Tall

TWENTY THREE

IT'S JUST THREE DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS.

But inside the kitchen of Floured, where there a lot of hustle and bustle in every corner, Dawn quietly stood in front of the mirror in the employee's room, looking at herself intently. Dark circles were developing under her eyes and her cheeks were puffed and rose colored from the heat inside the kitchen. Her hair was everywhere. As a matter of fact, it's been growing but not in the way that she liked. She looked tired and all she wanted to do was dive under the covers and hibernate for the rest of the month of December. Or maybe read a book and drink coffee somewhere far away from the city. Anywhere but here actually.

She felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Zeus smiling at her. She smiled back, though tentatively, then ran her fingers to her hair and tied her apron around her waist.

"Still trouble in paradise?" Zeus asked, shooting her a concerned look.

Dawn nodded and pressed her lips together.

"You still haven't talked to him yet?"

"I guess you can say that I'm avoiding him."

"Why would you even avoid him?" Zeus shook his head in disbelief, sighing heavily. He crossed his arms over his chest. "You two are like children. You both need to grow up and realize both of your feelings for each other. Stop being like that and just talk to him."

"I wasn't the one kissing Kieran!" Dawn snapped

Zeus rolled his eyes. "Jesus, Dawn. Someone has to stop being a child and grow up." he replied. "Eric has been visiting you in the patisserie for days now and there was even one time when he waited for you the whole day and you just ran away from him when you found about it. You were very bad."

"I don't want to talk to him."

"Why? Why don't you want to talk to him?"

"Because!"

"Because you can't accept the fact that he shared a kiss in the place where he first kissed you." Zeus snapped, slamming his palm on the counter table. "Look, there must be some explanation about what happened that night. I don't believe that Eric is some guy who just kisses random girls!"

"Fine!" Dawn cried, throwing her hands in the air. She had been through this conversation two nights ago with Zeus and they ended up fighting about it, just like now.

The two of them shared a knowing look as Dawn sighed heavily and looked down her shoes.

She hadn't talked to Eric since that night and she'd been avoiding him like a plague. She never returned any of his calls and text messages and even if they lived in the same neighborhood, Dawn made sure she would never see him. And she didn't see him. Even though Eric would come all the time to the patisserie and came knocking on her door every time, she just wouldn't budge. And she kind of hated herself for that because after all, she didn't give Eric any time to explain his side.

Kieran did explain herself. Of course, she came to her the next day explaining things. And she may had said something that would give her more reasons to avoid Eric.

"I was the one who kissed Eric, Catherine." Kieran explained that time.

"No, it's okay. I was just surprised." Dawn lied through her teeth.

Kieran looked her in the eyes and said, "I like Eric. I mean, I really, really like him."

Dawn stared at her with wide eyes and lips full of words that never were spoken.

"Can you help me with him?" Kieran asked. "I mean, for him to like me back? You two seem very close and I know that you know a lot about him."

"I don't know, Kieran." Dawn whispered quietly.