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.