Page 49 of The Cake Fairies
Free will. Annabelle liked that Polly had said that. She liked it a lot.
“Don’t you find it a little strange that Alex just happened to have two days off work; that Ivy never seems to go to a lecture? I’d say they’re both where they’re meant to be right now.”
“His hours are flexible. It was you who told me that. Just like you told me he has no friends. As for Ivy, well, clearly she hates her course and is only doing it to please her mum.” Polly made a fist and brought it to her mouth, her eyes wild, pleading with Annabelle not to utter another word.
“So, um. I was just wondering if you were planning any local cake drops for tomorrow?” Ivy reappeared then, a worried look replacing her earlier buzz.
“Probably. No rest for the wicked,” said Annabelle, blowing her tousled blonde bob out of her eyes.
“If we’re not tired,” threw in Polly, tagging on a yawn. Annabelle had to concede that it would be quite nice to get a day off now and then.
“I’ve had an epiphany,” said Ivy. “And considering it’s already getting late you’re not going to like it one bit. But hear me out anyway.”
“Do we need to take a seat for this?” Polly’s face was one of those serious stately home portraits.
“It might be an idea,” Ivy affirmed with a nod. “I don’t think a cake containing chocolate is right for tonight.”
“Yeah? Well too bad,” said Annabelle. “No way am I making a new one at this time of day. Do you have any idea how long this took us?”
“Let Ivy speak,” Polly interrupted, waving her hand in the most irritatingly regal fashion to grant permission. “Please go on.”
“Fe Fi is a notorious crime spot. Chocolate’s too euphoric. You need something more… mellow,” Ivy said.
“But it’s not just chocolate. It’s mocha…”
“Caffeine… watered-down caffeine, but still.”
“But it’s not just chocolate and mocha. It’s churros!”
“They’re too heavy, too ‘meaty’, Annabelle. It won’t work in the way that you want it to.”
“‘Meaty’?” Polly sneered. “Ivy, I appreciate that you’re an authority on pork balls and Peking duck, but cake really is our area of expertise, and we don’t need your input, thanks all the same.”
“God, you’re getting increasingly like Kitty Withers with the hideous stereotyping. Stop it!” shouted Annabelle. “Ivy knows London and its people better than we do. We have to listen. We can always put the churros cake aside for tomorrow, like she’s suggested. But one thing’s for sure; we can’t afford to make any mistakes tonight.”
Polly flunked her head into her hands.
“I think you need something that will deliver on a number of fronts,” Ivy continued, unperturbed by the insult. “One: the munchies; these clubbers could have imbibed anything and everything, and two: to calm down whatever battles spill out the door.”
“Hmm, I can’t help but think the earphones these partiers will be wearing at this silent disco are a bit like putting a lid on a volcano. It seems a good idea at the time, but who knows what emotions are bubbling beneath the surface?” said Annabelle.
“That’s exactly why it’s got to be something chilled. No cocoa,” said Ivy with a sigh. “I’m thinking honey or chamomile.”
Annabelle shook her head. “No. This may be the twenty-first century full of… new-age foodie fads and um, all that clean-eating malarkey, but clubbers are clubbers. That’s way too wishy-washy. Lemon, on the other hand...”
“That’s it!” Polly clapped her own hands together, inexplicably buoyed up, despite the hours of extra work Ivy had given them. “A lemon and mascarpone stack, embellished with…”
“Cake pops – proverbial olive branches.” Ivy’s face lit up at the thought.
“Ingenious. Great work, Ivy.” Annabelle high fived her.
Polly couldn’t help but feel dreadful now for her earlier taunt. “Thank goodness you have the number for the cake pop maestro, Annabelle,” she said, a little too quickly, rather wishing Alex had been left out of the equation.
“There’s an idea,” said Annabelle. “Of course, we could probably…definitelywork out how to make the pops on our own… but if he’s free,” she trailed off.
“That’s settled then,” said Ivy. “Let’s do it.”
Annabelle measured; Polly prepped the work surfaces. Ivy played sous chef and kept everybody sufficiently caffeinated.
