InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Marriage is a doomsday machine"

harper jones is on the run (jonesycakes) wrote in light_of_may,
@ 2015-01-26 23:09:00

Entry tags:

2009-10-13, emilia, harper

watch out, she's got fire in her veins
WHO | Harper and Emilia -- Open to Josh and Daveigh later!
WHERE | Sherry's bakery
WHEN | Afternoon

Over the course of the past couple of days, Harper had come to a very simple conclusion: she was awesome. She had the coolest wardrobe of anyone she had seen, she owned a bakery, and she had landed a guy as amazing as Josh Flynn. Oh, she wasn’t the least little bit smug or arrogant about the whole thing. Not even a little bit. Which was totally not why she was prancing around the bakery as if she owned the place (wait a second, she did!) and making Kahlan laugh when she could. How cool was it to work with her best friend on top of everything? Harper didn’t remember meeting the Australian or even hiring her, but it didn’t matter. Clearly, Kahlan had been there a while because she was always doing extra things to help out Harper.

Except today. Harper had insisted that Kahlan take the day for herself to get some rest. She was an expectant mother, after all. She wondered where the father of the baby was, but she didn’t judge the older woman not one bit. Marriage was a thing that adults did and it was meant to be done out of love, not because a kid was suddenly thrown into the mix. Never had Harper thought that being married was a condition to being a parent. Which was probably why she wanted to make sure that Kahlan was taking care of herself and her baby.

There was a lull in the afternoon business and Harper was concentrating on setting up her macaron display when the bell chimed over the door. She looked up and smiled jovially at the brunette who walked into the bakery. She recognized her as someone she had seen around town, but not someone she had seen very often or even knew by name. “Hey, how are you?” She greeted and placed the last macaron onto the bottom tier of the stand.

“So, what is it you’re in the mood for today?”

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becauseimwrong
2015-01-28 01:24 am UTC (link)

There was nothing particularly special about today. Well, no, there was, but no one in the outside world would have even known about it. Today had been the first day that Emilia and Doran had been in the same building - Emilia assumed - since they had begun proceedings for the divorce. They had been in the same building and not one single thing had exploded. Not only that, but her father had been around. He had asked Doran why he was not wearing his wedding ring, of course he would have noticed something like that, and he had asked Emilia the same thing. Though... Emilia had no tan line on that finger and a strong feeling that she never wore her wedding ring even when she was pretending to be happy. But they had looked at each other and then at Neil and Doran had told him. His voice had been a little strained and there had been something in his eyes that said he was not fully happy with it, and Neil had been concerned, but they had both told him that they did not want to talk about it... and he had gone away. Emilia had felt something tight in her chest loosen at that and she had had a fantastic day. More than that, she wanted to tell Nysa. It felt important that her father knew she was getting divorced and nothing bad had happened. More than that - he had asked where she was staying and she had told him; with Nysa. That was good, right? That was important!

And so she was going to celebrate by getting a cake. Not just any cake, either, it had to be a special one. Everything had to be right because it was really for Nysa. Emilia would eat some of it, sure, but it had to visually appealing to Nysa. She had the perfect image ready in her head and now all she needed to do was find a place that could make it reality.

Sherry's Bakery. Emilia was almost certain she had seen a box from here before at the church, a few times maybe, and the treats inside were always good. That seemed as good as anywhere else, so Emilia stepped inside, almost immediately unbuttoning her jacket at the difference in temperature. "Mmmm, that is a heavenly smell." Emilia felt like she loved bakeries for that very reason: they smelled amazing. She turned a smile on the woman behind the counter, not even twitching at the little murmur of senseless thoughts that rolled off her. "Hello! And a cake." She stepped up to the counter. "Not a very large one, but not too small. I was thinking it would be nice if was strawberry flavored with a vanilla icing. But not white... I'd like if it were orange. Sunset orange, not Halloween." She was studying the case of macaroons. "It's a special situation. What color would go good with orange to say 'I love you'?" No, that seemed too general... "I love you, Nysa. Yes, that'd be better." She glanced up and smiled. "Is that possible?"

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jonesycakes
2015-01-28 03:15 am UTC (link)

“A cake!” Harper rolled the edges of her sleeves up a bit. Truly, baking anything was a joy of Harper’s, but the fire elemental had a soft spot for cakes and cupcakes. She absolutely loved the decorating. She never considered herself much of an artist until she saw a finished cake of hers; it wasn’t arrogance or an abundance of confidence, she was actually talented when it came to creating little edible fixtures for cakes. Everyday cakes were easier. The imperfections were overlooked or seen as intentional. Special occasions and wedding cakes, on the other hand… People bought those and just expected for something to be wrong, so Harper liked surprising them and presenting them with something awesome. Especially since she was her own worst critic. “Orange and… Hm. I’ve always been partial to orange and purple. If you’re going for something sunset-ish, you kind of want something rich and bold looking. Unless you want it to pop off it? Then I’d suggest a shade of yellow or goldenrod.”

She pulled up a notepad and a pencil and began to scribble the details as the brunette rattled them off. “Spell Nysa for me? I stopped assuming I knew how to spell ages ago. You end up getting a Britney and spell it Brittany one too many times, you start asking people to spell everything.” She looked around the goods she had (thankfully, it was the fall, so she had several different shades of orange already in the display case) for a reference color and pointed at a few of them in the case. “For your sunset orange, do you see anything in here that resembles the color you’ve got in mind?”

“And the strawberry bit. Do you want the actual cake to be pink and strawberry flavored, or would you rather something vanilla with a strawberry spread between layers?” This was how the business was run. A customer came in with a plan and it was Harper’s job to make sure that plan became a reality. The more complicated the order, the more likely she was going to enjoy the job. Even if it did seem like a headache in the meantime.

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becauseimwrong
2015-01-28 08:38 am UTC (link)

Orange and purple? Emilia tried to imagine it and nodded slowly. "Purple could work. I want it noticeable, but not too..." She made a motion with her hands. "You know?" Nysa was likely going to tell her she had made too much effort as it was. Something told her that when she had a choice, Nysa preferred simple things, but that she was still a woman and women - whether they said it or not - did like getting something special every now and then. Now was definitely the time for that and there was no one there to tell Emilia she was getting something too elaborate. She did smile good-naturedly when the woman behind the counter asked for the spelling of Nysa and gave her reason. "N-y-s-a. I can imagine you've had quite a few little mix-ups like that, names are so subjective." As for the base color... Emilia looked at the options and her smile faded. "No... it's more... between those last two, I think. One is too light and the other's too dark. Just in between would be perfect."

Emilia did have to think about the next question. Which would be better? She did not think she wanted pink. "Pink isn't my favorite color... could all be strawberry without the pink? Maybe a lighter orange instead." Emilia paused. "I mean, I like the vanilla frosting, so yes, that stays. But the rest of it. The cake with a strawberry spread between, but I don't want the cake flavored vanilla." Her brows drew together when she caught a thought about how the more complicated orders were better. Was her order complicated? Nysa would probably say so. Oh well, it's for her and worth it. "Can you do that? Because if you can, then that would be perfect. And now that I think of it... two matching cupcakes. I'd rather give those to the children, they're better sized for it. With perhaps an 'A' on one and a 'R' on the other."

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jonesycakes
2015-02-02 03:40 am UTC (link)

“Right, you don’t want it to clash, I understand.” Harper smiled as she nodded, making her notes. One thing you learned when working with the public was figuring out what exactly they wanted even if they couldn’t find the words for it. Some people were easy to please and wanted the bare minimum done (boring), but others, like this woman here, had different, very specific ideas, and it was interesting to try to bring those ideas to life. More often than not, Harper succeeded. “Tell you what, I’ll mix up the icing here and now since it won’t take but just a few minutes and you can tell me which shade of orange works for you the best.”

Harper’s lips twisted in thought. “I think I can pull that off, so that shouldn’t be a problem. I can use strawberry extract to flavor the cake and use a puree between the layers. And you want the cake orange too? Just lighter than the icing.” She scribbled down the information about the cupcakes and couldn’t help but think that this woman was probably one of the pickier customers she’d ever had. Which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing; picky people just knew what they wanted and that was a pretty good thing when taking an order.

“So what kind of occasion are we looking at?” Harper sat the pad down to the side and began to mix up some icing, adding red and yellow food coloring until it began to turn orange. She stirred and mixed it up so that the brunette could see the shade as it changed and she could signal when it was just right. “Is it an anniversary or something?” Harper liked getting little tidbits of background information for her special orders. It helped her get a feel for what she was doing.

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becauseimwrong
2015-02-02 06:37 am UTC (link)

I like this one. Emilia decided as the woman continued to take notes without saying that she was being ridiculous. Of course, she also kept thinking about picky people, but surely she could not mean Emilia. She was just very specific with what she wanted. That was not picky, that was... well, specific. "That sounds like a good idea. I'd hate for us to have a misunderstanding." Mostly because that would mean she would either have to wait longer for the cake, or because she would not get it at all. Bakers could get touchy if they thought you were dismissing their work as less than perfect and Emilia did not have the patience necessary with people she did not know to sugarcoat her words. "Yes, that's right." She is definitely thinking I'm picky. Emilia was not sure she liked that, but honestly? So long as the cake got done the woman could think of her however she wanted to. "Though... the puree, does that have to be pink? I suppose... if it must be then it won't ruin it." Why did such good things have to be pink or red? They did not go with orange in her head.

"Oh." Emilia had not expected that question. Though she supposed she was not really hiding anything. And why should she? There was not a single feeling anywhere in her body that said she needed to hide her relationship with Nysa. Not anymore. "Or something." There was a warm smile on her face, a more honest one than she had worn since leaving the house that morning. "It's for... I don't know what to call her. The woman I'm leaving my husband for." What? The idea of a scandal was foreign to Emilia these past few days. "Girlfriend, I suppose you could say. She will absolutely love it." Her eyes were fixed on the frosting and she motioned when it hit the shade. "That, right there. Also, my name is Emilia." Maybe that would get her to think of her as 'Emilia' instead of a picky customer.

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jonesycakes
2015-02-05 03:35 am UTC (link)

“Oh, no,” Harper shook her head. “The puree is red, like strawberry jam. It’s not quite as thick as jam, but since it’s made from fresh strawberries, there’s not really anything I can do about the color. Icing and batter are different. Those things I can change the color all day long, but purees are different. Strawberry’s red, lemon’d be yellowish, blueberry would come off purplish. If you’d rather some strawberry flavored cream or icing in between the layers instead, I can do that and maybe tint it the same shade as the icing?” She watched the brunette as she spoke. “The puree just adds a more genuine flavor to the cake. So if you’re getting a strawberry cake, it doesn’t necessarily taste like artificial flavorings, you know?”

Harper tried not to be the sort of person to judge. She really did try. But that didn’t stop her first thought from being Woah when her question was answered. She certainly never expected such a forthcoming sort of response. “Well alrighty then,” She smiled. “A pretty cake for girlfriend Nysa from Emilia.” She said it in a good humor sort of tone, partially so that she remembered it for herself. “I take it the leaving is a celebratory sort of thing?” She wasn’t trying to pry, not really, but that’s kind of the mood she was gathering from the smile on Emilia’s face and the bright nature behind the cake she was ordering.

“Now, it’ll take a while for the cake to actually get done. I do have a couple of orders I have to finish up first, but they shouldn’t take too long. But I’ll ring you up now, take down your number so I can call you as soon as I’ve got it ready. When do you absolutely need it by?”

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becauseimwrong
2015-02-07 06:15 am UTC (link)

"Ah..." Emilia thought about it. She really did. She thought about it and she tried to picture it in her head and it just looked terrible. She could not give Nysa something that she thought looked terrible and she very well would not spend her money on it. "No, I understand the desire for a better flavor, but I don't like it. What about actual strawberries? I understand if it dyes the color of the cake around said strawberries, but I think it'd look better. No need for layers." One layer was fine in that case. And she was sure that she had seen pieces of fruit inside of cakes before.

Woah? Emilia blinked and thought about it. Was what she had said really that uncommon? No, she was sure that it had to happen more often than people thought. Harper was smiling, though, so the chances of her poisoning the cake or anything like that were relatively low. "It's very much a celebratory thing, just ask my sisters. They had a party." This was just one of the many reasons why she loved Desi. "But this is special, and more private than that. Otherwise it would need to be a lot bigger." But at least this way Nysa would have pieces left over to take into work with her.

Ah, it would not be done as soon as she had thought. Emilia's face fell a little and she tapped her finger on her purse. "Okay... absolutely? I was absolutely thinking tonight, but if you have other cakes to do then I suppose that tomorrow will have to be soon enough." She turned her phone around. "That's my number."

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jonesycakes
2015-02-08 10:10 pm UTC (link)

Harper felt a little flare of her temper, but she swallowed it down. It was easy for her to lose patience with someone when they had a particularly difficult order, but it was worse whenever they were trying to express something that wasn’t executed quite as they thought it could be. She wracked her brain for any recipe that sounded remotely like the one Emilia was mentioning. Strawberry flavored cake with fresh strawberries sliced and featured. Yet, the cake had to be orange and not pink. And only one layer. That did not leave very much room for error.

“The fresh strawberries won’t do so well, not like you’re wanting them it sounds like. If I mix them up with the batter, they’ll be really tiny chunks and flecked throughout, not at all pretty slices that you can see. And mixed up like that, they’ll taint the color of the batter so it’ll be more red than orange and not just around the actual strawberries. The only way that I can make sure that the strawberries are sliced and still presentable would be to try to layer some batter in the bottom of the pan and make a layer of strawberries on top and then I could try to sandwich them between layers of the batter.”

She took down Emilia’s number and turned so she could see the list of orders she had lined up for the day. “I do have a couple of orders before yours,” Plus she was looking to close up shop a little early so she could be there for dinner with her sister. “So it’ll be tomorrow before I can get it completely done. It’ll be early tomorrow, though.”

“Oh, you know what? I can probably get away with doing candied strawberries? If you think Nysa would like that.” It didn’t matter how complicated an order was, the customer knew what they wanted and Harper would do the best she could to deliver. The only problem was when she couldn’t and this order was increasingly seeming like one of those. “Or, unless your heart is settled on a single layer, I can layer fresh strawberries with some cream.”

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becauseimwrong
2015-02-09 12:10 am UTC (link)

Emilia was not trying to read the woman's mind. She had a feeling that she never actually tried to do it, but nor was she really able to make herself stop. It was like an irritating radio station that you did not want to listen to, but had no choice because the radio in the car was broken and you could only turn it down so much but not off entirely. Which was why she was hearing almost an echo of how impossible it was to do what she wanted. Which was why she was starting to get irritated. Because she could hear the tinge in the thoughts and she did not, even a little bit, appreciate it. The only thing that kept her from actually saying anything was that this woman was going to be making her cake for Nysa and she did not need for it to get ruined. "Well, then I suppose that you should do whatever you think will be best." Her smile had turned tight, but at least she still managed to give it. "So long as strawberries are involved and nothing is pink." That was important. That was a sticking point for her and she was not going to let it go no matter what she heard come out of her head or mouth.

"No, if it's going to be tomorrow then I'd rather it be later. I don't want to just leave it sitting and I don't get out of work until four or five. No point to having it before I go home." If Nysa did choose that day to arrive home before her then the surprise would just be ruined. She was a little disappointed that it could not happen today, but she supposed that she could not expect much else with such short notice. She was ready to call that done and go before she heard something else that made her eye feel like it was going to twitch - or worse. Emilia knew what happened if her emotions got the better of her and there was far too much glass in here for her to let that happen. She did not think she could afford paying for a new display case on top of a divorce. She couldn't prove I did it... No, it was still a bad idea. "I've never had candied strawberries, I don't know if Nysa would like them. May I try one?" If she was neutral on the taste then she would go back to her stance of 'do whatever you want so long as it's not pink.'

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jonesycakes
2015-02-09 03:56 am UTC (link)

Not once had Harper ever meant to lose her temper with someone, especially not a customer, but she found it was difficult to keep it reeled in with this particular customer. The woman seemed to have this idea of a cake and thought it could magically be whipped up just the way she thought of it, except she didn’t have a working knowledge of what was necessary to do just that. If anything, the labor fees on this particular confection was going to be a little higher than normal just for the trouble she was going to have to do to get everything perfect. Harper was not perfect, she didn’t do perfect. In fact, she found perfection in the imperfections, and that was a major philosophy of hers while baking. There was too many things that could go wrong for her not to live that way.

And she just knew that tone and that tight-lipped smile. The one that was meant to placate her as the creator. She could sense that the brunette, Emilia, was getting irritated with the way things were going. She didn’t know if it was the number of questions she was throwing at her or if it was simply that she was offering up answers that didn’t please her, but she didn’t really appreciate the vibes rolling off of her. Still, she let it slide for a moment as Emilia expressed that she’d prefer the cake to be ready in the afternoon.

“I can do that.” Might be easier that way in case something goes wrong with this one. She could tell that Emilia really wasn’t pleased with the way this was going, so tried to make peace. Harper tried to inhale deeply, to quell the flames of her agitation and she brought her hands up as she explained things to Emilia.

“Look, I’m only trying to make sure you get something you and your girlfriend will like. I know it’s tedious going through everything, but sometimes the ideas people have need to be tweaked or adjusted in order to come out looking and tasting right.” As she spoke, she gestured a bit with her hands, nothing big or over the top, but just a little wave to emphasize her meaning. “You seem very particular about the color of the cake and I don’t want to end up with any pink in there either, which is why I’m suggesting alternatives. If I do exactly what you’re telling me to do, then the chemistry of the cake will come out wrong and look like a train wreck and you’ll end up blaming me and wanting a refund.” The last sentence came out with a little more passion to them to express her point (because she really hated it when people tried to placate her) and one last little roll of her hand surprised her completely when an actual flame shot out over the counter.

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becauseimwrong
2015-04-02 01:46 pm UTC (link)

The possibility of something going wrong was always going to be there, Emilia knew that. But knowing it in the back of her head and hearing it in the forefront of the woman who was going to bake it? Two very different things. Her neck gave an involuntary twitch and she had to close her eyes and count to five as she listened to the baker explain why she was asking all the questions. Yes, I know that, I've already heard it from you. Not that she new it and it was irrational to get irritated because she was hearing it again, but Emilia had always had a problem with rationality. She was going to point out that she had asked to taste whatever a candied strawberry was, not told her off. But that was when the flame come shooting over the counter. Emilia jerked back out of sheer reflex even though it was not that close to her.

What she could not control was what happened next.

"What is wrong with you?" she snapped, eyes blazing. "You get someone who knows what they want and you shoot flames at them because they don't agree with every suggestion??" And that was when the display window began to shake, just for a moment, before the glass shattered into hundreds of sparkling, glittering pieces. Emilia's mouth dropped and she lifted her foot, a piece sliding off and tinkling to join the others. "...how about I just go now and come back tomorrow when we're calmer and the cake is done and you're not going to shoot fire at me and I'm not going to break everything in your store on accident?"

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