Walking back to my office I got started on the work that had accumulated on my desk throughout the day. After about 3 hours of working and singing along to the radio, the blaring sound of my phone ringing caused me to jump slightly.
"Hello?" I answered
"Hello my Queen I'm calling to tell you that the cake tasting you requested is ready" Aaliyah said
"Alright thank you" I said
I put my heels that I had previously kicked off back on and headed out the door. Sebastian Alex, Emily, Evan, and a girl I didn't recognize stood outside my office about to come in.
"Hey you ready?" Sebastian asked pecking my lips
I nodded "Yup who's this?" I asked turning my gaze the the girl
She was very pretty with striking green eyes, high cheek bones, and small pouty lips.
She smiled extending her hand towards me "I'm Keisha" she said
I shook her hand realizing she looked similar to Sebastian and Evan. "You're Sebastian and Evan's sister" I stated "very nice to meet you I'm Amber"
She beamed and we made our way towards the stairs.
'What do you think of her?' I mind linked Emily
'She's my cousin remember? And she's really nice you 2 will get along great' Emily said
'Great' I responded
We walked into the dining room where several beautiful cakes were placed on the table. The woman I assumed to be the head chef I spoke to was standing beside them along with a few helpers behind her, all of them dressed in pristine white uniforms.
"My King, Queen" the said bowing as we entered
Sebastian stared at the cakes with a hungry expression and quickly took his seat. I walked over shaking each of their hands.
"The cakes look amazing, thank you" I said to the chef
"No problem dear, let's get started before our king explodes" she said warmly
I took my seat to the left of Sebastian with Emily next to me.
Our first cake, a red velvet cake was set in front of us.
"Appropriately named for its deep red color, red velvet cake is the perfect hue to represent love and romance on your wedding day. Its flavor is not quite chocolaty yet not quite vanilla either. It is rich and smooth and is frequently paired with cream cheese frosting, which is what we did today." The chef said
We all took a bite, Emily and I not favoring it but the O'Donnells loving it.
After everyone was done we moved on to the chocolate cake
"With so many different levels of richness and options for flavor pairings, chocolate remains to be one of the most popular wedding cake flavors of the year. What typically is a childhood favorite can be elevated to a sophisticated level when mixed with flavor accents such as mint, orange and strawberry. Indulge in richness with chocolate fudge, or lighten the flavor by choosing a German chocolate cake. The cake in front of you has both, the top being German chocolate, and the bottom being chocolate fudge" She said
We all ate it and I put it on my list of likes before preparing for the white chocolate with raspberry cake
"Combining the sweet richness of white chocolate with the tart fruitiness of raspberry is a winning combination that is soaring in popularity this year. Whether it's a raspberry jam, raspberry cream or fresh raspberry filling, this delicious pairing is a refreshing take on the traditional chocolate flavored cakes."
Everyone loved this one as I saw a flash from the corner of my eye. A man stood with a camera and a few more men behind him. They looked like they were doing their job so I didn't say anything mostly distracted by the yellow lemon cake being placed in front of me.
"Light and tangy, lemon cakes are one of the most popular flavor trends of the year. This citrus flavor is perfect for a spring wedding and is a great choice for couples who don't want a cake that is too heavy and rich. Pair with raspberries or strawberries and whipped cream for a tasty fruity blend, or stick to lemon buttercream frosting to complete the cake." One of the helpers continued setting a new plate in front of each of us
"Can this come with a different color frosting?" I asked loving the taste but not wanting a yellow cake to clash with our color scheme
"Yes we can make them any color" the chef said
I nodded with a smile earning another flash from the camera as a vanilla cake was given to me.
"You can't go wrong with plain vanilla, and many couples are choosing to go with tradition with a vanilla wedding cake. This is one of the most basic cakes and can be kept simple with vanilla frosting, or it can be dressed up any way you like with essentially any frosting, filling or fruit. It's an excellent base for more exotic and fun flavors, so if you're thinking about trying something out that may not necessarily be a crowd pleaser, using a vanilla cake as a base is a good compromise."
Although this cake was beautiful in appearance I knew I wanted more than a plain vanilla cake for our wedding. I caught Sebastian's eye and knew he thought the same even as he stacked another empty plate on to his tower.
"Channel the tropics with this tasty flavor combo of coconut and lime that is reminiscent of an island vacation. Rich and creamy coconut cake combined with tangy and tart lime filling or frosting is a match made in heaven. Perfect for those wanting a sweet and rich cake without having to choose from the chocolate flavor family."
Sebastian, Emily, Alex and I didn't touch this cake causing the chef to look at us in confusion. "Is there a problem?" She asked
"Amber and Emily are allergic to coconut" Sebastian said moving my plate further away from me
"Apologies my Queen we didn't know" the chef said motioning for the helpers to take it away
"It's fine" I said with a smile
"Alright next we have Pink champagne cake. Pink champagne wedding cakes are unique in that instead of using water in the batter, champagne is used. The pink color is achieved with food coloring dye. Common fillings and toppings for a champagne cake include rum flavored custard, dyed pink white chocolate shavings and Bavarian whipped cream."
I took a bite and the cake immediately melted in my mouth. I loved absolutely everything about this cake and really didn't need to see anymore. Not wanting all of their hard work to go to waste I continued with the last cake.
"Lastly we have the ideal cake flavor for couples who want to go the non-traditional route, carrot cake is a popular choice. This soft, dense cake is moist and has a lovely consistency due to grated carrots and nuts being main components of the batter. It is typically deliciously paired with a cream cheese frosting. Carrot cake is a great alternative to the more common flavors such as chocolate and vanilla."
"Could we have a minute to discuss this?" Sebastian asked
"Of course" the chef said exiting the room with the helpers
"Which ones did you like?" Sebastian asked taking my hand
"Uh the pink champagne was my favorite but I liked the lime too even though it was for a spring wedding" I said
Sebastian took both of those cakes from me tasting them again since I had only took a bit out of each of mine.
"Which ones did you like?" I asked him
"All of them" he said stuffing his face
I stuck my finger in the coconut lime cake licking the frosting "Amber why would you do that?" Sebastian asked
"Well I was allergic to coconut as a human, but I'm not a human anymore and it tastes good" I said
"Why don't you have all of them at your wedding I mean you're the King and Queen can't you do what you want?" Sebastian sister chimed in
"Keisha's right we should have all of them" Sebastian said finishing the last piece of my cake
My tongue began to tingle slightly and I got my answer. "You're still allergic aren't you?" Emily asked laughing as I repeatedly bit my tongue without it hurting.
"Yep and I agree, we'll have all the cakes" I said
We all stood up telling the chef our decision and making our way back to our offices. For some reason everyone followed me into my office which was now populated with the rest of our friends.
I sat at my desk and began filing away my finished work as they all asked about the tasting.
Seeing a shadow above me I looked over to see Keisha staring at me. "So you're Taniah's mother?" She asked
I nodded with a smile thinking about how my baby girl is coming home in 2 days "Yeah, have you met her?" I asked
"Yeah now that I think about it she looks a lot like you" she said
"Thank you" I said
"Do you love my brother?" She asked me seriously
"More than anything" I nodded
She beamed "Than I think we'll be great friends"
I stood hugging her "I do too"
"Hey babe can I talk to you?" Sebastian asked
I nodded exiting my office with him and entering his.
"It's about last night" he said
I nodded sitting on his couch next to him "what about it?"
"The guys and I, we did go to just any club, we went to a gentlemen's club" he said
"You went to a strip club? Why?" I asked
"Evan and Elijah thought it was a great idea, the rest of us just went along for a drink" he said
"Did anything happen?" I asked him
"I- I uh got a lap dance" he said
"From a stripper?" I asked
He nodded "But it didn't mean anything I just had one too many drinks and wanted to be with you but she approached me and it just happened" He said
I leaned over and kissed him. He immediately responded kissing me back and pulling me on to his lap.
I straddled him and pulled away "I'm ok with strippers" I said
"What? How?" He asked
"Because most of them have a hard life and do it for the money" I said pecking his lips "As long as you keep your clothes on and they don't see what only I should see.." I trailed off rubbing him through his pants causing him to moan "Then I don't mind you going there" I finished
"Are you sure you aren't mad?" He asked
"Yes I'm sure just know that I'm the only woman who can make you feel the way you do right now" I whispered kissing his neck "but don't ever come home smelling like another woman again" I said standing up
He stood up dipping his head down to capture my lips using one hand to pull me closer to him and the other to cup my butt.
"I love you" he said
"I love you too Ashton" I said
The door opened and we looked up to see our friends. 'Thanks for being honest with me' I mind linked him
He pecked my lips again 'You're welcome my Queen'
"Come on love birds were going to the beach" Keisha said grinning at us
We nodded following them out of the castle and back to the pack to change into our bathing suits.
I chose my light pink bikini I got a while ago while shopping and put my white sandals on with it.
Walking to the living room where half of our group was already ready. Sebastian immediately pulled off his t shirt and put it on me, his eyes darkening quickly.
We sat down and I took out my phone as we waited for everyone else. After a few more minutes everyone had arrived and we left the house very excited for the beach.