Characters: reader, Bucky (Jimmy), Wanda, Clint, George Barnes.
Summary: Discovering the cute guy you just flirted with is the heir of a rival bakery, you suddenly find yourself running into him all over the city. Can your small boutique bakery compete? And how do you deal with the guy who seems determined to make your life a living hell? Luckily you're distracted by a secret admirer...But who is he? (Inspired by "You've Got Mail", Enemies to Lovers)
Warnings: none! Mild swearing?
Word Count: 3.3k
A/N: Alright, my darlings!! I hope you've recovered from the last chapter. ;) So what do you think? Does Jimmy have what it takes to win her back? Will she let him? I guess we'll find out! :D This part is pretty packed, I hope you're ready! Thank you all for your comments and screaming and tears and I'm sorry about your poor hearts! I hope I can begin to mend it. :) As always, any feedback is appreciated!! I adore you all. <3
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Cringing as your alarm sounded the next morning, you shut it off and laid still a few minutes while staring at the ceiling. It felt exactly the opposite from yesterday morning's energy and excitement. What a difference 24 hours could make. Feeling the heaviness in your heart and the tired ache of your bones, you finally rolled out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom. The mirror reflected your swollen, red eyes, so you splashed cold water on your face and went about your day.
It all seemed a bit ridiculous to be so distraught, since you hadn't known B for very long. In fact, you didn't know him at all and now you doubted you ever would. Your mind flickered to the text message you received last night, wondering why he was unable to show up or give you any sort of notice until then. He was still there, meaning you could still text but for some reason, meeting in person wasn't going to happen. Your heart clenched at the thought of opening yourself up again.
Could you forgive him? Was it even worth it to continue corresponding? You felt the sadness and embarrassment of sitting in the cafe alone while watching the clock tick. Shaking it off, you got ready for your day and headed down the stairs to work. No matter what state your heart was in, there was always work to be done.
Later as you finished boxing your pastries for delivery, you thought about your last scheduled stop at the Nest. Your stomach clenched at the memories of what took place there yesterday. The thought of seeing Jimmy again made your shoulders tense, wondering how he would react after your outburst. You didn't regret what you had said because every word was true, but doing it in a public place, especially at Clint's place of business, gathered some warmth in your cheeks. You'd have to apologize when you saw him. Clint, not Jimmy. The cocky brunet didn't deserve another moment of your time.
Waving goodbye to Wanda, you hopped in your car and headed out to deliver. As you later approached the Nest, you spotted the Barnes Bakery van in the closest parking spot once again. Surprise, surprise. Pushing through the door with boxes in hand, you braced yourself to see Jimmy at the counter, but instead, there was an older man laughing and joking with Clint. You stopped short to see the man was on the taller side, his dark hair thinning on top. He had a kind, weathered face, youthful eyes, and was wearing a Barnes Bakery t-shirt.
Reaching the counter you set down your boxes and Clint's attention turned to you.
"Y/N, good morning! Have you met George Barnes, the owner of Barnes Bakery?" Clint indicated to the man beside you.
It all clicked then, seeing the family resemblance between Jimmy and his father. "No, I haven't. Good morning, Mr. Barnes. I'm Y/N from City Sweets Bakery. Thank you so much, again, for the flour yesterday," you mentioned, offering your hand.
Mr. Barnes accepted it and placed his other warm palm over your joined hands. "It's my pleasure, Y/N. And please, George is just fine. It's so nice to meet you and Clint in person, finally. I don't get out of Brooklyn often these days, but when Jimmy said he was sick, I thought I'd offer to deliver," the man smiled warmly.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, too, George," you replied, returning his smile. "Thank you again, I will return that bag of flour when I receive mine tomorrow," you assured him.
He shrugged, unconcerned. "No rush, I know you're good for it. Well, I better get back. Seems we're short-staffed today. Good to meet you both," George waved as he headed for the door, leaving you and Clint at the counter.
Clint stared after him a moment and you followed his gaze. "Nice guy. Too bad about Jimmy, though. Hope he gets better soon."
"Yeah..." you trailed off, then turning back to the sandy-haired man. "Listen, I'm sorry about yesterday, Clint. I didn't mean to make a scene here, it was rude and unprofessional and I apologize."
The man finally met your eye, then taking in your contrite expression. "What, you getting into it with Jimmy?" he asked and you nodded in reply. "That's okay, I like a little afternoon drama. So...I take it he wasn't who you were here to meet? The guy didn't show?" he asked in concern.
You took in a shuddered breath, shaking your head. "No."
Clint place a hand over yours on the counter. "I'm sorry. I know you and Jimmy have a bit of tension there, so him showing up along with being stood up...I don't blame you. Guy's an idiot, by the way," he gave your hand a squeeze before turning his attention to the pastries.
You were grateful for that, since your eyes seemed to be prickling with the threat of tears. Not now, you told yourself while clearing your throat. "Thank you."
Clint signed the paperwork and you were on your way.
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The following morning, all was going smoothly as usual but as you drove slowly toward the Nest, looking for a place to park, the strangest thing happened. Just as you were approaching, you noticed the Barnes Bakery van out front was about to drive away. The driver stuck his head out the window briefly and you saw that it was Jimmy, who just gave a small wave and drove away, leaving the spot empty for you. Quickly, you pulled to the curb and parked, but...what was that?
Pausing only briefly, you got out of the car and grabbed the boxes to deliver. A quick conversation with Clint and you were back on the road within 5 minutes. Wow. Amazing how a good parking spot can improve your morning. Thanks to your good fortune, you made it back to the bakery just in time to see Sam pull up in his delivery truck with all your ingredients. It was the start of a pretty good day.
Later that morning, you thought about B. You had kept yourself busy yesterday to avoid thinking about all that had happened and the hole his lack of texts had left in your life but he drifted to the forefront of your mind today. You hadn't heard from him again, but his last text had left it in your hands. If you wanted to keep interacting, then it was up to you. As you sat down at your desk for the first time that day, a thought occurred to you so you pulled out your phone. You stared at the single letter "B" at the top of the open messages and nervously began to type. Before you could stop yourself you hit send.
FG: Are you okay? I mean....you're not dying or anything, right? Cause if I'm mad at you and find out you had some life-threatening disease or something and you're shielding me from it, that would suck.
Waiting a few seconds, those three dots popped up quickly and your heart caught in your throat. The thought had occurred to you that there might be a specific reason why B hadn't shown up and your brain went directly to "worse case scenario". You couldn't let go of your concern, so you asked, point blank without greeting. His reply arrived.
B: Yes, I'm fine. No, I'm not dying, nothing like that. I'm sorry that I've left you wondering but even the truth wouldn't make much sense right now. Again, I'm so sorry.
You felt a rush of relief as you read his words, noticing that he was still typing a second message. At least now you knew your worst fear had not come to fruition. That ache in your heart remained, but somehow you still felt that little swell of joyous anticipation as you awaited his response.
B: It's really good to hear from you. And the fact that you were still concerned about my well-being is further proof that I probably don't even deserve to have you as a friend. Regardless, I hope we can still talk.
Biting your lip, you considered how best to reply to that. It seemed like he really did feel terrible about what happened. You needed one more promise from him, though, just for your own sanity.
FG: You'll tell me eventually? Everything?
B: Yes. In time.
Another deep breath.
FG: Okay.
You left the conversation there and went back to work. It felt quite like it had in the beginning because you felt that need for caution once again. Might seem like a step backward, but it was a start.
After paperwork and checking in with Wanda, you headed out for some afternoon errands. One stop even took you outside the comfort zone of your usual 5 to 6 blocks, but the benefit of that was you were able to grab a slice from your favorite pizzeria. As you held the paper plate that was quickly soaking up the delicious grease from your gooey cheesy, you smiled and pulled out your phone.
FG: Best slice in the city. ;)
You attached a photo with Capizzi's logo in the background, just as B had a while back. Two bites into your pizza and you heard your phone ping.
B: Ooooh. Them's fightin' words.
You grinned at the response and took another bite. After lunch, you stopped at your accountant's office to drop off some paperwork before returning to the bakery. You checked in with Wanda and baked a few croissants and pastries, upon her request, as business had been pretty steady all day. While she stocked up the pastry case, you pulled out a recipe for two types of cake and started baking.
Pastries were your specialty and you did have cupcakes on display most days, but full-sized cakes were only for special orders. You wanted to have these cakes baked and cooled so you could finish decorating them tomorrow for pickup the next day. Sifting the flour and greasing the pans, you got into the groove and soon the cakes were in the oven with a timer set. Wanda needed help for a short while, so you spent some time up front.
The cakes turned out perfectly, bouncing back slightly when touched and the toothpick came out clean when you inserted one into the cake's center. The heavenly smell permeated the entire bakery, even still lingering as you and Wanda closed up for the night. Mopping the floors, you were lost in thought about how you were going to decorate the cakes when Wanda startled you with a sneeze.
"Bless you," you replied.
She laughed with a sniff. "Thanks. I think that's the last of it," Wanda said as you poured out the mop water and turned off the lights.
"Yup. I'll see you tomorrow," you grinned, waving as she left for the subway station.
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The following morning, Wanda greeted you less enthusiastically than usual. She looked a little pale, but she assured you all was well as you left for deliveries. You weren't so sure about that as you closed your trunk and drove away.
Approaching the Nest, once again you were surprised to see Jimmy in the van's driver's seat about to leave. Not that you weren't grateful to have a timely spot in front the cafe, but now it seemed like he was actively avoiding you, which was odd. He offered a wave as his brake lights lit up, but you honked your horn loudly and Jimmy paused, surprised to see you climbing out of your car. The driver behind you honked as well, but you ignored them.
You quickly ran up to the Barnes Bakery van as Jimmy pushed the sunglasses off his nose and up to rest in his tousled locks.
"Y/N, hey," he greeted, confused.
"Hi," you replied, breathless. "I, um...I have a bag of flour for you. I mean, for your dad. I was wondering if you could take it back to Brooklyn with you? It's a bit of a drive..."
Jimmy caught up to your meaning, so he opened his door and hopped out quickly. "Yeah, sure. I'll grab it."
Popping your trunk, he lifted the 50 lb bag with no trouble and held it in one arm as he opened the back door of the van to set it inside.
"Thanks," you said, noticing the honking getting more frantic behind you.
"No problem," Jimmy replied with a smile. "I'll see you around."
You watched him climb into the van and drive away as a honk startled you out of your reverie. Quickly, you climbed back into your own car and parked, carrying out your delivery to Clint.
Returning to the bakery, your morning quickly went downhill. One look at Wanda, and you knew that she wasn't okay. Her usual bright eyes and rosy cheeks were dull and pale, respectively. She sneezed twice into a nearby napkin before you watched her step into the back of the bakery to loudly blow her nose away from customers and food. Feeling torn but sympathetic, you knew what you had to do.
"Wanda, you're sick. Go home and rest," you ordered her softly.
"No! I'll be okay! You shouldn't have to do it all and I'm fine—" her protesting was quickly cut off by a long coughing fit. Not only did she look and sound awful, it was unsafe for her to be around food.
Grabbing Wanda's things from a hook inside the kitchen, you forced her to untie her apron and nudged her toward the door. "I'll be fine, don't worry. Go home and get better."
The pretty brunette continued to fight you weakly, but eventually she gave in and left. This new development really put a wrench into things. Without Wanda, you were the only person to man the counter and do the baking, not to mention a million other things you had to do for orders and to run the business. The bakery was currently empty now that the morning rush was through, so you turned off the music so you could hear customers enter and also put out small silver bell with a sign so people could ring it if you missed the door chime.
The entire day was a hurricane of helping customers, baking, answering phone calls, and even locking the door with a "Back in 5 minutes" sign so you could use the bathroom and shove some food in your mouth. You tried your best to keep your calm, but it was all just too much. You almost cried when 2 trays of cookies and a tray of croissants burned when you forgot to set a timer. It was the last of those items, so you just had to go without the rest of the day.
Locking the door finally at closing time, you collapsed into a chair with your head in your hands. Most of the time, having only one employee was just fine. Wanda was amazing and could handle it all with a little help from you, but being without her a full day made you realize how much you depended on her. Of course, she asked for time off once in a while, but it was well in advance and you were able to plan your baking and special orders around it. There wasn't a lot you could do on such short notice, though.
Although retail hours were over, your day was far from ending. Finishing the necessary cleaning up front, you could now finally focus on all the baking you needed to finish. Cookies and croissants you had run out of, cinnamon rolls, and not to mention your special order cakes for tomorrow, it all felt like too much. All you could do was make a list and get to work.
An hour later, your phone pinged and you took a second to open the message. You hadn't even looked at your phone all day, so it wasn't a surprise to see several texts from B, all unanswered. Most were silly food photos that made you smile and a meme or two, but the last one caught your attention.
B: Everything okay? If you're busy, I completely understand. Just wanted to check in.
Your eyes prickled with exhaustion and you felt a slight scratchiness in your throat. Obviously, you were overworked but there was also a chance you had caught whatever sickness Wanda had. You didn't have the luxury of going home, though, so you just washed your hands at every opportunity, wore gloves when needed, and kept working.
It wasn't often that you wished you had a partner of some sort. You were fiercely independent and had no doubts that you could make it on your own, given how well your business was doing. Sometimes, though...you just wished you had someone to help carry the weight. Someone to vent to or have a shoulder to cry on after a hard day. Those days were rare, but today was definitely one of them. Quickly, you sent out a reply.
FG: No. Not okay. Today has been disastrous and it's far from over. I'm sorry, can't talk now.
Hitting send, you walked over to plug in your charger. There was no need for you to have your phone nearby, anyway. A message arrived just before you stepped away.
B: I wish there was something I could do to help.
Me too, you thought, leaving the message unopened on your lock screen. There was nothing he could do, though. Tonight, you were an island. Putting on some music, you rolled your neck and shoulders and got to work.
Some time later, you heard a rhythmic pounding that you almost missed over the loud music. You ignored it the first few times, but after the third, you finally brushed your hands on your apron and poked your head around the corner to see a surprisingly familiar face through the glass door.
Stepping forward, you reached for the lock and then hesitated. This was crazy. What was he doing? Finally, you flipped the lock and opened the door just a crack.
"What are you doing here, Jimmy?" you shouted over the loud roar of thunder overhead. You didn't even know it was raining until just now.
"I saw the light on as I walked past and just wanted to make sure everything was okay," Jimmy replied, holding his jacket over his head. It was doing little to shelter him from the downpour. "Could I come in for a minute?"
You eyed him carefully and then swung the door wide to allow him entrance before locking the door again. Jimmy shrugged off his drenched jacket, draped it on an overturned chair, and ran a hand through his damp, curly locks. How he still looked good after coming in from the rain was a mystery. You always just looked like a drowned rat.
"I'm working, Jimmy. Everything's fine," you replied, trying to convince yourself as much as him.
"At 10pm?" he asked in shock. "Why?"
You huffed out a sigh. "If you must know, Wanda came to work sick so I sent her home, I've been working like a madwoman all day helping customers and baking, I burned 4 trays of pastries, have two huge orders due tomorrow and it all has to get done. That's why. So, I don't really have time for—"
"Do you want some help?"
Choking on your words, you nearly went catatonic at his offer.
"What?" you finally squeaked out.
He talked slower with a genuine smile. "I'm offering my help. I mean, I'm a fair baker and at the very least, an extra set of hands. Plus, you get to boss me around for a while. So, what do you say?"
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Oooooohhhhh SNAP!!! How do you like them apples?? Jimmy's avoiding her and then shows out of the blue to help? Hmmm. Do you think his offer to help is genuine? And how sweet is his dad? Hardly seems like they're related from behavior alone. ;) Poor sick Wanda! Certainly makes things a lot more difficult. I've definitely been there. It sucks. Do you think she'll accept Jimmy's help? Would you? That would make things interesting. ;) Another cliffhanger, I know, but this part got extra long! Hope you don't mind. :D I love you all!! Please let me know your thoughts, I always love your feedback. <3