InsaneJournal

Who: Peeta Mellark and Caroline Forbes
What: An interview sort of
Where: Mellarky
When: Thursday, May 14
Rating: Low
Status: Complete


After the chaos that was planning David Xanatos’s party it was nice to focus on an event that was a bit more lowkey. And one that she had more than a week to plan. She was working with a local winery that was presenting some of their new wines to investors. They didn’t need much, food, some decorations, music. It wasn’t so much a presentation as a small party where investors got to enjoy themselves and taste the wine. She had the DJ and decorations taken care of. The location was also handled considering it would be at the winery itself. All that was left was the food.

She was keeping it simple, foods that were easy to eat while mingling and also paired well with wine. Cheeses and breads were definitely on that list. She wanted to make sure she had the best bread too. She had heard good things about Mellarky and knew it had won a competition on Food Network in the past. Very promising. But of course Caroline had to go and meet with the owner herself, taste some of the bread. She did her due diligence.

She had made an appointment a few days in advance, always the professional. Now it was time for it. Dressed in one of her usual floral dresses, warm smile on her face, Caroline walked into the bakery straight up to the counter. “Excuse me,” she said to the person behind it. “I’m looking for Peeta Mellark.”

Having someone in wanting them to cater an event was something that happened fairly often at Mellarky especially since they were so close to LA. Peeta had been happy to take on whatever catering jobs came in for them. This event sounded fun and Peeta was happy to provide a variety of bread if the event manager decided to use them. The appointment had been made for a Caroline Forbes to come stop in and Peeta had been hard at work making some extra loaves so she could taste them.

The woman at the counter smiled at Caroline, “Sure, let me go grab him.” She wandered into the back quickly to let Peeta know that a woman was looking for him in the front. Peeta knew it must be Caroline and he grabbed the tray of bread as he made his way out front. On the tray sliced up was a baguette, brioche, focaccia, raisin-walnut bread, and he even tried his hand at a flatbread cracker. He pushed through the door from the back and took in the sight of the blonde woman who must be Caroline. She was quite pretty and he suddenly felt himself hoping that he did get this gig if it meant working with her a bit more.

“Hey, you must be Caroline. Really nice to meet you,” he balanced the tray on one hand as he reached out with his other to shake her hand, “We’ll go grab a seat over there at the empty table and you can try out some of the bread.”

Caroline reached out to shake the man’s hand smiling brightly. Of course she noticed that he was attractive, she’d have to be blind not to. But she kept her professionalism. That was what she was here for after all.

“Nice to meet you too, Peeta,” she said, releasing his hand, finally noticing the tray he was balancing. He had certainly brought out a selection. Caroline liked him already. “Perfect,” she added, letting him lead the way to one of the tables. “You do this a lot?” she questioned taking a seat. She had a feeling the answer was yes, but still it was on her list of questions. The list in her head at least. She wasn’t taking notes or anything. She usually went off how she felt around the person, if they would be compatible with her working style. And of course if the food was good.

“Every once and awhile,” Peeta admitted with a laugh as he lead the way to the table, and pulled out a chair for her before he set the tray dow and then took a seat, “Usually it’s someone asking about sweets, but I’m happy to make up a sampling tray of breads.” It was a nice change of pace from all the celebrations he catered that wanted cakes or cupcakes or pies. It was a little unexpected but the way Caroline had pitched the cheese and wine party made him want to try it out.

“Do you taste bread often?” Peeta couldn’t help but chuckle a little, “I figured since it’s cheese and wine that you’ll probably use a lot more crackers, but I wanted to supply a few breads and try my hand at some crackers too. I was also thinking of possibly making some crostini from the baguettes with some olive oil and rosemary.” He was probably rambling a little bit, but he wanted to explain it to her before she started trying things.

Caroline definitely didn’t mind the rambling. For one it was kinda cute, but more importantly it showed how passionate he was about what he did. Which was definitely a plus. “Not really,” Caroline admitted with a sheepish smile. “Usually it’s more main courses or appetizers I have to sample,” at least when it came to working with new catering companies. Once she had hired them a few times she didn’t feel the need to taste anything ahead of time. “My clients usually like to taste the deserts for themselves. Especially wedding cakes.” She had a feeling he knew that already though.

Now she was the one rambling. She decided to try one of the breads to shut herself up. Picking up the brioche and tore off a small piece popping it into her mouth. “Mmm,” Caroline commented as the flavor hit her. It was nice and light. Perfect. “I’m not exactly a bread expert. But that was really good.”

“Makes sense. And yeah, everyone always wants to taste the desserts themselves,” Peeta agreed with a quick laugh. It was always the thing that amused him the most when people want to put together a party that wasn’t a wedding - asking if they could sample cakes beforehand. It depended upon the situation if he allowed it or not, but usually he just made small cupcakes for things like that instead of baking an entire cake, “I mean, it is the best part of the meal, I’m not biased or anything.”

He didn’t mind her rambling. It was nice to talk to someone else who seemed to enjoy their job. He watched carefully as she tried the brioche and a smile appeared on his face when she gave her approval, “Perfect, glad you like it. I think the baguette is better, but that’s just me. I’m definitely a crusty bread kind of guy. It just goes well with everything. So, how long have you been doing events? I haven’t heard of your company before and I try to know most event planners in the area.”

“So why bread?” she questioned since he was clearly biased towards desserts. Most bakeries she knew stuck to the sweets. She hadn’t run into one yet that made such a selection of breads as well which was why she had a good feeling about Mellarky before she even came in here. Now that good feeling had just grown. It was pretty perfect for this particular event.

“Guess I’ll have to try that next,” Caroline said with a smile grabbing the baguette and tearing off a piece to try. Once again she wasn’t disappointed. “Might have been better than the brioche,” she commented tucking her hair behind her ear before answering his question. “Like three and a half years?” Almost four really. Wow it had been awhile since she graduated college. She was starting to feel old. “But most of that time was in New York. I just moved back here a few months ago.”

“My parents ran a restaurant so I always grew up around food. I always liked bread because it’s so versatile. I did a lot of desserts and I don’t mind them at all, but sometimes it’s fun to make something that isn’t as pretty. Some of the cakes I’ve had to make for people can be intense so making some bread is a nice stress relief,” Peeta basically loved making anything he could, but bread wasn’t done as often as cakes and cupcakes lately.

“Well, glad you like it. Wish I had a fancy set of cheese here for you, but I can always grab some butter if you need it. Sometimes simple is the best way to enjoy a baguette,” Peeta smiled at her, “And wow, that’s a long time and New York? That’s pretty impressive to get a business going there, it was hard enough around here. And moved back? Ah, so you’re a California girl at heart and can’t stand that East Coast weather?” Peeta was enjoying getting to know more about her.

“Oh I believe that,” Caroline had seen a number of over the top cakes in her day. Hell she had planned a lot of over the top parties. But cakes, people just seemed to go extra crazy when it came to those. “Is the restaurant around here?” she couldn’t help but ask. Maybe she had been to it before. “Or did you grow up somewhere else?” Okay this wasn’t exactly a typical interview question but she was enjoying getting to know the cute guy in front of her.

“I’m okay for now. Thank you though.” She just wanted to see what the breads tasted like without adding anything to them. Although she was pretty sure her mind was already made up about working with him. “Oh now you flatter me,” Caroline said giving him a smile. “I worked for a company back in New York. But figured I’d try my hand at running my own out here.” It helped that she didn’t have to worry about rent or anything either. And she had a pretty good reputation from both the company she worked for and her clients back in New York who were more than happy to give her references. That combined with the party she had just thrown was making the transition pretty easy.

“Something like that. The winters there were pretty brutal. But I don’t know. My mom is here,” there was a slight change in her tone at the mention of her mother. A bit of sadness thinking about the circumstances that brought her back but she quickly brushed it off. “This is home,” she finally said. “But pretty sure I’m supposed to be asking you the questions,” Caroline teased voice light. She didn’t mind. The way the conversation flowed proved he was easy to talk to and work with. “How long have you had Mellarky?”

Peeta listened eagerly at all the information she was providing him. This conversation had definitely moved past being about the job and felt more them getting to know each other. “It’s up in Pasadena and I grew up there too. When I decided to get my own business space I found this space down here and was happy to move down here as well. My place isn’t too far from here, which works well for early mornings.”

“Maybe,” Peeta just grinned at her, “Is it going well so far on your own? And gotcha, I know it can be hard to be away from home and family. And sorry, I’ll make sure not to ask you any more questions then.” He threw a wink in her direction, “I’ve had this place for….I think it’s coming up on 3 years now? I just opened my smaller satellite store late last year over in Anaheim. That one focuses more on cakes and such. It’s fairly close to Disneyland so I gotta try and get that tourist money.” He couldn’t help but chuckle a little at that. It was working well so far especially when they did themed cupcakes.

Caroline liked that it was an actual conversation. She wasn’t a fan of formal interviews, they felt too stuffy. She just liked getting to know people and she was definitely enjoying getting to know him. “That’s nice that it worked out for you and you’re not too far from family.” Family was definitely important. Well depending how they treated you. Which was why Caroline was close with her mom but not so much her dad. “You get to see them often?”... that question had nothing at all to do with his capability of catering her event. Oh well.

“So far, yeah. I did this huge party not long ago and got a lot of other jobs from it.” It was definitely helping getting her company off the ground. She hated to admit it but it was kind of worth that week of hell. She laughed at his comment, her cheeks reddening slightly at his wink. “Oh no it’s fine. You can still ask,” she assured him. “Two bakeries? Look at you,” she teased picking up one of the crackers to try. Which of course was just as delicious as the rest of the food.

Peeta’s family situation was a little complicated thanks to his father, but most of it had been figured out a while ago but sometimes it was still a point of contention. That was also why he decided to move down a little further away from his parents, “Yeah, when I have time. Usually a couple times a month. My brothers are around helping out here though, which is great. They’ve been a lot of help the last couple years trying to get this all figured out.” He was definitely not going to bring up any family issues right now since they just met.

“Congratulations, that’s pretty impressive. Must mean you’re doing a great job, I’m sure the company putting on this party will be quite pleased. And it was unexpected to have two, honestly even to have one. I just wanted a space where I could work on the cake orders I was getting and then it just snowballed. I’m happy to be doing more than just cakes and that people are still coming in and buying things from me. That’s all you can hope for. It’s fun to do these kind of events because like you I can get more business than I would if I didn’t do anything.”

Caroline gave a small nod as he talked about his family. It was nice that he got to see them. That had been the worst part for her about living in New York. Being so far from her mom. “I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have siblings,” Caroline commented, way off interview topics now.

Again Caroline felt her cheeks redden at his compliment. What the hell was going on? She was normally much more confident than this. “Clearly you were just too talented,” she teased complimenting him right back. It was true though, no wonder he had to have not only one shop but two. “Yeah word of mouth helps a ton,” which of course she was sure Peeta knew. “I bet people try your baked goods and tell all their friends. Even if it’s not at an event.” But speaking of events she actually had to get to another meeting about one. She frowned at the thought not wanting to leave this conversation. “I should probably get going. Thank you for meeting with me and making all the samples,” she truly did appreciate it. Even if it did go with the job. “I’ll be in touch soon,” she added but didn’t stand quite yet. Still not wanting to leave.

Ah, so she was an only child. That always explained a lot about a person, especially their feelings about family. Peeta couldn’t imagine life without his siblings, “It’s definitely interesting. Sometimes they are amazing and sometimes they are the absolute worst. We definitely fight and that’s most likely quite normal for siblings.”

The compliment from her made the one side of his mouth raise up in a half smile. She was very kind and he honestly really enjoyed chatting with her. He nodded in agreement to the word of mouth comment because it was true. That was how his whole business was built - a few very great friends spreading their love for his cakes. Then she said she had to get going and he frowned briefly, disappointed that she would be going, and then he stood up, “Of course, happy to help. Let me grab you a container and you can take the samples with you.”

Before she could protest he walked off to go behind the counter to grab a to-go box and then brought it back, quickly boxing everything up and handing it back to her. “It was really great to meet you Caroline. Hope we get to work together and that this won’t be the last I see of you,” he meant it as he spoke with an easy smile on his face.

Caroline thought about protesting but decided not to. He had made the breads for her and she didn’t want them to go to waste. “Thanks,” she said standing up from her seat as he prepared the box for her.

Once he was done and handing it over to her she may have let her fingers brush against his a little longer than necessary. “Oh, I’m sure this won’t be the last you see of me,” Caroline replied giving him her classic bright smile. “I’m looking forward to working with you.” And just seeing him again in general but she didn’t say that part. It was already unprofessional enough of her that she had basically already told him he had the job. “I’ll be in touch,” she added before turning to leave.

The brush of their fingers, the smile on her face, and Peeta knew that he was definitely going to make sure to reach out to her for a non-business meeting very soon. It had been a long while since he was interested in someone, but something about Caroline made him interested enough to try that out. He was sure his therapist would have a field day with this at their next appointment. The smile stayed on his face as she made her move to leave and he moved a little quicker than her to grab the door for her, “Looking forward to it.” He watched as she made her way out of the bakery and on the way to her next appointment. The door closed and he turned back around to head back into the bakery, rolling his eyes good naturedly at his employee’s teasing.