Chapter 16: Part 5 - Flour-Covered Sarah

= Chris POV =

"Yeah, what of it?" Ruby said bitterly, looking down at her hands sheepishly.

I sat down across from her and ran a hand through my hair.

"Wait, but… you know Marylin and I—" I started.

"Yeah, of course I know." Ruby snapped, looking me dead in the eye. "Why do you think I hate you so much sometimes?"

I sat up straighter, blinking in surprise. "I—I had no idea. I would've totally backed off. Why didn't you tell me you had a thing for her? I mean, we were close—or I thought we were. I would never have gotten involved with her if I knew you were interested."

I hesitated before adding, "Is that why you stopped hanging out with Heather and the gang for a while?"

Ruby let out a heavy sigh and looked away, rubbing the space between her eyes.

"Look, it was a long time ago," she said, her voice quieter. "I knew you weren't serious about Marylin. Heck, I don't think you were ever serious about anyone.

"No, I could've approached Marylin myself. I just…" She trailed off, her fingers nervously tracing patterns on the table.

"The thing is, she tried one of my cakes the last time and had the exact same reaction—that it wasn't good enough." Ruby swallowed, her voice trembling slightly. "And I've tasted her cakes. Everything she makes is brilliant.

"I just… I thought if I could make something that would impress her for once, then maybe I'd find the courage to… to confess to her," Ruby admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.

She hung her head.

"It's not about you and her at all," she added quickly. "I've just been jealous and foolish for a long time, Chris. I shouldn't have pushed you away just because I was insecure."

Her shoulders slumped as she exhaled sharply, the tension finally leaving her.

I relaxed and leaned forward, patting Ruby on the shoulder.

"Hey, for what it's worth, that piece of cake I tried was pretty good," I said, trying to be encouraging. "As always, I think you should add less alcohol. But how about you take Marylin's advice and add a bit of the spice she mentioned? Who knows—maybe she's waiting for you to make a cake that impresses her enough for you to finally confess. Don't give up."

Ruby straightened up and patted my knee.

"Thanks, Chris. I think I'll try that. But don't think this changes how I feel about Sarah." She grinned and stood up, grabbing the trash can as she did. "I think the Marylin ship has sailed for me. It's all Sarah, all the time now."

She flashed me a mischievous smile and started walking toward the trash disposal area.

"I'm not sure what's going on between you two," she added over her shoulder, "but I really like her, Chris. And where Marylin's probably going to fly off in a few weeks, Sarah's cute, she's here, and maybe it's time I shoot my shot with someone who already likes my cakes—underwhelming as they are." Ruby half-smiled and gave the trash can one final shove into place.

I watched her retreating form, my fist clenching almost instinctively.

Just this morning, I'd been thinking the exact same thing about Sarah. She was here. She was my safe place. Was I really going to let someone else swoop in and carry her away from me… again?

The way Ruby talked about being into Sarah felt all too familiar.

Hadn't I made those same claims when I was dating multiple women, dancing around my feelings for Sarah the entire time?

Sure, Sarah was beautiful. She was my heart. But Ruby's fixation on Marylin said more than she realized.

I needed to step up—now.

I needed to take Sarah completely off the market.

Not just to protect what I had with her, but to force Ruby to recognize what I had already learned the hard way—there's only one person who's worth risking it all for.

I got up and started crossing the canteen, only to be intercepted by none other than Marylin.

"Oof! Sorry, Chris! Where did Ruby go? I wanted to give her something to try in exchange," Marylin beamed, holding out a chocolate éclair that seemed to be stuffed with an ominously black custard.

"Oh, she's in the back, may—" I started, but before I could finish, Marylin popped a piece of the éclair into my mouth.

My eyes widened as the bizarre combination of flavors exploded on my tongue—squid-ink custard paired with crisp pastry and chocolate. It hit my taste buds all wrong in the most unexpectedly addictive way.

"Amazing, right? I've been experimenting too! A savory-sweet surprise." Marylin giggled, clearly proud of her creation.

No wonder Ruby had such a weird obsession with avant-garde flavors—Marylin was even more experimental than she was!

Suddenly, a crash echoed from the bakery area, followed by a loud bang. Marylin and I turned to find Sarah sprawled face-first in a tray of dough that was now all over the floor.

The dough had been left to rise, carefully prepared to create a sweeter, more even texture—and somehow Sarah had walked straight into it.

"Oh no! My dough!" Marylin cried, rushing over to salvage the sticky wads of raw dough. "Oh, Sarah? Is that you? Hello, my dear! I haven't seen you since college. Looks like you're as cute and clumsy as ever."

Marylin beamed as she patted Sarah on the head, making Sarah offer a weak, embarrassed smile as she scrambled to gather the dough off the floor.

"I'm sorry—" Sarah stammered clearly mortified at what had happened.

I hurried over and knelt to help clean up the mess.

"Really, Sarah? They spent all night making these—you should be more careful where you're walking," I said, shaking my head.

Sarah froze.

Her shoulders started to shake, and wet spots bloomed in the flour-dusted mess around her knees.

"Oh, Chris, look at what you've done!" Marylin snapped, pushing me aside and crouching next to Sarah, "It's okay, it's okay. Don't cry, sweetheart."Marylin soothed as she brushed flour off Sarah's ruined office wear.

"Let me help," Maryylin murmured softly to Sarah, who was looking up at her with tears running down her face, the tears mixing with the dusted floor caused brown streaks in her skin.

Before I could even process what had just happened, Sarah stood up abruptly, stumbling back with a hand over her face.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, before fleeing through the doors to the main café and disappearing up into the office area.

"Seriously, did you have to be so harsh with her? Chris, go apologize. I'll clean up here." Marylin's voice was sharp as she tossed a clump of dough at me. "Seriously, you. Of all people, to say that to Sarah?! You know she's a klutz—just live and let live around her. Even back in college, you were always so harsh on her. I wish you'd stop."

She hit me with another lump of dough.

"Go! Go apologize now! And then go home, you sleepy idiot."

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry! Stop hitting me—I didn't mean it like that, gosh." I ducked as another lump came flying, quickly dusting myself off before following the trail of flour Sarah had left behind in her panicked escape.