Page 6 of Baking it Merry

Something for which she was eternally grateful.

When Tuesday morning arrived, she loaded up her van and arrived at the office building at six-thirty.Most of the employees didn’t start arriving until seven-thirty, so it gave Daphne an hour to get set up and just sort of ease into the day.The morning security guard greeted her with a smile, and she offered him his choice of muffins.It was the perfect way to start the day and as she set up her displays and got everything situated, she quietly hummed to herself.There were several orders for pies that she had stacked to the side, and she made a mental note to herself to look at adding a few more shelves before Thanksgiving.

There was a knock on the counter, and she turned to see a rather frazzled looking older woman standing there.She’d been purchasing from her almost daily, but they’d never formally introduced themselves and she had never looked this distraught.“Hello?I’m so sorry to bother you, but are you open yet?”

Adjusting her apron, Daphne nodded and stepped forward.“Hey, good morning!I’m Daphne and I am definitely open!What can I do for you?”

“I’m Faye, and hopefully you’re going to save my behind!”the woman said breathlessly.

“O-kay…”

“My boss has a meeting with some new clients this morning and he just let me know about it.He wanted me to stop and pick up refreshments, but I didn’t see that part of the text until I was walking into the building.Any chance you can bring up a variety of muffins at nine?I’ll pay extra.I know you don’t normally deliver, but I won’t be able to get back down here and…” She let out a long breath.“I can handle the coffee and tea part of it because we have a coffee bar in the office, but the food is just not something I can swing this morning.”

Holding up a hand to stop her, Daphne nodded.“It’s fine.I can totally do that.Don’t worry,” she said with a smile.“Tell me what floor and office number and I’ll be up there at nine.”

“Oh, thank you so much!You’re literally saving my job.The boss hates when things don’t go exactly as he plans.”Pulling out her credit card, she handed it to Daphne.“And we’re not fussy about the flavors.I’m sure whatever you choose will be delicious.”Then she glanced at the display.“And can I possibly get one of the pumpkin cheesecake bars now and a piece of the crumb cake?”

“Of course.”Daphne quickly wrapped them up for her and rang them up, along with the muffin order.Handing Faye a sheet of paper, she said, “Just write down where I’m delivering to and we’ll be all set.”

“Thank you again.We have a few of these meetings over the next two weeks, so maybe we can make this a standing order?”

It was the kind of thing she had been hoping for—the more extra orders she got, the better.“We can talk about it when I bring things up later.”

“Perfect!And again, you’re a lifesaver!”Picking up her order, Faye smiled, looking far more relaxed than she did five minutes ago.“Twenty-eighth floor.Knight Architects.We’re the only ones on that floor.”

“Then finding you should be easy!”she joked.“See you at nine!”

As soon as Faye walked away, Daphne quickly pulled out her phone and texted her mom.

Daphne: Hey!Any chance you can come down and cover for me for a little while?

Mom: Sure!What time?

Mom: Is everything okay?

Daphne: Everything’s great!Have to deliver an order to the 28th floor and they might want to make it a weekly thing!

Mom: That’s wonderful!!

Daphne: I know!This is the kind of thing I’ve been hoping for, so I want to make a good impression and not just run in and run out.

Mom: Don’t worry.You always make a great impression.

Daphne: Thanks, Mom!Can you be here at 8:30?

Mom: Will do!See you then!

As soon as she put her phone down, people were starting to enter the building.She was the only vendor here that early—the others didn’t come in until after ten, but they stayed later than her as well.The line of customers was steady and before she knew it, her mother was stepping into the booth and putting her apron on.

“There’s my favorite baker girl!”she said before kissing Daphne on the cheek.“Okay, what do you need me to do?”

“Hey, Mom!If you could take over the counter for me, I’m going to pack up the order.”

“You got it!”

Daphne moved to the back of her space and considered her options as she assembled one of her bakery boxes.“Okay, let’s do two blueberry, two cranberry, two banana nut, two chocolate chip, and two apple cinnamon.”Looking at her inventory, she chose the “prettiest” muffins in each flavor because she wanted to make a good impression.Once they were boxed up, she decided to add a small box of cookies too, as a thank you to Faye for the opportunity.When everything was packed and she tied the baker’s string around the boxes, she pulled out her purse.“Mom?I’m going to make a quick run to the ladies’ room to freshen up.I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Take your time, Daph!”

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