With big jagged letters, the business card was for a paranormal dating agency. Already signed up to an infinite amount of dating sites, Liv wasn’t interested in keeping the card, but maybe the woman needed it. Hell, maybe she was using the services and needed the website address.
Tonight she had a date with a man from a matchmaking site. Why had she allowed herself to feel guilty about being single? Oh yeah, it was Monica, her stepsister. She meant well. But Monica was in a happy marriage, and wanted to see Liv happy too. That was all well and good until she was scheduled on endless dates with men who she had nothing in common with. Not a fucking thing.
The sun beamed on her face when she left the store. She slid the sunglasses on top her head to rest on her nose, effectively blocking most of the annoying brightness.
Scanning the area, she searched for the older woman, her attention drawn to the bakery across the street. She shouldn’t. Her health was important. As a large woman, she had done her best to eat right, exercise all the time, and know her big curves were not due to poor health. She was just vertically challenged in proportion to her weight.
It sucked that she was the only big girl in her family. Everyone else was stick thin and they didn’t believe she took care of herself like she said she did. Oh, they nodded and gave her sympathetic smiles, saying they knew she was doing her best. But when they thought she wasn’t listening, she heard them whisper about her eating a cookie or a piece of cake like she’d broken some rule about fat people having dessert.
The bakery called to her. She was PMSing and really wanted chocolate. It was that or run over the next person who stared too long at her crop top that read “Nerdy, Dirty, Inked and Curvy.” She’d loved it when she had it made but some of the disgusted looks really pissed her off. Apparently big girls shouldn’t wear cropped tops. Too bad.
She eyed the bakery with a secret craving for its deliciously smooth and sweet concoctions. Chocolate or murder. Stupid female hormones. They always did this to her. Every month, like clockwork, she’d get cravings for chocolate and the need to find a man and get herself pregnant. She didn’t know why, but babies became a desperate longing at least two days every month. At thirty-six years old, she knew the desire for children would only grow with time. Lately, the need for progeny was the only reason she put up with the idiot dates Monica set up.
Monica and her children brought so much happiness into Liv’s life, but those were not her kids. So she joined matchmaking sites to make Monica happy and to secretly search out a man willing to have children. She was growing desperate, though. Soon she’d start researching sperm donors if this dating stuff didn’t work.
The sweet allure of chocolate and cake won. Besides, she had a healthy chicken wrap for lunch and she could really use the happy endorphins chocolate sent to her brain.
Mouth watering and stomach anticipating the taste of the delicious pastries, she crossed the street. She pushed the door open; the scrumptious scent of cookies, cakes, and other sugary sensations rushed to meet her.
“Hey, Liv,” greeted the owner and head baker.
“Hi, Aurelis.” She waved the hand holding the business card. Though she knew she didn’t go to the bakery enough to be remembered, Aurelis had mentioned she was good with names, so Liv had gotten used to being greeted like an old friend.
“How’s the dating thing going?” Aurelis asked, placing a piece of chocolate fudge, two chocolate chip cookies, and a mini napoleon on a plate.
She’d made the mistake of being on the phone with Monica the last time she’d gone into the bakery and Aurelis heard her whole conversation. “It’s, ah, it’s going.”
Aurelis gave a sad nod. “Coffee?”
“A latte, please.” She took the plate of sweets from Aurelis and sat at a table. The place was empty, having passed the midday rush. Luckily for Liv, she worked from home translating English books to Spanish whenever it suited her. Today, it suited her to take the day off and relax.
Aurelis came around the glass display case and brought the latte to Liv’s table. “I have a friend you should talk to. She’s great at matching up people.”
She shook her head. “No, thanks.”
She was already regretting her date for that night and the last thing she wanted was to get roped into more. Her wish would be to go back in time and ignore the help Monica pushed on her. Aurelis patted her shoulder and left her alone. She glanced at the bits of dessert. These did not make her weak.
She was a grown woman, allowed to have cravings and desires for sweets. It wasn’t like she went overboard, but still, the nagging guilt she was being bad persisted. It was probably due to the argument with her grandmother that morning.