Page 3 of Emma and the Grumpy Baker

“It’ll be okay. I sell more than just cookies, so it shouldn’t affect me,” I told her with a pseudo-confidence that I was sure she could see right through. “I’m not worried about it.”

“Oh, well good! I just hate that they allowed that to happen.” She walked away and returned to our server friends, who all gave me sad, knowing smiles.

Taking a deep breath, I rolled my shoulders back and tried not to let this news affect me. I went to the kitchen to grab more chocolate chip cookies, but the second I looked at them, I couldn’t hold the tears back.

I had worked so hard for this, and now there would be direct competition right next to me. Couldn’t they have gotten a building on the other side of town? Why did this person have to open a bakery next to mine?

I was a pretty emotional person as it was, but I still didn’t want to cry about this. Though the tears steadily streaming down my face couldn’t be stopped, so I slipped to the back bathroom and locked myself in. I would just give myself some time to get over this round of emotion so I could join the party. I would worry and cry about this cookie shop tonight when I was alone and no one could see how much it affected me.

And I would most certainly scream in rage later.

Wiping my tears, I straightened my adorable pink dress and lifted my head. This was my dream, and no cookie store would ruin that for me.

4

Liam

Putting a bakery together is definitely harder than I thought, but I was glad that I found some great contractors to get it all done. It gave me the time I needed to take care of logistics for my other business, go to the gym, and take care of myself while it was all coming together.

I had a few hours of free time today, so I decided to visit my store to check up on the progress. There wasn’t much I could do that wouldn’t impose on the contractors’ work, so I would just make sure it was all coming together according to plan.

Living on an island had its advantages, one of which was being able to walk pretty much anywhere I wanted to, especially downtown. I lived in an apartment just ten minutes away from the grocery, the gym, and my bakery, so I didn’t get a lot of use out of my car.

With my running shoes on, I decided to jog to the bakery to get some extra exercise. It was past eight on a Friday evening, meaning that the streets were full of people enjoying the island’s nightlife. The path from my apartment to the bakery was a beautiful one though, seeing as the streets were lit with string lights that business owners had strung between the lampposts and their buildings. Music poured out of the open doors of the bars and restaurants, and there was a group of street performers on the other side of the street in the gazebo made just for them. We were essentially right on the beach, so the sound of the ocean lapping at the sand added to the ambiance.

Finally, I made it to my store and checked out the front. It had been painted over a week ago, but the contractors were adding some decorative details, such as black awnings and the base of my metal sign. The awning frame was installed, so I assumed the covers would go next.

Just as I was about to unlock my building, I noticed someone exit the pink store next to mine. It was an older woman on her phone and she walked away from the store. I didn’t t even know thatThe Pink Bakerywas open yet.

I slowly walked towards the bubblegum pink store and peered inside. The open sign was off, yet at least twenty people were inside. They mostly held drinks and baked goods in their hands, sitting and standing around the finished store.

It really sucked that I ended up leasing a building right next to another bakery, and honestly, that was dirty business on the lessor’s part. The business I leased from owned this entire strip, so they knew very well that they were putting competing businesses next to each other. It was unfortunate for both myself and whoever owned this bakery. But there was nothing either of us could do about it now. I assumed this owner was also under a three-year contract, so we were stuck. Regardless, I was only here to make my business successful, and that didn’t include caring about the competition.

From a success standpoint, I would have to do anything I could to ensure my business succeeded, even if that meant potentially harming another business. I couldn’t back off of my own marketing and promotions just to help another business thrive, even if that was something I wanted to do. For both of our sakes, I hoped our stores would do well regardless of the competition.

Maybe this bakery didn’t do a lot of cookies? That would actually be great, because then they could keep their corner of the baked goods market and I could keep mine.

But then I saw someone holding a large chocolate chip cookie. One that looked exactly like how mine usually turned out. I sucked in a breath as I looked around and saw that pretty much everyone had cookies, except for the few with cupcakes.

Anger clouded my vision. So we would bedirectcompetition. It even seemed likeThe Pink Bakerywould be doing the exact style of cookies that I was doing, and that just wasn’t going to work.

Immediately, I sent Jackson a text message. He was pretty handy with marketing, so I told him to do whatever he could to get the local area invested in my company. To spend whatever money. Because it didn’t matter that there were cookies in this other bakery. Mine were better, and my business was going to be successful despite this stupid pink store.

Jackson responded with a thumbs up and a message that stated he’d have the promotions live tomorrow morning. That gave me a month to grow a following and hype for my brand.

I continued staring—more like glaring—into the bakery window, trying to determine who the owner was. Obviously, this person was my rival now, so I needed to know what I was dealing with.

But then my eyes snagged on one person and I blinked thirty times to make sure my eyes weren’t failing me. I was only thirty, but that didn’t mean I was too young to go blind.

Sure enough, I was not losing my vision. Emma Sterling walked from the back of the bakery with a large tray of cookies in her hands and set it down on the counter. The guests flocked to her and started grabbing at the cookies, and I felt an old pain twist up inside me.

She was beautiful. Nothing about her had changed.

Emma was wearing a figure-hugging pink silk dress that showed off her gorgeously long legs and defined arms. She’d always been one to love the gym, which was obvious when she turned and I could see the definition of her calves, accentuated by the heels she was wearing. Her blond hair was the same, perfect shoulder length that complimented her face shape. She was smiling—no, grinning—at her youngest sister, who I knew lived in New York now. I could see the joy on her face as she talked animatedly.

Like a creep, I stood out of the light and just watched her as she walked around the store and gave out hugs and chatted with others. I don’t know how long it was, but I was broken out of my trance as someone walked towards the door. Bolting to the side, I hid in the small alcove around the front door of my business and watched as three girls left. They were about Emma’s age, but I didn’t know them.

“Emma did such a good job!”

---