"Please, Mama, let me work," I begged the old lady who was also a second mother to me as well as my boss. "Please, I'm begging you. I learnt my lesson and now all I want is to work and to be the best employee ever."
"No, Declan, you are suspended," she reminded me as she continued to read the book in her hands. Since I arrived here and sat in front of her, she hadn't looked at me once in the eyes.
"But please, I'm really sorry. I swear I won't cause any more trouble in the future, you can trust me," I promised her, "I will do everything that you want me to, just let me come back."
"I only wanted you to do one thing when I employed you and that was to not disturb my peaceful atmosphere. You did not listen to me so now deal with the consequences," she said and I pouted. "Besides, you have only one more week to wait before your suspension is over."
"I know but still, I want to come back. I can work for free for this week if you want. It will be like if I am still on suspension!" I suggested and she finally looked up at me. She seemed to consider my idea for a moment but in the end, she shook her head.
"That won't be much of a punishment if I let you come back," she stated and I groaned.
On this beautiful Saturday morning, I found myself at the cupcake shop, begging Mama to let me come back to work. I thought that it would be better to come see her in person instead of simply calling her on her phone but it turned out that face to face or not, there was no way that she would let me come back.
I knew that I should be kind of happy about the fact that I was free from any work duties for the week, it was like being on vacation and I could also do some catch up work for school but I actually missed my job, not only because of the money, but because I liked it here. As strange as it might seem, the cupcake shop felt like a real home to me. Despite all the ups and downs, being here made me happy and changed a little bit my surrounding.
"This is painful," I said and I let my head fall on the table, closing my eyes. I soon felt Mama pat my head.
"This is the whole point, dear," she informed me, "Be happy that your suspension was only for two weeks and not more. I could have been more cruel with you."
"Then it would have been completely unfair. I did not even participate in the fight," I told her.
"True, but those two boys were fighting over you," she reminded me, "So you are partly responsible for the mess caused."
"Yeah, I know," I sighed, "There is no way for me to change your mind, isn't it?"
"No," was her reply like I expected, "Now go back home or else I will extent your suspension."
I immediately sat up straight at that and she laughed at the expression on my face but I knew that she was dead serious.
"I will see you next week, Declan," she said, waving at me with a smile on her face but I did not smile back, I was too annoyed for that.
"Meanie," I pouted as I stood up and she chuckled, really amused. I quickly glanced around, "I'm going to buy some cupcakes then I will be gone from here."
"Please do," she said and she immediately returned to her reading.
I sighed and slowly walked towards the waiting line to buy some cupcakes. I had nothing else better to do for the day so I would just get myself some cupcakes and make a little walk around town. Perhaps, I would pay Joshua a little visit at his workplace. I was sure that he would be thrilled.
As there were not many people in the line, it was quickly my turn to be served. Gabriela was the one working at the cash register and she smiled when she saw me.
"Hi, Declan," she greeted me joyfully, "It has been a while since I last saw you. You came to beg Mama to end your suspension?"
Straightforward much.
"Kind of," I replied to her as I leaned on the counter, "It was completely useless though."
"I am not surprised. It isn't Mama's type to return back on her words," she told me, glancing briefly in Mama's direction before looking back at me. "You still have one week of suspension, right?" I nodded with a pout and she chuckled. "Cheer up, Declan! It will be over soon. You will be back in no time, my work buddy." She pushed me playfully on the shoulder, a bright smile still on her face.
I was pretty sure that Gabriela did not like me when I first started working here but I guessed that she grew to appreciate my presence as time passed. I would even go as far as to say that she was kind of cool to be around at times. Of course, we were not the best buddies ever but we both knew the importance of each other at the cupcake shop and I guessed that it was what made us get along.
"What are you going to take? Well, if you are even here to buy something," she said with a laugh and I chuckled. I hummed as I thought of what I wanted.
"Just give me five red velvet cupcakes," I told her, thinking that I was going to share some with Joshua, "As well as a vanilla milkshake."
She nodded and quickly entered everything in the cash register before giving me the amount. I took out my money and handed it to her. After she gave me back my change, she went to take my order and it didn't take long for her to be back with my cupcakes placed into a little bag in one hand and my milkshake in the other hand.
"Bye, bye, Declan," she waved me goodbye.
"Bye, Gabriela," I told her and I grabbed my food, turning around to go. Though, just as I took one step forward, the door of the cupcake shop opened and a little angel walked in. "Pierre," I breathed out in disbelief and his eyes immediately fell on me. He seemed to freeze in place when he saw me and to be honest, I was surprised to see him here.
Wasn't he supposed to be grounded?
I decided to go ask him what he was doing here when suddenly a girl appeared behind him and she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him on the cheek. I froze on the spot. I watched them in pure disbelief as the girl moved her mouth to his ear to whisper something to him. She laughed then and he gave her an hesitant smile.
Just who the fuck was that?!
Trying to keep my calm, I walked to them, a fake smile plastered on my face, as I felt the anger built itself inside of me. Pierre glanced in my direction and gave me one of those looks that said that he did not want me to approach him, but I acted like if I was not understanding anything and stopped right in front of him and the brunette girl.
The brunette didn't take long to notice me and she looked at me from up and down.
"Hi, dude," she surprisingly greeted me first, her eyes meeting mine. "Who are you?" She looked at Pierre, not wanting for my reply. "Do you know him, sweetie?"
Sweetie?
"Declan," Pierre simply replied, "It's Declan and oh, hmm..." He seemed to be completely lost on what to say, he seemed to be panicking actually and to be honest, all I wanted to do at this very moment was to throw my milkshake at his fucking face.
Seriously, what was wrong with him?! God please, he wasn't running away with another girl again, was he? Why the hell did he come here with that random brunette?! He was supposed to be at his house because he couldn't go out! He couldn't have lied to me, could he?
"Declan," the brunette repeated my name and she licked her lips. "Sexy name for a sexy guy."
"Mel, don't start," Pierre scolded her immediately and he pushed her arms away from him, "Don't flirt with him."
"Relax, sweetie, that was just a compliment," she told him innocently and she giggled.
"Who are you?" I asked her then, already annoyed by her mere presence, "I never saw you around here."
"That's because I'm new in town," she informed me and I tried to not glare when she passed her hand through Pierre's hair. She told him, "Hey, introduce me properly to your friend already."
"No need to, Declan was about to leave," Pierre said surprisingly and I looked at him in disbelief. Was it seriously his way of saying that he did not want me here? "We are not going to hold him back any longer so-"
"I am not going anywhere!" I interrupted him, snapping a bit and he looked at me with pleading eyes, "Just tell me who is that charming girl who is clinging to you?"
"This is not what you are thinking."
"You don't know what I am thinking right now."
"Declan-"
"Pierre," I interrupted him again and he just stared at me, not saying one word. The brunette looked at us in confusion.
"I'm suddenly feeling some tension," she commented with a nervous laugh, "So I'm going to buy a few cupcakes. In the meantime, just solve whatever is going on here." She quickly added, "Declan, stay here. I would like to know more about you." And off she was walking towards Gabriela.
"Go away, Declan," Pierre immediately told me once we were alone. He stepped forward and grabbed my arm. He was speaking low enough for only me to hear. "Just get out of here. I will tell Melanie that you really had to go."
"Oh, so that's Melanie. Weird, you never mentioned her to me," I told him angrily and I yanked my arm out of his grip, "Who is she? Your new girlfriend? That would explain why you are here with her when you are supposed to be grounded. I bet that your parents let you out of the house to have some sweet time with your new girl."
"No, you got it all wrong," he told me and I was about to snap back when he added something that caught me off guard, "She's just my cousin and nothing more. I swear."
He got to be kidding me.
"Your what?" I asked him with wide eyes, "That's your cousin?"
He quickly nodded and I just stared at him, incredulous. That was simply unbelievable.
"Why didn't you say so sooner, idiot?!" I scolded him and what I really wanted to say was 'why did you let me get jealous of this girl when she was simply your damn cousin?!'. Oh my god, did he do it on purpose? Did he want me to get jealous or what?
"Just go already. I will explain everything to you later but now-"
"I think that we should sit at a table," Melanie was back before Pierre could even finish his sentence and he gulped. She had with her a few cupcakes of different sort and a milkshake.
"Sorry but Declan needs to go," Pierre quickly told her and she frowned.
"I'm starting to think that you don't want me to talk to him, Pierre," she said and she did not know how much she was right. "Remember what your mom said? You are supposed to show me around town and make me meet some new people. Declan is someone new so we are all going to sit down and talk. Do you have any objections, Declan?"
Say no, say no, say no!...I was pretty sure that it was what Pierre was telling me in his head right now but somehow, I ended up doing the complete opposite.
"Sounds like a good idea to me," I replied to Melanie who then smiled while Pierre's expression literally dropped to the lowest level possible.
"Great, let's sit then," she said happily and she glanced around quickly before going in the direction of a free table. I followed her with a very reluctant Pierre closed behind us. Once we reached the table, Melanie and I sat down and Pierre was about to do the same when his cousin suddenly spoke, "Pierre, weren't you supposed to go see the owner of this place to apologize or something?"
"Yes, but-"
"Mama's over there if you want to apologize to her," I informed him, showing him where she was sitting. I guessed that the apologize was because of the fight with Evan.
"Oh, great then," Melanie said with a smile, "Go see her, Pierre. Then you come back."
Pierre looked at me then at Melanie before forcing a smile on his face, "Okay, I will be right back." Something was really wrong with him today. I watched him as he hesitantly walked away from us in the direction of Mama. Once he had reached her table, I turned back to Melanie who was already staring right back at me. I examined her face.
She was not how I imagined one of Pierre's cousins to be.
She was tall, taller than Pierre actually but same height as me and I wondered if it was because of the long boots that she was currently wearing. Her brown hair was tied in a ponytail and she did not exaggerate too much with the makeup. What surprised me actually was the fact that she was wearing a short, a ripped short, and she had a jacket on.
Mr. and Mrs. Lois let their niece go out with that type of clothing?
She looked like a little rebel now that I was taking in her appearance.
After about one minute of just staring at each other, I decided to break the silence and to speak first but Melanie beat me to it.
"So you're the Declan White that my auntie wanted me to meet," were her first words and I frowned. What did she just say?
"How do you know my family name?" I asked her in confusion and she grabbed one cupcake, taking a bite of it before moaning at the taste.
"My aunt, Pierre's mom, told me about you," she explained herself and that did not make any sense to me, "You see, I arrived here yesterday afternoon and my aunt and I talked a bit about Pierre's girlfriend, well ex-girlfriend now, and your name was mentioned. You quickly became our new topic of conversation actually."
She had a devilish smile on her face as she spoke those words and I was slowly starting to understand why Pierre wanted me to get the hell away from her.
I did not like where things were going suddenly.
"I don't know what you are trying to say by this," I told her, now on the defensive mode, and she laughed.
"Oh, well, judging from what I heard from my aunt, your relationship with Pierre is what I would call something more than simple friendship," she said slowly and I clenched my fist under the table, "My aunt did not say it out loud but I am pretty sure that she knows what's happening; her son is falling, or maybe has already fallen, for a boy. It's some sort of forbidden love."
That damn little bitch...
It was final; Pierre was definitely surrounded by crazy women. First there was only his mother, then came Veronica and now his stupid cousin. Was it so obvious that he loved me? I meant I did not know that it was real until he actually said the words but them, they just knew how he felt without any of us actually saying anything about it.
"Do you love him too?" Melanie asked me.
"I don't love him," I told her the very same lie that I told Veronica yesterday, "And he doesn't love me. We are just friends."
"Liar," she accused me with a sharp gaze, "Your little moment earlier proved my point. The jealousy could be seen on your face when you saw how close we were."
"I don't love him," I repeated myself with a more firm tone this time, "We're both guys and we both know that it's wrong for two men to fall in love."
She laughed again, shaking her head, "You may know that it's wrong but that doesn't mean that you can stop the feeling called love from growing. Auntie was definitely right; something is going on between you two."
I could basically feel the hostility coming from her. She was slowly revealing her real face.
"Why are you here?" I asked her.
"Family reasons," was her reply, "And know that I will be around for quite a while. Don't you think that it's great?"
No.
"Besides," she continued, without waiting for my reply once again, "There's no way that I'm going back home now that I just learnt that my little cousin is getting a bit too close to another boy. I need to do something. Don't you think?"
Great, another homophobic bitch. I was so lucky lately.
"There's nothing to do as there's nothing important going on between Pierre and I," I kept up with my lie and she actually glared at me, with that sort of dark aura present around her.
"Prove it," she challenged me. "Prove to me that you don't love him."
"How do you want me to prove that?" I asked her, lost.
"Well," she started but she didn't finish her sentence. I waited for her to say something else when suddenly I felt something touching me under the table and my eyes widened.
"What the hell!" I exclaimed, capturing the attention of a few people around, as I pulled my chair away from the table to distance myself from her.
"What? It's just my foot," she snickered.
"Keep your fucking foot to yourself."
"Rude," she commented and she took a sip of her milkshake, "Why does it even bother you? I'm sure that the straight dude that you are is used to girls touching his private parts. Aren't I right?"
"I'm going," I declared but she did not let me do so.
"Stay here," she ordered me immediately with a warning look, "Or else, believe me, I won't hesitate to tell my aunt that you finally admitted your infinite love for Pierre."
"I never admitted that."
"And who do you think my aunt is going to believe? Me or you?" she asked me and she threw one quick glance in the direction of Pierre who was still busy with Mama unfortunately. "Trust me, I am the type of person who can ruin your life in a matter of seconds and I will really like to believe that Pierre hasn't crossed any line and that he is still the same as before, so please, Declan, help me make sure that my cousin is still the boy who only liked girls. Honestly, I don't care about you or about your life choices but I can promise you that if Pierre turns out to be a disappointment, he will live through real hell."
There was no need to mention that I hated that girl already.
"What do you want me to do then?" I asked her, gritting my teeth and she had one of those thoughtful expressions on her face, "You want me in your bed or what?"
"Maybe," she replied, really amused, and I glared at her, feeling completely disgusted inside, "But sex will have to wait for another time. For now, you'll invite me on a date and we'll tell Pierre about it. We need to crush his little dreams and make him understand that you and him, it's never going to happen."
I was stupid, so stupid. I should have listened to Pierre instead of being stubborn and remaining here. I should have ran away when I still could because right now, the devil just had me wrapped around her little finger.