Page 60 of Baking it Merry

Tristan: No, I’m sorry.I overreacted tonight, and I never should have freaked out on you like that.I’m a damn adult and I should have been able to come home and talk to you like one.

Tristan: Now I’m here alone regretting everything I said.I’m really sorry, Daphne.Sorry for my behavior and sorry I ruined our night.The party and all the food were amazing, and you should have been basking in that and instead, I acted like a complete ass.

Daphne: Yeah, well…I’m kind of used to that.

Luckily, she followed that with a winking emoji, so at least she was making light of the whole thing.

But even with the emoji, he was still going to have to wait until Tuesday to talk to her.He at least owed her the courtesy of respecting her boundaries.

Tristan: As long as we’re in agreement.Lol

Tristan: Then I’m going to wish you a goodnight and I’ll see you Tuesday.

Daphne: Thank you.I’ll see you Tuesday.

Daphne: Goodnight.

It was a shitty way to end the night, but it was better than sitting here stewing about how she must hate him.Maybe he hadn’t ruined everything.

And now he had a few days to come up with a way to apologize to her in a way that would prove how much she meant to him.

Flowers?

Christmas decorations?

Bringing in a snow machine to make her gingerbread house look even more magical?

That last one had him groaning because it still was a bit of an eyesore to him, but she loved it so…maybe he could do something to make it even better for her.

He could also be sure to pick up that tiger beef dish that she loved so much.

“I should just do it all and make it known to everyone in the building that I screwed up and I’m apologizing.”

The idea had merit; now he just had to figure out the best way to pull it all together by late Tuesday afternoon.

Smiling, he got up and walked to his bedroom.It would have been better if Daphne were joining him in there, but he was feeling pretty confident that he was going to win her over.And with everything he was planning, how could he lose?

Eleven

It was a stupid thing to fixate on, but she couldn’t help herself.

Why didn’t the landlord offer her the chance to come back for the seasonal events?

Every year, the vendors for the holiday events changed.Daphne had been fortunate enough to be invited back so many times.But this year was her best one yet and she couldn’t understand why she was suddenly being excluded.

She’d called the property manager’s office and left a few messages, but no one called her back.Then she called the landlord directly and was told he was in a meeting so she had to leave a message there too.Basically, she was getting nowhere and it was bugging her.

Unable to take it any longer, she called her friend Sara.She’d been in court so much lately, but Daphne thought maybe she’d luck out and catch her on a break.

“Hey, Daph!This is a surprise!What’s up?”

“Oh my goodness!Is this a bad time?”

“We have the day off today.Finally,” she said with a laugh.“I’m trying to get caught up on my life—you know, laundry, groceries, paying bills—nothing exciting.So, what’s going on with you?”

“I know you haven’t been in the office a lot in the last month or more—but…” Then she explained about the other girls getting invited to participate in the upcoming seasonal shops.“I don’t get it.I thought I’d be a shoo-in and yet suddenly I’m the odd man out!I know you have a decent relationship with the landlord and all the property people; can you maybe find out what happened?If I did something wrong, I’d love to apologize for it.”

“Of course!Although I can’t imagine you doing anything to upset anyone.That’s just not who you are.I’m sure it’s all a misunderstanding.Let me make some calls and see what I can find out.Are you at the office today or are you baking?”

---