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Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Write It! Challenge Linkup

Good Morning Everyone! 

So last week I proposed a writing challenge and invited you all to join in! Please linkup below with your submissions!! 


Chaos and Cocoa


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! 


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