One Year Later...
I sang along to the radio as I made bread dough for the cinnamon rolls that would feature prominently in the brunch menu I had planned for the diner tomorrow. A lot had changed in the past year but in a way, it felt like things had remained the same. I was still at the diner but Uncle and Luke often turned it over to me on a weekend so that I could test recipes on people and call it brunch.
It was amazing to me still to find out how much people really liked what I was making.
The ceremony for Sang and the boys had been beautiful. The dessert bar was amazing and Victor had brought me to tears at the rehearsal dinner when he gifted me with a few boxes of business cards simply stating 'Desserts by Jessica'. He'd gone on to explain that until I had a shop of my own, that these would work for what I hoped to do here in Charleston to lay the groundwork for my eventual business. It was an excellent idea and I was thrilled to find out that he'd caved under Sang's subtle hints that the best deal was the one for several boxes of business cards, not just a few so I had more than enough cards to last me until I headed off to France.
Let me tell you, my family is amazing. It was such a great idea, I think over half a box of business cards went out that day because I'd liberally scattered card holders on the dessert table. I had plenty of cake orders and requests to do cupcakes with some of Uncle's catering orders from the very next weekend after the wedding.
I was doing cakes and dessert bars for about 2 weddings a month and a small handful of bridal showers and baby showers during the rest of the month. Dessert menu for the diner daily and brunch about once a month.
I was exhausted.
And I loved every minute of it.
My hair was now sporting several wide streaks of hot pink... well, had been. I managed to get Gabriel to do the highlights a few weeks after the wedding and he'd kept it up since then but I was ready to go back to my natural shade and caramel highlights. It was only a few months until I started classes at the culinary institute. I was sure that no one there would question the pink in my hair but I was done being that Jessica.
I rarely thought of Zack now days. No longer had an urge to text him to find out how school was for him.
So, I was probably a little more advanced in forgetting him than I thought I was.
I was still meeting with Raven every week. He, naturally, was thrilled at how fluent I was at speaking Russian with him. We often met at a Russian coffee shop on the other side of town and sat and drank coffee and talked for hours on end.
He also was a huge fan of my borsch and rye bread. If we met at the coffee shop, I always took him bread to take home. If we met at the diner... well... often it was borsch for dinner while we worked on my Russian. Not that there was a lot to work on lately.
We'd talked a lot over the year. He'd shared a bit about their team dynamic and I tried my best to mask my dislike for his wife. She was not a pleasant person. I'd met her a few times and she seemed to dismiss me with a look. He'd been apologetic each time and I just patted his shoulder and told him in Russian what I thought of his wife and it made him laugh. Kayli could stand to be a whole lot nicer. If I didn't know how the Academy worked, I would stay so far away from the organization if my only exposure to it was through her.
I'd managed to have girls weekend every month or two with Sang. Sometimes Mom joined us or Sang's friend Karen from high school but usually it was just us for most of the weekend as the others came for dinner and then didn't stay too long.
The most enjoyable girls weekend was actually the one that we made an exception for and let Gabriel come too. Massages were great but... Gabriel did our hair and make-up all weekend. It was so cool to see how I looked with different looks. I'm not sure if we had more fun than he did or not. He certainly seemed happy.
I patted the dough one more time before putting it back into the bowl and setting it aside again to raise. It has been a good year. I'm really glad that I took the time for myself and didn't just jump in the deep end in trying to go to school right away. I glanced at the clock.
I was waiting for North to show up. I needed to talk to him, well someone. And after the way he'd sacrificed himself last year to watch movies with me post breakup and even though my choice of business was at direct odds with how he preferred to eat... and how he preferred EVERYONE he knew to eat... he was still the one that my thoughts went to when I was making lists to help me make a decision on my next move.
My next relationship move.
I didn't want to do it on my own this time. Sure, Zack was great. Dating him and going to prom last year had been great.
He was an excellent kisser.
I sighed for a moment and blinked, shaking my head. "Stop it, moron. You're over him." I muttered and washed my hands as I considered the next menu item that I needed to work on. I had just pulled out the biscuit ingredients when the back door to the kitchen opened and North walked in. "Hey, North." I smiled, greeting him easily.
"Hi Jess." He gave me a smirk. "How's it going?"
"Good. Brunch tomorrow is going to be amazing. You all are coming over here for it, right?"
He nodded. "Yes, Sang baby wants to come eat. So, we're all coming, of course. Since it's the weekend and all."
I nodded. "Plenty of food around, that's for sure." I measured flour and put it into a bowl.
"Luke said you wanted to talk to me about something." His voice held no question. Just a bare sliver of curiosity in the even tone that I'd always associated with North.
I pressed my lips together for a moment as I measured some spices into the flour. "I do want to talk to you." I nodded. I looked up at him, meeting his gaze. "I wanted to see if you know anyone that might be worthwhile for me to date." I said softly.
He blinked at me and ran a hand over the back of his head before pushing his fingers through the hair at the front of his head. "I'm sorry, Jess. I thought you just asked if I know anyone that would be someone you could date?"
I paused after pouring buttermilk into a measuring cup and nodded. "That's right. I'm ready to date and I am asking for your help in finding him. I'm sure you know someone that you had a brief moment thinking, hey, he'd be just about right for Jessica. Only she's asked us not to butt in to her dating life so I'll figure out how to tell her about him at some point." I raised an eyebrow at him.
He blinked and watched me as I worked butter into the flour and added the milk before adding crumbled bacon and shredded cheese into what would become cheddar biscuits for the bread baskets on the brunch buffet. North cleared his throat. "There may be a few guys." He finally said.
"All right then." I said softly. "You can do whatever background checks you need to. I know I said not to do that with Zack but I'm allowing it this time. I just don't want to know what you find." I said.
"You know that the guy will probably be in the Academy too, right?"
I shrugged, stirring a bit more flour into the dough. "I figured that was the risk I'd take by asking any of you to hook me up." I admitted. "I'm okay with it though. Just find me someone that's okay with me not being in the Academy." I looked up and locked my eyes on his. "I trust you, North. I really would like to meet a guy that you deem worthy of my time and attention."
He studied me for a long moment as I brushed melted butter onto a cookie sheet and scooped out the biscuit dough with a cookie scoop and spread them out just a bit before I put them in the oven. "Okay." He finally said with a nod. "You completely nailed it on the head. There have been a few guys that I thought would be just about perfect with you." He admitted. "But you swore you didn't want our help so I merely filed the information away." He smiled again. "And finally, today, you're asking for my help. I'd be honored, Jess."
I left floury handprints on his back because I hugged him so tightly, forcing him to hug me back before I went to fix the butter for the biscuit tops and he had to leave to go meet Sang for dinner.