"Did Sebastian send you?" I asked, trying to smooth my wrinkled sleep shirt into a presentable fashion, not that it helped.
Of course Sebastian had sent her.
She simply nodded, tugging a small cloth tape measure out of her pocket and holding it up against one of the walls.
"What do you think, mint green? Perhaps salmon pink." She tapped a finger on her chin, "Or some kind of soft blue for the wall?"
Her head whipped back towards me so fast it reminded me of The Exorcist.
I was officially terrified.
"My mother always liked the cream wall." I managed to murmur, afraid of changing my parents’ dream bakery too much.
"Quaint." Alissa murmured in a way that rejected that idea. I supposed I'd have to get used to salmon pink.
"How long will it take to remodel?" I asked, sitting in one of the white chairs, watching as she paced back and forth like the Energizer Bunny.
Her heels clicked sternly on the floor as she marched. How did she work and walk all day with shoes as high as those?
"Not long. We have a private team. We will have to find you somewhere to stay, though." She frowned, biting her lip. The hotel accommodations here were scarce.
I didn't respond, uncomfortably looking away. I wasn't sure how much of the 'situation' between Sebastian and I that she knew, and I didn’t want to say the wrong thing.
It would totally be like me to blow this whole deal sky high before we even got a chance to help each other.
"Sebastian should be here any minute." She finally sighed, "I suppose then we can both get some answers."
"He's coming here?" I said, startled, shooting to my feet, "I better change then."
A tiny smirk played on her perfect mouth, dimple popping in her cheek, "Yes, you should probably put on pants." She quipped, eyebrow arching.
Quickly, I scampered back into the office, shutting the door after me.
I leaned heavily against the thick wood, only then realizing that my heart was pounding in my chest.
Was I terrified of the changes I was about to go through? Was I terrified of being married? Was I terrified of just how much I didn't know about the situation? It was as though I were jumping into a deep, dark pool without knowing what lurked below.
Were there sharks, down there? Or just a warm, bubbling spring?
I wouldn't know until I jumped.
Perhaps I was just terrified of more strange people walking through my front door like the owned the place.
There was something else, though, below that fear and dread.
Excitement. The rush of finally living, of change, of striding headlong into the unknown.
I was ready for a new life, for a new beginning. I was ready to update the bakery, I was ready to finally take charge.
I would no longer be living in the shadow of my parents and the amazing things they accomplished while the bakery was theirs.
It would be new and fresh. It would be mine.
This was a once in a lifetime chance, I had to take it, lest I lose out on this shop forever. Mrs. Harrison would not be so lenient on rent in the future. This was my time to succeed, to make this bakery as grand as it once was. I could almost see it now, bustling with people. It would no longer be silent all day, but on the street passersby would hear laughter, they would smell the scent of fresh bread and cake.
And what would married life be like? Would Sebastian and I live a true life together? Or perhaps we would only be united on paper, and nothing else.
What did I want from him? And what did he want from me?
Was there only desperation between us? Or the possibility for more?
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I walked over to my dresser, tugging out a clean-ish pair of denim jeans and a yellow blouse. Once I was dressed I ran a brush quickly through my hair and piled it on top of my head in a messy bun.
Just as I once again left the office, Sebastian entered the bakery.
We stared at each other from across the small shop, his deep ocean eyes mirroring all of those whirling emotions I felt inside of me.
He didn’t have all the answers, the billionaire didn’t even have a fraction of the answers.
There was only one way that we were ever going to get through this swirling sea that made up our mysterious future.
We would have to dive in it together.
Chapter Six
"You've been sleeping on a cot for the whole year?" Sebastian asked incredulously, a hint of disgust in his tenor.
"Yes." I snapped, gripping the handle of my coffee mug just a bit tighter, "Not all of us can sleep in a canopied California king bed with silk sheets."
"I don't have a canopy..." Sebastian muttered, glowering at his own untouched coffee.
"Children, please." Alissa sighed from across the bakery.
She crossed towards us, bending down to lay slips of colorful cloth across the table. As the buxom woman did so, I all but expected her ample cleavage to come spilling out of the tight dress she wore. Sebastian cleared his throat, struggling not to stare, though we were together in that battle.