Page 38 of Heaven Leigh’s Little Halloween

When she finally did fall asleep, she had nightmares about getting kicked out of Rawhide, while all the other Littles pelted her with Brussels sprouts. It was the most ridiculous bad dream she’d ever had and when she woke up, heart racing, her first reaction was to laugh at how silly it was.

The Bigs might be mad at her… but the Littles were going to be thrilled. At least she hoped so.

The morning was simple. It was the day before Halloween and the cake pops were finished for dessert, so there wasn’t any work to do, besides help Angel. But he didn’t have much work to do either. His project was as complete as it could be, before he set it up on the long party tables, and finally connected it all together.

They spent most of the morning talking and laughing. It did a lot to ease her nerves, and if Angel noticed she was a little jittery, he must have chalked it up to Halloween, because he didn’t comment on it.

The day dragged on and her anxiety returned. All day she waffled back and forth in her head. It wasn’t too late… she could easily skip the prank, and no one would ever know that she’d put so much work into planning one. Well, Angel might eventually wonder what she’d been working on at night, when she had nothing to show him.

But she’d done all the work, and the point still stood. It was mean of the bossy people to make all the Littles have sprouts with dinner every night, on threat of withholding Halloween if they refused. She and the others who hadn’t even participated in the strike were being unfairly penalized.

She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. No, she was going to do this. And then after, she’d take the consequences, whatever they were. She just hoped she could actually pull it all off, before getting caught—and that was going to be a trick and a half.

The kitchen was busy. The staff were rushing around, getting things out to the dining rooms and the cafeteria for dinner, while Chef busied himself with the finishing touches. The dining rooms got the main share of his attention, as the cafeteria tended toward simpler food.

He stood there, right in the middle of everything. Right where she needed to be, and he showed no signs of moving. Darn it.

She could see the serving pans full of sprouts ready to be delivered, but she couldn’t get to them to swap them out. Suddenly a thought occurred to her. She slipped out of the kitchen and went looking for Hayleigh.

Her friend was standing right outside the dining room, talking to someone Heaven didn’t recognize. She didn’t want to be rude, but things were time sensitive. She made a frantic waving motion and saw Hayleigh’s eyes widen.

A second later Hayleigh had made an excuse and come over. “Hey, Heaven. You need something?”

“Yes! Come with me.” Heaven grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from the traffic. As it got closer to dinner, everyone was heading for the cafeteria. “Okay, listen… I maybe need a little help. And maybe it might get you in a tiny bit of trouble, I’m not sure. I mean I’ll try to keep you out of it. It’s just that I can’t absolutely swear it won’t bounce back on you, but you’re the only one who can do it. So please?” The words flew out in a rush.

Hayleigh slow-blinked. “Um.” She squinted as she tried to take in the fast-rambling monologue. “It might help if you told me what you want?”

Heaven closed her eyes and sighed. “Sorry. Right. Well, I just need you to get Chef out of the kitchen for a few minutes.”

“Crap on a cracker, Heaven. You don’t ask for much do you?” She blew out an exasperated breath. “Why do you need him out anyway?”

“I can’t tell you that. Plausible deniability. If you don’t know why, then you’re less likely to get in trouble.” At least Heaven hoped it would work that way.

“Oh. I don’t know. I mean this is the busiest time of day. It’s going to be hard to get him to leave.” Hayleigh rolled her bottom lip under, gnawing gently on it as she considered.

“I know. But if anyone can distract him, you can. A few minutes is all I need. And I think it will be worth it when you find out later.”

“Okay, I’ll do it. I just hope I don’t end up regretting it. I’ve already been stuck eating yucky sprouts all week. Last thing I need is for him to decide to make it a month.” She scowled.

Heaven was so tempted to tell her then, but she shut down the impulse. If all went well, the Littles were going to be laughing their butts off and all the Doms and Tops were going to get a lesson in fairness.

And she’d get… well whatever she got. She just hoped it would come from Angel. If he claimed the right to deal with it, that would probably tell her what she needed to know.

She never was entirely sure what Hayleigh said to Chef, but she saw the wide grin that cracked through his serious workface. They disappeared into his office and the moment he was gone, she went into motion. Being a regular in the kitchen meant no one noticed when she casually scooped up the sprouts and carried them to the chocolate pantry.

From there it was a simple matter to swap them out for her own creations. She’d worked hard and each little cake now resembled a perfect green sprout, complete with leaf lines. Even a close comparison confirmed that no one would be able to tell by looking.

She had to hope they wouldn’t notice they were cold, instead of fresh and hot from being steamed, but otherwise they were identical. And the chill would give the cake sprouts a little more sturdiness too. Without the slightest bit of trouble, she was able to make the swap.

She checked the special cake pops she’d made for the second part of the prank. They were sitting innocently at the front of the cooler waiting to be served to all the Doms. The raw sprouts under the tasty chocolate coating were bound to get a reaction.

“Heaven? Is that you?”

She jumped, turning away from the cooler with a gasp.

Angel leaned in the doorway of the pantry. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you, chica. What are you up to?”

He was usually gone from the kitchen long before dinner prep, returning after it was served if there was a dessert to deal with. She hadn’t expected him to be there. Her mind whirled, rushing to come up with an excuse for her presence.

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