We can only learn to love by loving

Part 17

Mel's Pov

The morning of Leah appearing at my place was the last time I had seen her. I decided to block her number and remove her from social media, the last thing I wanted to see was her and Jordan plastered all over my screen.

The following weeks seen Leah making several visits to the bakery, flowers and chocolate being sent too both the store and my apartment, and several messages being left with Jade, asking for her to get me to call her back. Despite Leah's efforts, I remained strong. Although my feelings were still as strong as ever for her, they do not overshadow the hurt and embarrassment she had caused me.

What made it worse was the fact that I was falling in love with her, well no actually, I was in love with her. And although we were not official, at one point I was confident that we were heading in that direction. She was the only person who could brighten up my day with a sarcastic one liner, or cause butterflies to erupt in my stomach through just flashing me a simple smile.

Tears stream down my cheeks each time I thought of the time we spent together, and my heart now felt numb.

As always, I done the only thing I knew what to do, and that was throwing myself into work. When I bake, I feel a sense of freedom and allow myself to transfer my passion into the treats I make.

Luckily, this had worked in my favour. Business had taken off and I had to employ more people to help work within the shop, Jade, my trusty shop assistant had been promoted to manage to the store on my behalf, which allowed me to focus solely on the baking side of things.

A few months later......

Business had continued to take off and today was the day I was opening another store in Manchester. Manchester had become my second home over time, although I still lived in St. Albans, I felt as though travelling to Manchester was a way for me to escape reality. My time here was filled with relaxing days in hotels and going out exploring the city in the evening.

During my time in Manchester, I had met some friends in a local bar who were down to earth people. Lucy and I had gotten extremely close, we spoke all the time and when I would head up to Manchester, she would keep me company during my stay. Although I had a feeling Lucy wanted more than just friendship, I appreciated her friendship and support recently and did not see her in a romantic way. However, spending time with Lucy made it easier for me to forget about Leah, or so I had thought.

I often found myself searching Leah's name on Instagram, holding my breath as her page would loud expecting for it to be filled with images of her and Jordan together. Afterall, they had similar lifestyles, and I was aware they used to both play at Arsenal together so it would make more sense for them to be together, considering they have a lot in common. So, when Leah's page would load, I was pleasantly surprised to see no signs of Jordan. Weird, right?

The store opening with Manchester went well, despite my awkwardness, I had always enjoyed meeting new people, so when you own a bakery, you meet new and wonderful people each day. The people in Manchester seem to be completely opposite to the people in St. Albans, but despite their differences, they were equally as pleasant.

I was staying in Manchester for tonight and tomorrow and was heading back to St. Albans the following day to give myself a few days rest, as opening a new store can be physically and mentally exhausting.

Just as I arrived back at my hotel, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. As I pulled it out of my pocket, I was greeted to an incoming facetime call from Lucy.

Answering the call, I was immediately greeted to the petite brunette whose mouth was beaming from ear to ear. Her electric green eyes gleamed with joy.

"Hey!" she excitedly shouted.

"Hey Luce, what's got you so excited?" I giggled, edging over to the freshly made bed.

"Well.... Now that you ask, I have proposition for you." Lucy stated.

Lucy was an events manager here in Manchester, who prided herself on helping people to enjoy themselves and have a good time. It seemed she had made a name for herself because whenever we were out and about, she always seemed to bump into someone that she knew. Although it could be quite frustrating at times, it also came with its perks as I was introduced to a whole new group of people, who also became my support group, along with Lucy.

"Go on...." I nervously encouraged.

"Well, I know you're probably exhausted after today, and will want to rest tomorrow before you head back home. But I've just got off a phone call from a guy who has asked me to help arrange a charity event tomorrow night. I know it's last minute, but I must try and pull everything together tonight. I was wondering if you could maybe cater for it? Just a couple of cupcakes, brownies etc"

"When you say a couple, how many are we talking?"

"Erm, maybe a couple of hundred?" I could see the smile on her face had now turned to a cheeky grin as she knew I wouldn't be able to say no.

Internally rolling my eyes I finally agreed to help. "Okay, fine I'll do it. Only because it's you! Text me the details and I'll make sure everything is ready"

"Thanks Mel, I've gotta go, I've got some other phone calls to make ahead of tomorrow, but thank you again! I owe you one."

And with that, the facetime call had ended. Despite the exhaustion which had taken over my body, I knew I would have felt guilty if I said no.

After showering, I decided to give myself an early night. My alarm was set for 5am to head over to the store to begin the task for tomorrow night which I knew meant I was going to have a long day.

Little did I know, after 4 months apart with no contact, I would be coming face to face with a certain guest tomorrow night .........