whatever the future holds

chapter one

Ximena was sitting in front of me checking her watch for the third time in five minutes. She gave me a look that said: 'Eleanor better be here in ten minutes.' And I couldn't agree more, Eleanor's boyfriend was sitting on the other side of the booth. He had curly hair and very long lashes. He wore baggy clothing, but it all fit together. It was definitely not the type of boy Eleanor normally was attracted to. He was a skater boy, her normal type were more athletic and flirty. They would've asked Ximena's number by now already. The conversation between the new boyfriend and us was one of few words before neither of us knew what to say anymore.

What did Ell expect?! Ximena texted me. Leave the most awkward people with your boyfriend alone for half an hour. . .

I chuckled. She looked up and rolled her eyes.

Didn't even invite Simon to help us a little bit. I texted back.

"You guys didn't have to wait too long did you?" Eleanor asked as she put her bag on the table with a loud bang.

Her boyfriend whose name I'd already forgotten quickly reassured her that we hadn't been here for too long which may be true for him since he was on the phone the entire time, but for me it felt like hours. They were definitely still in the beginner phase. She sat down next to her boyfriend and grabbed a menu.

"Did you guys already order?"

"No," Ximena answered. "We waited for you since we--"

"Let's order then shall we? I am star-ving," she sang the last bit.

"What do y'all wanna eat?" I asked them since I didn't see Maria, the waitress, around. They all told me their order. Ximena shot me a look when I walked away. She mouthed: 'Don't leave me alone with them please!'

"Not my problem," I mouthed back.

"Already a new one?" Mrs. Bennet asked me as I stood at the counter.

"Yeah, we didn't expect this one either, but who knows maybe this one is serious."

She raised one of her eyebrows and looked at me as if to say: 'you can't be kidding me right now'.

"Where's Maria?"

"Oh the poor kid." Although Maria is a 30-year old woman, Mrs. Bennet still calls her kid, but then again when you're old everyone is like a kid to you. "She called me this morning, and you know me, I'm not so handy with the phone. I didn't even know where I put it. The call ended and I didn't know how to call back. My grandson helped me, but anyways, Maria got into this accident and broke her leg. She said she could keep on working, but I told her to take a rest."

"That's horrible. How are you manage the cafe alone?"

"That's what I wanted to ask you. Do you want to fill in for Maria? You wouldn't have to do it all alone my grandson also agreed to help!" When she didn't hear an immediate reply she smiled. "Think about it."

I told her I would and then gave her our order. I could see in her eyes how passionate she was about the bakery. One day when I came to the bakery on my own she told me about how this bakery was her dream and that she started it alone with a loan from the bank. At the time our town didn't have a lot of shops and cafes. To be exact, The Friends was the first cafe/bakery. Over the years more and more shops formed around her cafe. It was my favorite place to hang out.

I grabbed the tray of drinks and walked back to our booth.

"What took you so long?" Eleanor asked as I put down all the drinks on the table.

I told them what Mrs. Bennet told me, and that I wasn't sure if I should take the job. Since we had promised to have the best break ever.

"No, you've got to do this. You love baking and you love this bakery!" Ximena said. "I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to still make this an amazing summer and you've been talking about wanting to have a job."