"So let me get this right," Alex had invited herself round my house bright and early the next morning; as soon as I let her inside she began bombarding me with questions, the majority to do with Andres.
Of course, at the mention of his name, I had found it hard to contain my excitement ended up spilling all of Sunday's events to her. "You baked him a plate of cookies, then he asked you out?" I nodded my head hesitantly, still unsure if he was indeed 'asking me out'.
"You know this means right?"
"He really likes cookies?" I said, only half-joking. Alex shook her head frantically at me, her mouth gaping open wide.
"We're going to be cousins in law!"
The shocking statement caused me to jump and I fell backwards off of the sofa, landing on the hard floor with a thump. "What? I'm not getting married to the guy!" I exclaimed loudly.
"Oh come on, you guys are so perfect for each other!" Alex groaned dramatically.
Sitting back on the sofa, I straightened out my skirt again, trying to get back what little dignity I had left. "I barely know him, it would be strange for me to be thinking of marrying him," I also wasn't even sure if he liked me yet, maybe he just wanted to be friends.
Alex seemed to sense the doubt radiating from me and her face turned stern. "Listen, lady, you better not be thinking that you aren't good enough to him because I promise you that he's blessed to get a date with you!"
It was true, I definitely didn't feel good enough for Andres. Throughout my childhood, I had been told that I wasn't good enough. I was never talented enough or attractive enough. My self-confidence has always been low, but I didn't hate myself. It was more that I thought other people wouldn't accept me because of my weight.
So it was only natural to think most men wouldn't turn a blind eye to my extra weight.
"My god Lena you are so stubborn!"
It was clear that Alex was frustrated with me now. She was easily irritated and had anger management problems, but overall always had good intentions. "You know, there are some men that come to the bakery from something other than cookies and cakes!"
"Sausage rolls?" I asked, confused.
Alex rolled her eyes angrily. "No! For eye-candy! People love you and you're gorgeous!"
Eye-candy? Surely not me. I was often prided on my skills as a baker but other than that I doubt I was acknowledged very much. Noticing my disbelief Alex sighed, her aggravation slowly diminishing and fading away until she was calm again.
I could tell she had more to say but had decided to keep it to herself. "We should head to the bakery," She said, before getting up and walking towards the door. I trailed slowly behind her, trying to switch off my emotions and get ready for a day at work.
Before walking through the door Alex turned to me again, clearly wanting to get something off of her chest. "You are beautiful, you just need to realise it," she said before marching outside in the direction of the bakery.
I was still for a moment, trying to take in her words. Did people really think I was beautiful? For so many years I had been told that I was ugly and unattractive, it didn't seem possible for people to describe me as beautiful.
Shaking my head, I pushed the thought to the back of my mind. I didn't have time to ponder on such things and without letting another thought invade my mind I chased after Alex.
Maybe I did want to be beautiful, but I wouldn't prioritise that over my work or any other important aspects of my life.
I focused on other things as Alex and I walked to the bakery and before I knew it we were there. Alex's built-up frustration had caused her to speed walk the whole way leaving me a heavy breathing, tomato faced dead weight once we had arrived. When Alex noticed my state, she began laughing at me.
I glared at her knowing full well she wasn't nearly as out of breath as I was, for obvious reasons. "Alexandria, if I hear another laugh come out of that big mouth of yours I'm going to make sure you never eat one of my cupcakes again!"
My threat seemed to soak in and had her quickly shutting up, I knew she couldn't resist my cupcakes anymore than she could resist Lucas when he pulled his puppy dog eyes on her. Lucas and cupcakes were Alex's kryptonite.
"You can't take away my cupcakes!" Alex screamed, running into the bakery where Nate was serving the customer's from behind the counter. He waved enthusiastically as we entered, my barely keeping up with Alex.
I was grateful to see Nate after my eventful weekend. He was a constant in my life that gave me comfort. We had been friends for so long that I couldn't imagine my life without him.
It made me wonder if Andres and I would ever be like that. As friends or something more. Since leaving his house the previous day, I hadn't been able to stop thinking about him. We hadn't spoken about going on a date yet and despite still being in high spirits about it I found myself filled with doubts.
All the way through the morning rush my mind was filled with thoughts about Andres and our date. Nate asked me many times if something was bothering me, but I was so filled with doubt that I didn't want to tell him about the date. Alex, on the other hand, seemed to know exactly what I was thinking.
By lunchtime, I had push Andres to the back of my mind and was focusing solely on catering to the customers. Nate and I were chatting to a few friends of his when another customer entered.
As the bell chimed I turned to greet the new customer but was left speechless as the man invading my thoughts entered the bakery.
The air felt thick and my chest tightened. No matter how many times I saw him, my nerved never seemed to die down. Those dreaded butterflies filled my stomach and excitement bubbled within me.
Time stopped as I stared at Andres. My focus was fixated on him, leaving the bustling sounds of the bakery behind. His eyes teasing looked everywhere else before landing on me. Ocean blue iris' matched my brown ones and the smile that followed had my heart skipping a beat. It felt like I was swimming, lost in an expanse of the deep blue sea, somewhat unknown to me but at the same time comfortingly familiar.
When he looked over to me I smiled and waved, not trusting my voice yet. He smiled kindly back, his eyes darting around erratically, almost nervously as he took the few steps away from the door towards me.
"Hi," his voice easily cut through my thoughts like a sharpened knife, bringing my attention to him. "Hi," I breathed back, hoping I didn't sound as pathetic in real life as I did in my head.
"So, do you come here often?"
I laughed loudly at his terrible choice of pick up line and was greeted with a childish grin.
"Surprisingly yes, I mean it's not like I'm the boss of this place or anything," my smirk was evident and my words had Andres in a fit of laughter.
"Oh big bad boss has some sass," his spoke through his laughter and I did much the same. A surge of confidence filled me as soon as the conversation started and suddenly the nerves I had been holding in vanished and turned into excited energy.
Nate seemed to be half-listening to our conversation and I noticed Alex staring at us from the counter with a large grin on her face. None of that mattered to me though, for now, it was just me and Andres.
"Honey you don't even know the half of it," I giggled playfully, flipping my hair for added effect Laughter flowed freely from my lips like running water in a waterfall. His laughter mixed with mine formed a beautiful sonnet that, in my mind, rivalled the work of Shakespeare.
Then he stopped laughing and just smiled at me, looking up through his eyelashes. "I would like to," My eyes were clouded with confusion and his words and I urged him to continue, "I would like to 'know the half of it' as you put it," his accent seemed to grow thicker as he spoke and he refused to look me straight in the eyes. His greek accent was more prominent when using American figures of speech and it was a sound that I didn't know had been missing from my life.
Andres gulped visibly and ran his hand through his dark strands of hair. He seemed agitated and nervous, perhaps even more so than I was before.
"Wait, this isn't coming out right, I'm not saying it right, I-I..." His voice was frantic and I found it incredibly cute and endearing.
Smiling daintily at the tall man, I waited patiently for him to find his words. I was familiar with what he was feeling so knew how to act.
"I meant that...I want to get to know you, Lena." He said quickly, almost afraid that the words wouldn't come out. "Would you please accompany me on a date this Saturday night?"
This was different than what had happened the day before. He was clearer with his intentions and seemed to show genuine interest in me. Before he could have meant anything, go out as friends or go out and abandon you in the middle of no where. Now, he really meant it in a romantic way.
There was no part of me willing to deny this man that I had already started to long for. Still, say yes proved harder than I had hoped. I fiddled with my wrists nervously and my mind mustered up the courage to answer. "I'd love to," I said.
In a swift moment, I was taken in by strong arms and held against a firm chest. For a second time, in the short while I'd known him, Andres hugged me tightly in an endearing expression of emotions. I hugged him back with equal volition.
At that moment everything had fallen perfectly into place, I couldn't have been happier. It was clear now that Andres must have feeling for me, for some reason or another. For now, that was enough for me.
I would have been content...If Nate and Alex weren't wolf-whistling from the other side of the bakery. Andres and I pulled apart quickly, both with flushed faces. He promised to text me the details soon and with that, we parted ways.
Most of the customers stared at me with amused looks and I marched over to my friends with a scowl on my face. Why did I have to know such embarrassing people?
"So, you and loverboy are going on a date?" Nate asked with a smirk on his face. My scowl lessened as I thought about my date with Andres. Although I was embarrassed, it was normal for a single woman to go out on dates. There was no reason for me to try and hide it.
I nodded. "Yes, on Saturday," I said, trying to appear confidence despite being a bundle of nerves inside.
"No sex on the first date!" Nate said sternly, with a serious look on his face. I was surpised at the sudden shift in tone but not surprised that Nate was acting so protective. "Oh, and I have to meet him properly before you start dating!"
I rolled my eyes as Alex hit Nate's shoulder playfully. "What?" he exclaimed, "She's too innocent to know better!"
I gasped and hit his other shoulder harder than Alex had. "I am not innocent! I'm 26, I can look after myself!" I argued back at Nate, not appreciating being called innocent by someone 5 years younger than me.
"You're inexperienced then, I just don't want to see you get hurt," Nate said with a sad smile.
My gaze softened as I looked at the younger boy. He had always looked after me. It made sense that even now he would do the same.
"I'll be careful, don't worry," I said to Nate, walking back behind the counter to serve a customer.
"And no sex!" Nate replied a little too loudly causing a few heads to turn.
"No sex," I repeated, trying to focus on my work for now instead of my date with Andres. As excited as I was, I couldn't let it affect my work. This bakery was just too important to me.