So last week I proposed a writing challenge and invited you all to join in! Please linkup below with your submissions!!
Here was the challenge: Select a book at random in the room. Find a novel or short story, copy down the last sentence and use this line as the first line of your new story.
And here is my submission!
Sometimes
in life, all you need is a little help, and a lot of courage, and oh yes butter.
It
had taken all those things for Jade to leave her job. The steady one with the
great pay, wonderful benefits, and soul crushing monotony that made her dread
the alarm every morning. She had known that there had to be more out there for
her. Surely there was more to life than just spreadsheets and lunch meetings.
However it was during these long years working for “the man” that she
discovered her true passion…and that passion was chocolate.
So
many nights after staring herself sick over paperwork she had turned to the one
thing she found comfort in…her oven. Something about the measuring of the
ingredients, the smell that hung in the air like a perfume that no designer
could perfect, the joy of seeing the parts of many things joining together in
harmony to create one final creation. It filled her with a sense of fulfillment
that work could never give her.
So
she had quit. Of course it was not really as simple as that. She had had to
move out of her apartment and back home. Back home to a small town with one
small hope and just a enough money to open her bakery, Moonlight and Mocha.
The
bakery was her pride and joy, and also her home. Even though her parents had
very kindly offered to let her stay with them Jade had too much pride for that
so when she had bought the bakery space
she had made sure it came with a tiny apartment above it. It wasn’t much
but it did mean that she smelled like vanilla and sugar ninety percent of the
time.
The
bell above the door rang, signaling the arrival of a customer, rocking Jade out
of her memories and into the present. She looked up with a smile but the words
“How can I help you?” died on her lips when she saw who had walked through the
door.
“Ugh,
seriously Walker, THIS place? It’s so tiny….honestly I don’t see why we
couldn’t go to the cake designer that Mother recommended…” The tiny blonde
trilled as she glanced around the shop not even noticing Jade standing there.
However
it wasn’t this little Hugh Hefner blonde bunny that caught Jade’s attention,
but the man standing next to her. Walker Harrison. Jade felt her mouth turn
downward into a frown for a moment as she watched her tormentor standing there
with his dark hair falling over his eyes as he grinned at her. Suddenly she was
in high school again and standing in the hallway as they all laughed at her
while he, the ringleader, just grinned.
“Good
Morning.” He said as he approached the corner where she stood. Jade swallowed
hard.
“Morning..”
she said softly, braced for the onslaught.
“I
heard there was a new bakery in town and…” He began, but the petite blond cut
him off.
“Do
you do Engagement Cakes?” She demanded more than inquired. Jade turned her
attention to her and shook her head slightly confused.
“Engagement
cakes?” The blonde rolled her eyes and
looked back to Walker.
“SERIOUSLY?!”
she demanded. “Why can’t we just go to the other cake lady? I mean for God’s
sake she doesn’t even know what an Engagement Cake is!” With that last shriek she plunged her
perfectly manicured hand into her purse and grabbed her cell phone. She stormed
out and Jade could hear her yelling into the phone apparently to
her mother about Jade’s joke of a shop.
“Don’t
mind her, she just….yeah. Sorry about that.” Walker said as he flashed her another grin. “I’m Walker by the way…” He said as he extended his hand toward
her.
Jade
stared at him. What? Why was he introducing himself? Where were the taunts and
cruel jokes about her weight, her nerdy glasses, her stack of books? Then she
remembered…this wasn’t high school…and while her weight wasn’t stellar it wasn’t
baby fat anymore. She had traded the nerdy glasses for contacts and her stack
of books was neatly piled on her nightstand and not falling out of her locker.
He had no idea who she was anymore and that gave her something…power. Jade
steadied herself and put on her most winning smile. She took his hand.
“Hello
Walker. I’m Jade. Jade Rollins.”
Walker’s
smile faded and his jaw dropped. Jade felt her smile widen.
“Long
time no see….”
I hope you all enjoyed! Please link up below, I cannot wait to see what you all created!
Nice I love it! Very engaging!
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