Present Day - Monday, May 27, 2019

Baking is the result of hard work, love and creativity all rolled into one. Maddie's thoughts drifted to this quote as she sifted the flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl. She used her elbow to play the video on her phone, listening as the woman directed her on how to make her famous chocolate cupcakes. Maddie smiled, feeling the stress she had earlier begin to melt away.

Whenever the brunette was stressed about anything, baking provided a temporary comfort. She loved the way her creativity seemed to flow out of that activity. Maddie fiddled with the whisk in her hand, sifting the salt along with the cocoa powder.

She had been stressed about her English assignment, even though it had been simple at first. She had to answer two questions about the story that had been read over the weekend. She had read the story time and time again, but still could not manage to answer those questions in a way that made sense to her. Maddie found herself looking outside the window, listening to the chirping of the birds. Focus, Maddie! You cannot afford to mess up this recipe. She shared a room with her younger sister, Mia, who was busy playing Portal upstairs.

"Maddie, can you come here for a second?" their mom called out from upstairs.

Maddie took a deep breath. Every time their mom or dad had called her for something, her anxiety flared up. Anxiety was like a current stream of thoughts that floated around in the brain, desperately wishing to come out. It wasn't a good feeling, that was for sure. What happened in real life was contrary to she had imagined as a worst case scenario: her mom usually asked her to help with something, then she would go back to whatever she was preoccupied with.

"Coming!" she yelled back. She quickly texted Mia, asking her if she could help their mom out instead. Mia's smooth, bronze skin was the only thing that separated the two girls from each other and the fact that Maddie was four years older than her. Still, it did not change the fact that they were sisters who had a close bond. Mia had inherited their mom's short, black hair that went all the way to the top of her shoulders.

Maddie heard a ding come from her phone, indicating that Mia had responded. She called you, not me. So get your butt on over there and go see what she wants. She ended the text with a laughing emoji, causing her to giggle to herself. She hoped that their mom would not take very long. She needed to finish baking, then get back to finishing her essay. If she did not finish the thing before Wednesday, it would be a lot harder to get someone to look over it at the last minute. The twenty-one-year-old was majoring in Graphic Design, but for one reason or another, Lakeview University required that she take classes not related to her major. She laid the whisk down, hoping that whatever news her mom had for her would be something exciting.

She passed by the living room where her dad was hard at work on his laptop. She had inherited her father's fair skin, which clashed with her mom's dark russet brown one. Even though she was confident in her looks, it was her dad's sense of humor she coveted. The girl wished that his joyousness were hereditary, as she thought she always took stuff too seriously.

Maddie took a deep breath, something her dad was quick to notice.

"Everything okay?" he asked. Her father had a comforting aura about him, which she was thankful for when she was up to her knees in homework assignments. "Your mom just called you."

She sighed. "Yeah, I know." She shifted her weight from side to side.

Her dad looked over to her, giving her a quick smile. "I'm sure nothing's wrong, Maddie." He got up to ruffle his daughter's hair as if sensing her inner turmoil. "I'm sure it's nothing, sweetheart. Who knows? It might even be something good."

Maddie perked up at the thought. "Thanks, Dad," she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"What are you up to?" he asked.

She smiled. He probably heard her whisking something in the kitchen. "Making chocolate cupcakes."

Her dad laughed. "I thought you learned from the last dessert you made."

Maddie's cheeks burned. She huffed. The carrot cake incident was probably one of the worst dessert recipes she ever made. The recipe had looked right when she started out with it, but combine getting distracted by her cat and, well... "I got distracted by Clara, you know that." She peeked her head up. "Besides, this one will be better, you'll see."

Her dad's nose scrunched up in disgust at the mention of her cat. "While I'm happy to hear that you're baking again, please don't bring that pest into it."

She turned her head to the side. "Hmph!" She ran up the stairs and into her parents' bedroom, where her mom was busy talking to someone on the phone.

Her mother, Aria, had pressed the mute button on the phone, motioning for Maddie to come forward. She noticed her mom was wearing a pair of glasses, which made her look a bit intimidating. Looking to the right side of her mom's bedside table, it revealed papers that had red marks on them. She probably decided to grade some of her students' tests over the weekend.

"Good morning Maddie. Did you sleep well?" her mom greeted.

Maddie nodded.

Aria laughed. "I'm glad, sweetheart."

She walked over to her mom's side, giving her a tight hug. Hugs always managed to make her feel a little better, no matter what mood she was in. "Who are you talking to?" she asked, her curiosity peaking.

Her mother smiled. "Funny you should ask. I'm on the phone with a family friend of ours. It's Justin's aunt. She said that she had never seen Justin's face light up like that before. It must be from you talking to him every week."

Maddie felt a smile begin to form from the corners of her mouth at the mention of his name. She and Justin had been through thick and thin ever since high school. They had been video chatting every weekend, with one call, in particular, being when she had confided in him the reason why her mom put her in private school, but never went into specifics for fear of being judged.

Her mother continued. "Well, he has an aunt named Caroline who lives here in Atlanta, and Justin referred to you as, as I quote, the best baker he has ever seen."

Maddie averted her gaze, happy at how highly Justin spoke of her, even if he was among the best of the best at his culinary school. Speaking of which, he should be arriving in Atlanta by tomorrow afternoon.

"Anyway, she wants to know if you can make a cake for her, and she'll spread the word about your business. Now, I know you have schoolwork and everything, but I trust you to get the job done. Think you're up for it?" her mother piped up.

Maddie's smile grew larger, realizing she had worried herself over nothing. Her mom wasn't mad at her. She just wanted to tell her about an opportunity. She hesitated, trying to weigh the pros and cons in her mind. If she worked on the cake, she wouldn't have time to do anything else.

"When does she want the cake?" she asked, her mind drifting to her college classes, each with a given task to follow. She had to study for a quiz in both her History Since 1500 class and English class; then, she would have to meet up with her classmates in the library next Tuesday to discuss how their presentation was going to go.

"She wants a summer wedding so probably a month and a half from now. Say, July thirteenth?"

Maddie smiled, calculating how much time the project would take. July 13th was her birthday, and, based on her research, she would have to make the cake four to five days in advance for the cake to taste fresh.

Aria continued. "I'm just trying to make you see the other side of things. I know your birthday is that day, Mads, so I'd understand if you'd want to turn down this offer. What do you say?"

Maddie contemplated her mother's words. If she took this order, it could be useful for business. She smiled, thinking of all the things she could do to add her own flair to the cake. She could use different flowers for the cake topper, but what type of filling could she use? Oh! Maybe she could use gardenias for the centerpiece...

"Maddie?"

The brunette snapped out of her reverie. "Sorry, Mom, I was just thinking, that's all."

Aria looked at her daughter, rubbing the back of her neck. "Well, there is one other thing I should mention."

Her mom was making a big deal out of nothing. Nothing could take away the excitement of having to make the cake and for Miss Caroline of all people. She was considered to be one of the most influential people in town.

Maddie's eyes wandered, focusing on the wren chirping outside her family's house. It chirped at her, causing her to smile. She looked up at her mom, who had an unpleasant frown.

"Maddie, focus," her mom said, getting her back to the task at hand.

She winced. "Sorry, Mom," she said, looking up at her.

Aria let out a good-natured sigh. "Anyway, the other thing I wanted to mention is that you shouldn't let Miss Caroline boss you around. I know you can handle it, but..." Her mother avoided looking her in the eyes, putting on a strained smile for her benefit.

Maddie saw through the smile and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Don't worry, Mom. If there's anything I can't handle, I'll be sure to ask you, my sister, or my friends for help. Just tell her that I need a bit of time to think about it first. Tell her to text me the details regarding the type of cake, the filling, the design, the cake's decoration, things like that." She fiddled with her hair, her mom's words resonating with her. Her mom knew she had a habit of saying yes to anyone who needed help whether it was an assignment or a study guide for the final exam. Eighty percent of the time, the brunette would come home from college, exhausted at juggling so much work the night before. This time was going to be different. She knew herself...well, kind of....

Maddie's mother wrapped her arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. "That's my girl." She turned away from her daughter, unmuting the call she had with her friend. "Hello, Caroline? Maddie's here, hang on." She put the phone on speaker so Maddie could hear Caroline's voice.

"Can you hear me, Dear?" Miss Caroline asked, her voice sounding loud and clear to Maddie.

"I can hear you!" she responded back.

"Okay, good! I understand if you need some more time to think about it, Dearie. You want to know all the information beforehand, am I right? If so, I'll send them to you tomorrow morning. Oh, and here's an extra incentive to accept the offer: if the cake exceeds my expectations, I'll make sure to refer you to all my friends, and on top of that, pay you extra."

Her cheeks grew red at the praise she received. "Thank you, Miss Caroline. I'll be waiting to receive all the details."

"Perfect! I'll call you next Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. sharp to give you the details of how I want the cake to be. Bye-bye now." Miss Caroline said before hanging up.

After the call, Maddie hugged her mom once more and ran downstairs, continuing with the recipe she had started a few hours before.

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

Maddie laid awake in bed that night, thinking of what kind of decoration she could put on the cake itself. She knew that it would be good for her business to get some traction too. The clock read 10 p.m. She should have been sound asleep by now but found it hard to focus on anything else except the order.

She knew that this project was going to involve a lot of hard work, but she was determined to not let it phase her. She was going to pour her heart and soul into it, and nothing was going to stop her.