Page 18 of Cross Check Christmas
Daisy slides a fresh cinnamon roll in front of me. "Here, stress eat this instead of creating conspiracy theories."
"I don't need comfort food." I take a huge bite anyway. "And this isn't a conspiracy theory. Hendrix has been getting under my skin since high school.”
"Men." Daisy shakes her head. "Tucker keeps naming drinks after my pastries. 'Better Than Daisy's Caramel Cookies Latte.' The audacity!"
I squint through the glass. "What is he saying? His lips are moving but I can't?—"
"Are you trying to lip read?" Daisy snorts. "Amateur hour. You need to angle yourself better."
I shift sideways, nearly knocking over my tea. "Wait, I think I got something. He just said... ‘I could task your cow with wontons.’”
"You're going to strain something." Daisy drops another cinnamon roll on my plate.
“Oh! Tucker just said… ‘Let’s bake it into string.’ or maybe something about melting a chicken wing. Either one of those.”
"Tucker does seem extra animated today,” Daisy says. “Look at those hand gestures."
I stab my fork into the cinnamon roll. "Psssh. Shakespeare! Couldn’t he come up with a more creative nickname? Like that's some kind of insult? Being well-read?"
"That's it." Daisy slams her hands on the counter. "You need to show him who's boss. Channel your inner Elizabeth Bennet and put that man in his place."
"I tried! But every time I stand up to him, he just..." I gesture helplessly. "He gets this stupid smirk on his face like he's winning something."
"Because you let him get to you. Look at you now - you're stress-eating my cinnamon rolls and spying on him through my window."
"I am not spying!" I press my forehead against the cool glass. "Why can't he just go back to Toronto and leave me alone?"
"Because then who would drive you completely insane?" Daisy grins. "You know what you need to do, right?"
"Hide in my classroom until January?"
"Stand up to him. Prove you're not that shy bookworm anymore."
"I can barely string two sentences together around him."
"Because he's pretty?"
"He is not pretty! He's... symmetrical. In an annoying way..."
Daisy's eyes narrow as she watches Tucker gesture animatedly across the street. “So annoying.”
“I mean, who does he think he is? He makes me want to… throw things.” I glance back at Hendrix, still deep in conversation with Tucker. "Look at him, sitting there all... symmetrical."
"You know what you need?" Daisy leans across the table with that gleam in her eye that usually precedes terrible ideas. "A plan."
"A plan?"
"You need to get rid of him."
I choke on my cinnamon roll. "What, like murder?"
"No, drama queen. Make him leave. Drive Hendrix Ellis out of Brookking Sound by Christmas Eve."
I wipe icing from my chin. "And how exactly would I accomplish that?"
Daisy's eyes sparkle. "Simple. Make his life here so uncomfortable he runs back to Toronto.”
“I don’t think I could do that.”
