Page 41 of Cupcake

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This woman drove me crazy. She didn’t want the damn cupcakes. She wanted to start a fight, draw attention to herself, and make us look bad.

“You’re absolutely right, Darla,” I said, nodding with her. I could see in her sarcastic smirk that she thought she’d won. “Since I’m in possession of those cupcakes, I get to make the decisions. They will go to the person who ordered and paid for them. Can I interest you in one of our Chocolate Heath cupcakes?”

“What I want is a black forest cupcake! Since your establishment is unable to provide for the customer what they want, I won’t be frequenting it any longer.” She spun in a huff on her heel toward the door.

The snort escaped before I could stop it. “Well, that’s tragic. I’m sure I’ll go home and cry about that for at least zero minutes. I might even crack open that bottle of champagne I’ve been saving for a special occasion.”

“I’ll join you,” Amber said dryly.

Darla paused in her forward motion and spun back slowly, her jaw clenched and her hands fisted at her side. “You’ll pay for that comment, fatso!” she exclaimed, lunging over the counter at me.

Before I could react, she had my hair in her hands and was yanking me over the counter by it. Spittle flew from her mouth like a rabid dog as she grappled with getting me over the counter, but Amber grabbed hold of my waist and screamed for help.

“Let her go before you hurt her!” she yelled, her voice frantic and worried.

“What is going on in here?” a voice asked. “Darla, let go of her right now!” Brady boomed from behind me while my scalp screamed for release.

Darla stopped pulling but didn’t let go. “Back away, baker boy. This is between fatso and me. We don’t need your help to solve this.”

Brady walked into my line of sight and around the counter but didn’t touch Darla. “I don’t know what your problem is, but if you don’t let go of Haylee this instant, you’re going to have an even bigger problem on your hands.”

Instead of releasing me, she pulled harder, forcing me to slide my stomach up onto the counter to stop her from ripping out my hair. I grasped her wrists, not wanting to fight back but afraid she was going to rip my hair out if I didn’t do something.

“This ends now,” another voice said from the doorway. “Release Chef Davis and put your hands behind your back,” Officer Jack Stevens said, his gun belt clanking as he approached the still rabid woman. “If you don’t release her now, I will arrest you for assault.”

Darla’s hands went slack, allowing me to stand upright again. I rubbed at my scalp, fighting back the tears in my eyes while I glared at the woman in front of me. Brady darted behind the counter and put his arm around my waist, checking my head for any damage.

“I don’t think she hurt anything, but you can’t let her get away with this,” he whispered in my ear.

Darla was arguing with Officer Stevens when I tuned back into the space around me. “You can’t arrest me! I didn’t do anything,” she whined, faking tears. “I wasn’t going to hurt her.”

“You could have fooled me,” Brady said, his arm still around my waist.

“What? Are you two a thing now?” she asked, her eyes rolling. “What a shame. A guy like you with a woman like her. You could do so much better.”

“I think it’s time to take a trip down to the station,” Officer Stevens said before I could leap over the counter and grabherthis time. “Haylee, do you want to press charges?”

I shook my head slightly. “No. Just get her out of here. She’s banned from The Fluffy Cupcake for good now. If she walks through that door again, I will call you, and I will press charges.”

Darla started huffing and sputtering until she noticed the look on our faces. “Fine. You know what? Who cares? I don’t need your stinking cupcakes! I can make my own!”

“You do that, Darla. Have a nice day. Thank you, Officer Stevens,” I said cordially, biting my lip to keep from laughing at the dramatic woman.

“You better watch your back, fatso. If you think I don’t have ways of making sure your business goes down in flames, you’re wrong!”

“Whoa,” Officer Stevens said, his hands reaching for his cuffs. “With that, we are taking a trip to the station.” He slapped the cuffs on her wrists while she twisted and turned frantically. “I knew you were dumb, but threatening someone’s place of business with arson in front of a peace officer is idiotic.”

“I didn’t! I didn’t mean it like that!” Darla yelled on the way to the squad car.

All three of us stood frozen in place, staring at the door while Officer Stevens forced Darla into his squad car and drove away.

“Did that just happen?” Amber asked, the words filled with perplexed curiosity.

“It most certainly did,” Brady said, turning me into him and hugging me fiercely. “I almost had a heart attack when I walked in here and saw you in a headlock. Do you need a doctor?” he asked, kissing the top of my head.

I shuddered in his arms but shook my head. “No, I’m fine.”

“I can’t believe that woman!” Amber sputtered, her senses returning. “What is wrong with her?”