Lyra

"All right Miss Macie, what should we do first?"

"Make cupcakes!"

I laughed. Cupcakes seemed to be the only thing that was ever on this girl's mind. But how could I refuse? Besides, the shop can always use some extra stock.

I took Macie into the back and we made a batch of cupcakes together. She and I both liked chocolate best so we made those and decorated them in rainbow frosting with sprinkles. The more sugar the better.

Customers started coming in and Macie kept trying to sell them her cupcakes. She stood at the counter, on a chair, and showed them her cupcakes. Most said no, but a few chuckled and bought one or two.

Macie turned out to be an excellent sales person, always convincing people to buy just one more cupcake or one more cookie. No one could say no to her puppy dog face and it worked to my advantage. At the end of the day when I counted my earnings, I'd made almost double what I made on a normal day.

Macie was magic.

Mr. Cole came back right after five while me and Macie were frosting another batch of cupcakes. She'd sold all of hers and needed to make another batch to take home.

"Macie?" He called out.

"Back here!" I called out.

Mr. Cole came back and his jaw dropped when he saw us. We were both covered in frosting.

"Look Daddy! I'm making cupcakes!" Macie exclaimed.

"I can see that."

I snickered a little at that and Mr. Cole's eyes snapped to mine. I just shrugged, trying not to laugh. Macie was looking back and forth between me and Mr. Cole and I burst out laughing. Macie soon followed and Mr. Cole just stared at us like we were crazy.

"Sorry," I said, choking down my laughs. "Sorry."

There were tears coming out of my eyes, but I finally got my laughter to stop and wiped them away, forgetting about the frosting on my hands.

Mr. Cole smirked and came up to me, taking the towel off the counter. The breath was sucked from my lungs when he came close to me and the room suddenly got like ten degrees hotter.

Mr. Coke stared into my eyes as he slowly wiped the frosting off my face.

"You had a little something," he said and backed away, snapping me out of whatever that was.

I blushed and backed up a step myself. "Thanks," I mumbled.

Mr. Cole moved onto Macie and cleaned her face and hands of frosting. She was worse off than I was but not by much. Especially after I got it all over my face.

"Did you have fun?" He asked.

"Sooooo much fun." Macie said. "I sold so many cupcakes."

"Really?" Mr. Cole asked, raising an eyebrow. I always loved it when people could do that.

"It's true. She almost doubled my earnings. No one can say no to her."

"Now I know that's true," Mr. Cole said, and I giggled a little.

Mr. Cole continued to clean Macie up while I boxed up her cupcakes to take home.

"Here you go," I said, handing the box to Mr. Cole.

"At this rate, I'm going to get diabetes."

I giggled and his eyes once again snapped to mine. "My deepest apologies Mr. Cole."

"Oh, I do think I'll live Ms. Mitchell."

I smiled at him. "Please, call me Lyra."

"Only if you call me Brandon."

"Ok...Brandon."

I liked the way his name rolled off my tongue and by his smile, I think he did too.

"Bye Lyra."

"Bye Brandon."

Brandon and Macie disappeared through the door and I found myself sighing. Why? I don't know. I just felt at home with Macie and Mr. C- Brandon.

And even though I've lived my entire life all alone, I haven't felt this lonely in a while.

With a sigh, I took a rag and started cleaning up so I could go home and drown my sorrows in yet another pint of ice cream. Maybe mint chip. I'd have to stop at the store before I could go home, but it's worth it. Especially on nights like this. Nights where life feels hopeless.

I gave up on the kitchen and decided to do the dishes in the morning. I didn't have it in me to wash them; I just wanted to collapse on my couch with my ice cream and watch reality tv. It always makes me feel better about my life.

The store was a twenty minute walk and since I didn't feel like doing anything that would cause me to exert energy, I hailed a cab. I'm not a fan of them, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

I pretended to be on a phone call while I was in the cab; I didn't have anyone I could actually call, but this would provide the illusion needed to keep me from getting kidnapped.

After an uncomfortable one sided conversation, I payed the cab driver and escaped into the grocery store. I knew this store like the back of my hand and quickly found the ice cream section. Naturally, they were out of mint chip, so I scanned my other options. Peanut butter, chocolate, cookies and cream, vanilla, strawberry...

"What are you getting?"

I jumped at the voice and turned to face it's owner.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Brandon said.

"Oh, it's ok. And um, I don't know."

"Macie claims that strawberry is the best, but it's actually cookies and cream."

I smiled and reached for the cookies and cream. I really didn't like strawberry ice cream so I had to trust Brandon on this one. He smiled at my choice and grabbed one pint of each.

"Where is Macie?" I asked.

"At home. The housekeeper is watching her for a few minutes."

I nodded and started walking to the front of the store to pay.

"Everything ok?" Brandon asked me.

I nodded. I couldn't seem to find it in me to actually say that I was. Because I wasn't.

Brandon was quiet for the rest of the walk to the checkout counter and we each bought our ice cream.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

I nodded again and we walked out the door. I started walking away when Brandon's voice stopped me. "Where are you going?"

"Home." I'd think it was pretty obvious.

"You're not walking." It wasn't a question but a statement.

"I'm not taking a cab," I told him.

"Of course not. I'm driving you."

My jaw dropped. He's driving me?

Brandon jerked his head towards a really nice car. "Come on."

I followed Brandon to the car and he opened the passenger door for me. I slid in and he closed the door behind me before going around to his seat.

"So," he said once he was driving. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

I looked at Brandon and opened my mouth to say nothing was wrong, but it didn't come out. Instead, "It's just one of those days I guess."

"It wasn't anything Macie did was it?"

"No, no," I assured him. "She was the bright part in my day."

"I'm glad."

And then we were at my bakery. "Thanks for the ride."

"Anytime."

Brandon waited until I was safely inside with the door locked to pull away. Once he was gone, I went upstairs and collapsed on the couch with my ice cream.

He was right. The cookies and cream is good.