.
"We need a new cake," she explained. "They won't re-ice the one they made and it is black. I know a guy who might be able to help us, but we need to move."
She tried not to notice the note that Wade was slipping into his pocket as they exited the bakery, the one the blonde handed to him when she thought nobody was looking. No doubt it was a phone number. Not that Zoe had any reason to care, of course. Why would she? Especially when there were much more important things to think about.
"Where to now?" asked Wade.
Zoe put up her hand to silence him, just as her phone connected. A quick chat garnered the result she was looking for, thank God. When she ended her call, she found Wade staring at her with the strangest look on his face.
"What?" she asked, self-conscious in a second.
"Nothing, no," he insisted, shaking his head. "I was just thinking, you talk faster than I ever heard anybody talk, and you really know how to get what you want. Ain't exactly how I expected a doctor to be is all. Ain't unimpressive, just so you know."
Zoe smiled at that. It was possibly the weirdest compliment she had ever heard.
"Thanks, but being a doctor often requires me to talk at speed and to be able to get what I want done just as fast. Sometimes people's lives depend on it."
"Well, at least all we gotta worry about right now is a cake."
"And a dress, and rings," Zoe reminded him. "We're not done yet, and to get to our next stop, we're headed for the subway."
"Subway, sure." Wade nodded like it was no big deal, but something crossed his face that Zoe couldn't fail to miss.
"You're not claustrophobic or anything, right?" she checked, just in case.
"You kidding me right now?" Wade rolled his eyes. "I look like the kinda guy that's afraid of a crowd? I run a bar, for crying out loud. A real popular bar that is packed out with people, more often than it's not."
"Okay, fine," said Zoe, deciding to let it go.
Grabbing Wade's sleeve so she wouldn't lose him in the crush, Zoe headed down the street and then turned into the subway, hurrying down the steps. Wade was at her back when they hit the bottom and from there, they navigated their way to the correct platform.
"Stay close," she called over her shoulder, half-afraid of losing him in the even bigger crowd down in the station.
"I'm with you, doc," he promised, so close to her ear that she shivered at the sound, and then, the feel of his hand on her shoulder.
A couple of minutes later, they had made it to the platform, just as a train was pulling in. Zoe reached for Wade's hand, picking it up from her shoulder and holding on tight. She tried to ignore the electric current that seemed to shoot up her whole arm and burst across her chest when he took hold and squeezed her fingers. This was all for practical purposes, after all, nothing else.
They stepped onto the train together and the doors closed behind them. Zoe both heard and felt Wade breathe a sigh of relief, but resisted the urge to ask him if he was okay. Most likely he would say he was, even if he wasn't. Men were like that. She assumed Southern men were probably even more that way than New Yorkers might be.
He still had a hold of her hand, and even though it probably wasn't necessary anymore, Zoe didn't fight to make him let go. It wasn't as if it mattered anyway, so long as she didn't look at him. That would just make it weird.
They only travelled three stops down the line, then were ready to disembark. It should have been easy, except the people rushing to get on weren't eager to let the other people off the train first. Despite her best efforts to keep hold, Zoe felt Wade's hand slip away from hers, as she was propelled forward onto the platform and he was dragged back by the crowd.
"Damn it!" she cursed, twisting her ankle a little as she hit the ground with a bump.
No great harm done, but she had almost landed on her face. Immediately, she straightened up and looked for Wade, half-afraid he was stuck on the train, which might whisk him away before he could get out the door. Unfortunately, another man was blocking her view and he seemed very happy to be there.
"Hey, sweetheart. Looking for somebody?" he asked with a leer.
Zoe side-stepped him and continued trying to see where Wade had got to, but the man was persistent.
"You're rude," he said crossly. "I asked you a question, sweetheart," he emphasised, making a grab for her arm. "If you're going to be so unfriendly, maybe I'll have to try something else."
"Hey!"
At the sound of someone calling, the man turned around, only to drop like a felled tree when he received a strike across the face. Once he was out of the way, Zoe found herself looking at Wade, who was trying not to wince, while shaking out his hand.
"Haven't had to do that in a while," he remarked, looking down at the fallen man, then up at Zoe. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," she assured him, "but we should really get out of here, before you get arrested."
Grabbing the hand he hadn't just knocked a guy out with, Zoe hurried for the exit, practically dragging Wade behind her. She didn't stop, didn't look back, didn't even try to answer when Wade asked questions. They needed to get back to street level, and then, preferably, a good distance away before anybody in authority had a chance to figure out what happened.
"Seriously, doc, what is goin' on?" asked Wade, the moment they were back out in the street and Zoe finally stopped rushing them along.
"You just knocked a guy out," she told him. "I don't know how things work in Alabama, but here, that's called assault."
"And him makin' a grab at you like that wasn't?" he checked. "I saw what he did, Zoe, and I also have a good idea what he planned on doin' next."
"Me too," she confirmed, shuddering a little just thinking of it in such vague terms, "but I could've handled it. It's not the first time some pervert tried something."
"That happens here all the time?" Wade asked, even as Zoe encouraged him to start walking with her again, which he did.
"Well, not all the time, but this is New York, Wade, a big city. Crime happens. I mean, even in Bluebell, you must have criminals."
"You wanna know when the last real crime happened in Bluebell, doc? Well, so do I," he told her, shaking his head. "I was born and raised in that town, and in all my almost thirty years, I never heard of a single crime, least not beyond kids daring each other to shoplift a candy bar or somebody forgettin' to figure out their dog licence or some such. Nothing serious, not once. Pretty sure my old man could say the same. That is how long it's been."
Zoe felt her eyes widen at that, sure for a moment that he was joking, but one look at his face told her she was wrong. He meant it. He really came from a place where there was no crime, ever. She might have said something to him about it, if they hadn't found themselves outside of Yves' Bakery. They had an express delivery cake to order, not to mention a dress and rings to check in on. It was going to be a long day.
To Be Continued...