Johanna Mason (district7victor) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-01-15 21:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, johanna mason, peeta mellark |
Who: Johanna Mason and Peeta Mellark
When: Backdated: First week of January
Where: Mellarky
What: Johanna decides to order a cake for her late brother's birthday
Rating/Warnings: Family Friendly
Status: Complete
Of course Johanna had known it was the beginning of January, but with everything that was going on she’d lost track of time a little and it wasn’t until she’d glanced at the date on her phone that morning that she realized her brother’s birthday would have been in three days. With the move and the random snow storms in California, Johanna hadn’t really thought about her parents and brother a lot since she’d left Portland, but realizing that her brother’s birthday was coming up brought it all back. It brought back the hurt from losing them and were it not for the fact that she had to work, she likely would have just stayed home and in bed for the next couple of days, but Johanna pushed herself to act like everything was fine.
On her way home later on that day, she happened to pass a small bakery and on a whim decided to go in. She wasn’t really sure why she’d decided to go in, unsure if it was actually a good idea or not to be there. She hadn’t made any sort of conscious decision to get a cake or anything, but for one reason or another she went in.
Peeta had actually managed to be in the front of the store when she came in, which was unusual because he was usually off in the back covered in flour. But right now he was currently adding some fresh danishes to the display case along with some croissants and a couple muffins. It was a new year and he was hoping to start actually baking a lot more to get some more business. He was also starting to train his employees on how to make the items so they could help him out as well.
He heard the bell above the door go off and he stood from his crouching position behind the counter to greet the customer. “Hello!” he called out to the woman who just entered and put on his best smile, “What can I help you with?”
Johanna should have expected that someone would likely greet her upon entering, but being so wrapped up in her thoughts of her family and the new flood of grief that it brought, the sound of the man’s voice startled her slightly and she jumped as she turned her head towards the voice, “Oh, um..I’m just looking,” Her attempt to return his smile probably failed, but she tried regardless. “Hadn’t really made up my mind.”
There was definitely something going on with the girl, he could see it in her face when she couldn’t quite get that smile to reach her eyes. “Sure, feel free to ask me any questions about what we’ve got. You’re the only customer here so you can have my full attention,” Peeta explained to her with a soft laugh as he leaned up against the counter and watched her. He didn’t want to pressure her with anything, but he wanted to make himself available just in case.
“Thanks.” Johanna said, her smiling reaching her eyes a little better than her first attempt. Turning away from the young man, Johanna started wandering the small bakery, looking at the various baked goods, however every now and then her gaze wandered over to the case of cakes. Deep down she knew it’d be a nice way to remember her brother, but at the same time, she didn’t know what kind of emotions it would bring up once she was alone.
Peeta let her go off and do her own looking. The last thing he wanted to be was pushy and he hated those kind of salespeople. While she was looking around he decided to straighten up some of the items behind the counter. Stepping away into the back didn’t seem like good customer service, so at least he could get some things down while he waited for her.
After another moment or two, Johanna reluctantly approached the man, feeling a little awkward about what she was going to ask him, “Hi, excuse me, but can I ask you a question?” She hoped that he wouldn’t think she was weird, but until she had someone else’s opinion, she wasn’t going to be able to make up her mind on what it was that she wanted to do in regards to the whole cake thing.
“Yeah, of course, that’s what I’m here for,” he answered cheerfully as he turned to answer her. He would never rebuff a customer and it was evident that she was looking for something, but wasn’t quite sure, “Hit me with it.” He was hoping that he would be able to help her out and he reached up to run a hand through his hair as he waited for her question.
“This might be a strange question, I’m not really sure.” Johanna adjusted her purse on her shoulder, “Have you ever had anyone get a cake for someone who was….passed? Like to remember them on their birthday?” Even as she spoke, she realized that it was entirely possible that this guy had no idea the reasons that people bought cakes, despite what they had written on them, “I’m sorry if this is really awkward.”
“Not awkward at all,” he quickly reassured her as he moved to the more open counter space so they could properly talk, “I have had a couple. There’s some parents that come in here to do things like that for their child that passed. I usually try not to pry about who the cakes are for, but some people definitely want to talk when they come in. So, don’t feel like it’s anything weird to tell me about this. So, you could either have me make a cake, which may take a day or two, or else I’ve got some premade ones in the case and I can personalize it for you.”
Johanna thought for a moment or two about what the baker said, chewing her bottom lip as she did so before finally speaking, “My….my brother’s birthday is coming up. A few months ago, he and my parents were killed in an accident.” As she spoke, she realized that she had never really spoken about what had happened to her family with anyone who wasn’t a doctor or priest or therapist. She hadn’t even told Regina why she’d moved to Orange County and here she was, telling a complete stranger about it.
It was evident from her actions that this was taking a lot of courage to tell him this information. He didn’t know how special he should feel, but he knew the gravity of the situation. A small frown appeared on his face when he announced that her family had passed away and he tried to give her a smile, “I’m really sorry to hear that, I really am. I would be quite honored to help you make a birthday cake for him. I think it’s a great idea to keep his memory alive and celebrate him.”
“Thanks. I haven’t really talked about it with anyone,” She didn’t know why she was suddenly telling a stranger so much, but she supposed it was a flood gates sort of thing. Once she started, she couldn’t stop, “If I got one, I wouldn’t need anything big, considering it’s just me, but I think something small would be nice.” It was times like these that she wished she had some friends, but when she’d moved she’d cut ties with most things that reminded her of Portland and her family.
“I can definitely do small. Maybe a nice round cake with a simple decoration. We can make it his favorite colors, if you wanted. I’ll throw in some candles and if you want a Happy Birthday message we can put that on there as well,” He wasn’t sure if she would want a full-out birthday cake or just a cake as a symbolic thing. He was definitely able to do both of those ideas and he was kind of excited about helping her with this part of her life. Sometimes this place was like therapy for other people.
Johanna was glad that this guy didn't think that she was absolutely insane for considering getting a cake for her dead brother. It talking about it definitely made it all feel so much more real than when she tried to forget it had happened, it actually felt nice to get it out instead of holding it in. "Maybe just his name. Instead of happy birthday. Some candles might not be a bad idea either." She wasn't gonna sing of course, but she could at least light the candles in his memory.
Peeta reached out to grab one of his cake ordering sheets to make sure he got it all down in case he forgot about it later. He nodded his head politely at the mention of just his name and made a note of that, “Okay, so what’s the name? And any specific colors? And lastly, what flavor cake would you like?” He couldn’t help but grin a little because no matter what she was still getting a delicious cake and he wanted to make sure she would enjoy whenever she ate it.
As the man asked her brother's name, her throat constricted for a moment before telling him. She could count the number of times she's said her brother's or parents' names since they'd died on one hand, "And blue and green. Can you do marble?" It was always a compromise so that there were no arguments between them over chocolate or golden when it came to cakes. "Oh, and my name is Johanna Mason." She figured that was probably something he needed to know too.
“Nice to meet you, Johanna, I’m Peeta,” he realized they hadn’t properly introduced each other. It was something that happened quite often in his job because he was more concerned with getting their stuff out of the way before saying who he was and sometimes they already knew. He filled out the sheet and then slid it over to her, “Alright, I’ve filled in as much as I can. If you want to put in your address and phone number up top and then look the rest over I can get working on that. When did you want your cake ready by?”
"It'a nice meet you, Peeta." It was a name that Johanna had never heard before and she was tempted to ask him about it, but she refrained for now. Taking the sheet of paper, she filled in her information then looked it over, "That looks good." She thought when she'd want it and decided that the best day would be on his actual birthday, "Can you have it for Saturday?"
“Sure, I can definitely do that for you. Alright, all this looks in order. Anything else I can help you out with today?” he took the sheet from her and moved to add it to a pile to take into the back with him so he could get started on them. But he wanted to make sure that she was completely satisfied with her visit here.
"No, I think that'll do it," When Johanna had walked past the bakery she'd had no idea that by the time she left, she'd feel so much better because of a cake. No, not just the cake, but because the baker, Peeta, had been so understanding and helpful, "Thanks. I'm looking forward to picking it up."
“Can’t wait to make it. Take care today, Johanna,” Peeta commented with a smile as she seemed like she was ready to head out the door. He was glad that she stopped in today and that he was able to help out with something so important to herself and hopefully it would set her mind at ease a little bit. Now it was time to get started on that and some other projects.