Meeting Life Over Cake

Her Choice

As soon as she realised what she wanted from her life, she set out to work for it.
She was ready for a commitment. She was ready for Atul.
People say working up the courage to do something is the hardest thing, once that courage is with you, every step will turn out to be easy. Stuti took a whole month to prepare herself pondering over everything that might happen. She was ready for the best and prepared for the worst.
She still didn't know how to get to him, she hadn't worked​ out that bit yet. So she decided to rest matters for a while and eat a cake. It had been a while since she had gone to The Bakery and since there was no time like the present, she decided to do it then. Luckily, she was on leave.
As soon as she entered The Bakery, it filled her with that warmth of belonging that she had been missing all these days.
'Welcome dea', we missed you here.', Mrs. Dorothy said on spotting her.
'Yeah, I had to work. New job requires commitment.', she replied.
'I have just got the right thing for you. You got time?'
'Plenty.'
'Excellent! Make yourself comfortable.'
Stuti didn't need to be told twice. Whenever she stepped into The Bakery, the time seemed to have stopped. Time doesn't stop and she knew that. But it felt right to be there.
She was pondering over how little the place had changed when the ancient bell by the door, that had been there since her first visit, chimed.
Atul.
She grunted in frustration. Obviously, that wasn't a good idea because he could easily spot her now.
'Hey!', he was genuinely surprised.
'Hi.', she replied, her voice small.
Before the conversation could drag any further, in came Mrs. Dorothy bringing a beautiful and simple cake with elegant chocolate frosting.
'Can I share?', were Atul's first words after Mrs. Dorothy had went back to the kitchen.
'Yes.', it was time, she prepared herself.
And while eating a wonderful cake, Stuti confessed what she felt and to her great relief, Atul seemed to be in full agreement.
'I'll be honoured, also I'm glad that you did the tough part.', he had said.
Stuti was just happy to be there, in that moment, with the right person, so she just smiled.
And just two months after they had shared the cake, they vowed to share each other's sorrow and joy and more importantly, each other's lives.