Chapter 37_Warm-Hearts

Raine looked at Rachel's joyful expression and couldn't bring herself to shatter it. "Alright, but only cake tasting. I will take care of the wine."

"Ahh! Why? I wanted to pick the wine myself. Moreover, we might need different brands…" Rachel's rant was cut short by Raine's expression. "Don't tell me, it's that wine…"

"All you need to do is believe in me. Your wedding will be as exceptional as you want it to be."

Rachel clapped in glee and stood up instantly. "I believe you, let's go cake tasting!"

"I really don't know why you want to do that. You already know the cake you'll choose. Why not go dress shopping or something else." Raine asked as she stared at her best friend, her left hand supporting her head.

"I knew it! You gave me the chance to pick wherever we go but now, you're changing your mind. Do you think I don't know why you want me to choose shopping instead of cake tasting?" Rachel said hands akimbo.

Raine stared at her in amusement, knowing she wouldn't give her the space to interject. 

"Of course, it's because if we go shopping you'll behave like a rich woman and just order all the latest season's clothes for me. You won't even let me try them on, then you'd coax me by buying my favorite snacks and of course by organizing a way for me to meet with Roy, who you know is on his set." Rachel began to respire laboriously after her rather dramatic tirade.

"May I speak now?" Raine chuckled and Rachel waved her hand flippantly. She was too tired to even nod in response.

"I meant we should go shopping for your wedding dress."

Rachel took a few minutes to rest before responding. "Oh! There's no need for that. Eliza, my godsister is designing our gowns. All we need to do is set time aside for the dress fitting."

"You've really thought things out then," Raine said. She was a bit surprised about how far ahead she had planned. Organization wasn't exactly Rachel's strongest suit.

"I know, I know. I'm very surprised myself. I think it's because I've been planning this wedding since I was a teenager. I really want everything to go well so I've been double-checking and I have a lot of planners for it. I also put a lot of reminders on my phone so I wouldn't forget the things I'm supposed to do or the people I'm meant to contact."

"Wow, people change when they have things very important to them." Raine replied with a wink and Rachel laughed happily. Let's go then."

Raine thought they were going to drive to the site but was pleasantly surprised when Rachel told her that it was just a stone's throw from where they presently were so they walked. If Rachel hadn't taken her there, she would never have thought it was a bakery. It looked no different from a house. 

"Are you sure we are at the right place?" Raine asked as she entered the building and saw that they were in a warmly decorated reception. It looked more like a home than anything else.

"Of course, I am. Let me go up to the receptionist." 

Raine took her seat as Rachel laughed it up with the receptionist and discreetly observed the room. The room was elegantly decorated with warm colors and the interior decoration style used was minimalism. It was obvious that the owner of the building was wealthy as they had probably employed the best interior decorator to design the room.

"Raine, come over here." Rachel's voice stopped Raine's train of thought. She walked over to Rachel who was now talking to a middle-aged lady.

"Hello! You're both very welcome to the Warm-Hearts. I heard you have a cake tasting scheduled for today. It's quite unfortunate, our boss had an emergency and isn't back yet. Would you like to continue without him or you'd like to reschedule?"

Raine turned to Rachel for her input. It was her wedding so she was the only one who could decide their next step but she was also quite worried that her friend might get sad. She had been looking forward to this event.

Rachel furrowed her eyebrows as she thought about it. However, she turned to Raine not long after looking helpless. "What should we do? I really wanted to have a fun time with you but I also wanted to introduce you to him."

"Him?" Now, Raine was entranced. Even though Rachel was a fun-loving girl who knew a lot of people, there were only a handful of her friends that she had ever thought well enough of to introduce to her.

To put it simply, Rachel was obsessively protective of their friendship and rarely introduced anyone to her. The only person she had actively introduced to her was her fiancè.

"Mm! Mm! The owner of this bakery. He is very...unique and I think you both will get along well." Rachel replied with a conniving smile.

"Rachel..."

"Don't worry! I'm not trying to set you up with him. I know better than to try that!" Rachel whisper-yelled but then moved very close to Raine's ear and spoke softly. "I think it's better to keep the best goods in the family so I wanted you to check him out for Lisa. If he fits your requirements then get them engaged. He will be a great partner for Lisa and an aid to you." 

Raine mentally face-palmed and shook her head. She didn't understand what went on in Rachel's mind. She was always up to no good. "Let's talk about that later."

"Thank you for your good thoughts but we will continue as planned. We're very sorry for any inconvenience this might cause." Raine ignored her best friend and looked at the woman who she guessed should be the manager.

"No, no, no! It's no inconvenience at all. We should be the ones apologizing. Since you've been so magnanimous, we shall compensate you for our failure to meet your needs. Let's not waste more time, please follow me." The woman replied with a soft smile and an apologetic bow.

Finally recovering composure, Rachel smiled and agreed. "Very well, thank you."